✍🏻 Kristin Hannah

☑️ Historical Fiction

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“𝘼𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚, 𝘿𝙖𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙇𝙚𝙣𝙞 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙙𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙬𝙖𝙨. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙩𝙝 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙞𝙜𝙜𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙙𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚.”

How do I even start?! THIS WAS INCREDIBLE. 

Overview: 

•Set in Alaska 1970s

•Small Town to the Extreme 

•Love, Survival, and Trauma 

•Vietnam War POW 

•Found Family

𝗔𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗔𝗹𝗹𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗔𝗹𝗮𝘀𝗸𝗮, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗴𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗮𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀.

I genuinely am having a hard time coming up with the words to talk about this novel. It’s a masterpiece of historical fiction and characterizations. 

Let’s start with the setting: Kristin Hannah always portrays locations with such 

atmospheric precision, creating a truly cinematic experience. She revealed the equal amounts of beauty and danger in the Alaskan wilderness, and the landscape amplified the characters in every possible way. 

Now, the characters: When this book opens, Leni is a thirteen year old girl just trying to be strong for her family. Leni watches her parents’ chaotic relationship, trying to grapple with what love is and how much it can endure.

"𝙄 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙢. 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙢."

𝙄𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙚, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙧?

Hannah succeeds in crafting such intricate relationship dynamics, to the point where I was reeling from so many contrasting feelings. 

I had empathy for Ernt who is clearly suffering from PTSD and severe trauma, but I felt so much relentless rage at what he put his family through. 

I had empathy for Cora for all she was enduring, but I felt rage at what she was simultaneously teaching Leni about life and love. 

I had endless empathy for Leni. And for Matthew. (We’ll get there soon)

"𝙄'𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙧𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙧, 𝙍𝙚𝙙. 𝙄 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙚. 𝙄 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙢𝙤𝙢 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚..." 𝙃𝙞𝙨 𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙙𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙖 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙧. "𝙎𝙝𝙚'𝙨 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙤𝙞𝙣. 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩."

𝙇𝙚𝙣𝙞 𝙠𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨𝙣'𝙩 𝙖 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙖 𝙣𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙡 𝙢𝙤𝙢-𝙖𝙣𝙙-𝙙𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙖 𝙙𝙧𝙪𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙧𝙮 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙙.

Oh Matthew… He is one of those characters where I’ll never think of his name the same way again. I’ll hear ‘Matthew’ and immediately recall his strong spirit and tender heart. 

I love that we shifted into different POVs occasionally, especially as Matthew’s enriched the storyline so much.

“𝙄𝙣 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚, 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙜𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙛 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙙𝙧𝙞𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙨𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙬, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙣𝙤𝙬, 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮, 𝙞𝙩 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙨𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙖 𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙖𝙙𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙞𝙢, 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙚. 𝙇𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮'𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙜𝙪𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙠 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙪𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙩.”

And the side characters!!!! From the many people in their small town Alaska to Cora’s parents, each of them had a profound impact on the story, even in their small actions and quiet statements. 

Large Marge immediately received my MVP award. 

"𝙄'𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙢𝙚𝙣 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚."

"𝙔𝙚𝙖𝙝. 𝙒𝙚𝙡𝙡. 𝙈𝙖𝙮𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩'𝙨 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙝𝙞𝙢," 𝙇𝙖𝙧𝙜𝙚 𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙜𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙.

I could probably write pages and pages about how transfixed I was by the plot. It was thought-provoking and engaging, and the story somehow felt both intimate and vast - which is the magic of Kristin Hannah’s writing. 

While her some of her other books made me feel submerged in grief and rage (looking at you, The Women), this one struck a perfect balance of heartbreak and hope. 

My new favorite Kristin Hannah book, and quite possibly my new favorite historical fiction book.

I obviously recommend this book to everyone!!

✨ Read via Owned Physical Copy ✨ 

Extra: Because I read this as a physical book (instead of my kindle where my highlights get auto-saved to goodreads), I wanted to include some extra quotes that grabbed my heart. 

Potential spoilers below:

𝙄𝙣 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚, 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨—𝙖 𝙢𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙖𝙜𝙚, 𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙨𝙞𝙨, 𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙗𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙘𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙖 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙙, 𝙖 𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙚, 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙁𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙤 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙂𝙧𝙚𝙮 𝙃𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙨. 𝘿𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝 𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙧𝙮, 𝙛𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙨𝙖𝙙𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙨, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙚, 𝙩𝙤𝙤, 𝙨𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙛𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙖 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙨 𝙞𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙. 𝙄𝙣 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚, 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙬, 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨𝙣' 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩. 𝙄𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙖𝙙𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙪𝙥 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙖𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙.

𝙎𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙠𝙚 𝙪𝙥, 𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙖 𝙨𝙥𝙡𝙞𝙩 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙪𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩, 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙣 𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙠𝙞𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙣 𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙤𝙢 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙨𝙤𝙤𝙣 𝙗𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠𝙛𝙖𝙨𝙩. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙤𝙣 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙬𝙛𝙪𝙡.

𝙄𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙨𝙝𝙚'𝙙 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙; 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙠𝙞𝙨𝙨 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙧, 𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙪𝙥 𝙩𝙤 𝙖 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙨𝙝𝙚'𝙙 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙙, 𝙖 𝙗𝙞𝙜, 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩, 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚 𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙪𝙣𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨.

𝙈𝙖𝙢𝙖 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙖𝙮. 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙇𝙚𝙣𝙞 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩?

𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙮 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧'𝙨 𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧'𝙨 𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙚?

𝙇𝙚𝙣𝙞 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙮𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙪𝙣𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙧.

𝙉𝙤𝙩 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙝𝙞𝙢, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙖 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙞𝙢, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙮 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙖 𝙙𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙬𝙚𝙖𝙠𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙜𝙡𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙬𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙙𝙤𝙣𝙚.

𝘼𝙘𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙩𝙩𝙤𝙢, 𝙈𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙬 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙬𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙣, 𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙎 𝘾𝙊𝙐𝙇𝘿 𝘽𝙀 𝙐𝙎.

𝘼 𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙚𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙬 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙖 𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙮 𝙥𝙞𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙩. "𝙊𝙝, 𝙢𝙮 𝙂𝙤𝙙," 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙬𝙚.

𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙚𝙡𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙈𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙬 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙙𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙖𝙨 𝙫𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙥𝙚, 𝙖𝙨 𝙞𝙢𝙢𝙪𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙖. 𝙎𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙩𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛.