Ernt, a former POW in Vietnam, takes his family to Alaska in an effort to make a new start after losing job after job in the lower 48. The long summer days and the helpfulness of neighbors allow the family to adapt to their new wilderness home, but as winter and darkness descend, the father’s demons begin to show.His teenage daughter, Leni, makes friends with her desk-mate at school, but he is the son of a longtime resident with whom her father has issues. As time passes, darkness descends as both the days shorten and the family’s troubles multiply.
Kristin Hannah follows up her WWII blockbuster The Nightingale with the 1970s-set The Great Alone.