The Great Alone

THE GREAT ALONE isn't so much about Alaska as it is about spousal abuse. Ernt Allbright, former POW, returns from Vietnam with what we now call PTS. He takes his family to a settlement near Homer, Alaska, the end of the road as they like to call themselves.

Alaska is not the place for a man suffering from PTS. His family works like dogs to prepare for the winter, but they still need to rely on the generosity of neighbors to make it. Ernt resents them. He also can't deal with the long nights and the unrelenting cold weather and snow.

When his daughter, Leni, goes to the one room schoolhouse to attend first grade, she meets the love of her life, Matthew Walker, whose dad, Tom, is the scion of the founding family. He has plans to modernize Kaneq, the small town near the Allbright's homestead. Ernt hates Walker on sight and he's jealous of any contact between his wife, Cora, and Walker.

Then the beatings start. That's one of the holes in the story. Cora is beaten so often and so hard, it's hard to believe she won't leave Ernt. Afterwards she makes excuses, “You should have know him before.” Yes, I know this sort of behavior is almost a cliché, but Ernt comes close to killing her. She has friends: Tom Walker helps when Ernt will allow it and the owner of the general store, Large Marge, is willing to run a tab. It's hard to believe they don't notice her bruises and complain to the police.

Another fault is description. There's too much of it and it doesn't really move the story or contribute to the theme. You also have to be blind not to be able to predict how this story will end. Corny might be too severe a criticism, but I don't think melodramatic is going too far. The conclusion to the love story is also hard to believe. It's just not realistic; it happens because the author needs it to.