Key themes
- Alaska as both paradise and danger — the wilderness that doesn't forgive
- Love that cannot rescue a damaged person
- The daughter who stays to protect her mother
About this book
Ernt Allbright, a damaged Vietnam veteran, moves his family to a remote Alaskan homestead where he believes they can start over. What follows is a survival story — against the Alaskan wilderness but also against Ernt's increasingly volatile behaviour. Hannah's novel is about the terrible cost of loving a broken man, and about the daughter who must choose between staying and surviving.
Published in 2018, The Great Alone spent over a year on the New York Times bestseller list. Hannah drew on research into off-grid Alaskan life and interviews with people who had lived through extreme wilderness conditions.
Discussion questions
- Ernt's Vietnam War damage is the source of his violence. How does Hannah balance sympathy for his trauma with an honest account of what it costs his family?
- Leni's relationship to the Alaskan wilderness changes throughout the novel. How does Hannah use the physical landscape — its beauty, its severity — to mirror the family's experience?
- Cora stays in the marriage despite the danger. How does Hannah show the psychology of staying — and does the novel judge her?
- The novel is about survival in multiple senses. What does it take to survive the wilderness — and what does it take to survive a violent family member?
- The Great Alone has been described as a love story between Leni and Alaska as much as between Leni and Matthew. How does place function as the novel's emotional spine?
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