Alone with life

1974. Thirteen years old, her father recently returned from the Vietnam War. He returned not the same as before, angry at the whole world, confused and broken. And soon he received an inheritance - a small plot of land where there are almost no people, where only beautiful, albeit harsh nature - in Alaska. And soon Leni and her parents go to this mysterious and unknown world. At first, Alaska seems to meet their hopes and expectations. In this wild land they find a community of strong men and even stronger women. But winter is approaching, and darkness and cold slowly descend on Alaska, which will turn his father into a wild beast. What started as an adventure turns into a drama. Leni and her mother learn that Alaska is not only beautiful, but also terrible, that it can both save and destroy. In this land, every day confronts a person with a choice between life and death. In this wilderness, on the very edge of civilization, man realizes his true price.
1978. Leni is already an adult girl, she settled in the wilderness, fell in love with him, became her own. Love entered her life, she dreams of the future. But the past holds her tenaciously, not wanting to let go. The drama quickly turns into tragedy. Christine Hannah's new novel is an incredible intensity family saga full of tumultuous events and strong feelings. A love story and almost Shakespearean drama unfold against the backdrop of beautiful landscapes of Alaska. Kristin Hannah is the author of more than 20 novels, including Nightingale, an incredibly successful world bestseller. After the incredible success of the Nightingale, Kristin Hannah had a huge temptation to take this path a second time, but she overcame it. She wrote a family drama set in the harsh landscapes of Alaska. This book is not at all like The Nightingale, but it is not like anything Christine Hannah has written before. Christine knows about Alaska firsthand - she grew up there, her parents live there to this day. Her family is one of the most respected in this harsh country. After the release in the United States, the novel immediately hit the top of the bestseller lists, where Hannah has a sharpened sense of drama for several months. In the new novel, she turned to the history of her own family, who lived at the last frontier of America - in Alaska, harsh and impregnable. In the 1970s, Alaska was not yet a place where countless tourists flock, it was a land of harsh men and persistent women, a land of loners surviving in the fight against nature. It is during these years that Christine Hanna’s new book takes place. “We came to Alaska in the seventies. Time was turbulent: demonstrations, terrorist attacks, kidnappings. Students have been missing. The Vietnam War divided the country. From this life we fled to Alaska. Like many Chichacos before and after us, we were poorly prepared. No money, no proper clothes, no supplies. We didn't really do anything. We moved to a hut in a remote corner of the Kenai Peninsula and quickly realized that we were completely unfit. Even the car (we had a Volkswagen minibus at the time) was chosen unsuccessfully. I was once told that Alaska does not nurture character, but reveals. Sad as it is to admit it, the darkness here has revealed the darkness in my father's soul. He fought in Vietnam, was a prisoner. Then we didn't know what that meant. Now we know. Science doesn't stand still, we've learned to help people like my father. We understand that war can break even the strong in spirit. There was nowhere to wait for him to help. Just like the woman who was his victim. The local wilderness with its darkness and frost had a terrible effect on his father, turned him into a wild beast, like those that live in the taiga. But then we couldn't even think about it. How were we supposed to know? We, like so many others, dreamed, paved the route, then put a sign on the bus that said "Alaska or death!" and went north, completely unaware of what was waiting for us there. This state, this land is like no other. He is beautiful and terrible, he destroys and saves. Here, where you sleep again