Publication Date: February 6,
2018
Format: Paperback
Genre: Historical Fiction
|
Publisher: St Martins
Press
Length: 450 pages
Buy: Kindle | Paperback
|
Synopsis
Alaska, 1974. Ernt Allbright came home from the Vietnam War a changed and
volatile man. When he loses yet another job, he makes the impulsive
decision to move his wife and daughter north where they will live off the
grid in America’s last true frontier.
Cora will do anything for the man she loves, even if means following him
into the unknown. Thirteen-year-old Leni, caught in the riptide of her
parents’ passionate, stormy relationship, has little choice but to go
along, daring to hope this new land promises her family a better
future.
In a wild, remote corner of Alaska, the Allbrights find a fiercely
independent community of strong men and even stronger women. The long,
sunlit days and the generosity of the locals make up for the newcomers’
lack of preparation and dwindling resources.
But as winter approaches and darkness descends, Ernt’s fragile mental
state deteriorates. Soon the perils outside pale in comparison to threats
from within. In their small cabin, covered in snow, blanketed in eighteen
hours of night, Leni and her mother learn the terrible truth: they are on
their own.
Review:
I have had this on my TBR list for over a year, I finally got my hands on a
copy and couldn't put it down. I loved it. This book sucks you in
and takes you for a ride you won't forget. I was instantly invested in
the characters. This is a difficult book in terms of subject matter,
abuse, and survival in the harshest of conditions as seen through the eyes of
a 13 year old girl coming of age in the 60's in a wilderness where not only
the things living outside can kill you.
Ernt has PTSD before there was a term for it and moves his family to the most
remote part of the world. He needs peace and decides to homestead in Alaska,
without indoor pluming, or electricity with one of the harshest winters. They
soon find that living in Alaska is about survival. Summer is spent
preparing for winter and winter is spent just hoping to stay alive until
spring and this family in their VW camper is woefully unprepared. Ernt
falls in with his neighbor who is full of conspiracy theories and blame for
what is happening in the world, which speaks to Ernt and makes him even more
volatile in this desolate land.
Cora is in love with Ernt in the sickest of possible ways, she can't see
herself without him. So she puts up with his mood swings, and his
violent temper. Leni is 13 and isolated in the Alaskan wilderness where
the only other person her age is a boy from a family her father hates.
This book brings the whole gamut of emotions. In some ways it reminded
me of a fictionalized
Educated by Tara Westover
in that I wasn't sure if any of them would survive.
I really loved this book which brings forth not only the harshness of the
climate but the beauty that is Alaska.
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