The Great Alone

by Kristin Hannah

suddenly Leni understood the reality of her world, the truth that Alaska, in all its beautiful harshness, had revealed. They were trapped, by environment and finances, but mostly by the sick, twisted love that bound her parents together.

We have a couple of solutions, but really, Ernt, our favorite one is we take you out and kill you.”

but even as she heard her dream given voice, she thought of the price. Mama would be the one to pay it. How could Leni live with that? But was she supposed to be trapped forever by her mother’s choice and her father’s rage?

My hatred of him is a poison burning me from the inside out. Every time I look at him something in me hardens. It scares me how much I hate him. I haven’t spoken to him since I got back.

She couldn’t forgive herself for the years that came before, for what she allowed and accepted, for the definition of love she’d handed down to her daughter like a dark incantation.