What Fiction are you reading this week, November 27, 2022?

[CrispyQ]

37. "The Great Alone" by Kristin Hannah

Most people gave this book a great review. Not me.

The story takes place in the 70s & is about a dysfunctional family that moves to Alaska & the challenges of living in the wild & the dark. The POV character is their 14 year old daughter.

There are so many scenes of domestic abuse in this book they should have put a trigger warning on the cover. The antagonist is a Vietnam POW survivor who beats his wife & eventually his daughter, too. The author gives no history of the man, except an occasional comment by his wife that he wasn't always like this. Because he has ZERO redeeming qualities, he comes across as a one-dimensional monster.

The story could have been saved, possibly, except the wife was stupid. Unlike a lot of abused women, she had family & friends who wanted to help her escape her situation, but she refused & continued to live with the creep, risking her daughter's well-being.

Then there was a daughter, who was a victim of circumstance, but by the end of the book she never elevated above that. She too, behaved stupidly when she was older & had to depend on others to get her out of a bad situation.

I have 12 books on hold at the library & hope at least one of them comes in today!