The Great Alone

by Kristin Hannah

Night swept in like nothing Leni had ever seen before, like the winged shadow of a creature too big and predatory to comprehend.

She saw what her silence did to him, how it shredded his confidence, and she decided right then: she would never speak to her father again. Let Mama slink back, let her twine herself back into this toxic knot that was their family. Leni would stay only as long as she had to. As soon as Matthew was better she would leave. If this was the life Mama chose for herself, so be it. Leni was going to leave.

She’d imagined her life a hundred different ways, practiced a thousand ways to atone.