Study Guide for Book Clubs: The Great Alone: Study Guides for Book Clubs, #33

By Kathryn Cope

Whether you are a member of a reading group, or simply reading 'The Great Alone' for pleasure, this clear and concise guide will greatly enhance your reading experience. A comprehensive guide to Kristin Hannah's gripping new novel 'The Great Alone', this discussion aid includes a wealth of information and resources: useful literary and historical context; an author biography; a plot synopsis; analyses of themes & imagery; character analysis; twenty-two thought-provoking discussion questions; recommended further reading and even a quick quiz. For those in book clubs, this useful companion guide takes the hard work out of preparing for meetings and guarantees productive discussion. For solo readers, it encourages a deeper examination of a fascinating novel.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kathryn Cope
• Release date: Apr 23, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386900665

Kathryn Cope

Kathryn Cope graduated in English Literature from Manchester University and obtained her master’s degree in contemporary fiction from the University of York. She is the author of Study Guides for Book Clubs and the HarperCollins Offical Book Club Guide series. She lives in the Staffordshire Moorlands with her husband, son and dog.

Book preview

Introduction

There are few things more rewarding than getting together with a group of like-minded people and discussing a good book. Book club meetings, at their best, are vibrant, passionate affairs. Each member will bring along a different perspective and ideally there will be heated debate.

A surprising number of book club members, however, report that their meetings have been a disappointment. Even though their group loved the particular book they were discussing, they could think of astonishingly little to say about it. Failing to find interesting discussion angles for a book is the single most common reason for book group discussions to fall flat. Most book groups only meet once a month and a lacklustre meeting is frustrating for everyone.

Study Guides for Book Clubs were born out of a passion for reading groups. Packed with information, they take the hard work out of preparing for a meeting and ensure that your book group discussions never run dry. How you choose to use the guides is entirely up to you. The author biography, context, and style sections provide useful background information which may be interesting to share with your group at the beginning of your meeting. The all-important list of discussion questions, which will probably form the core of your meeting, can be found towards the end of this guide. To support your responses to the discussion questions, you may find it helpful to refer to the ‘Themes & Symbolism’ and ‘Character’ sections.

A detailed plot synopsis is provided as an aide-memoire if you need to recap on the finer points of the plot. There is also a quick quiz - a fun way to test your knowledge and bring your discussion to a close. Finally, if this was a book that you particularly enjoyed, the guide concludes with a list of books similar in style or subject matter.

Study Guides for Book Clubs are intended to enhance your appreciation of the original novel. They are not a substitute for reading the real thing. As this guide contains spoilers, please don’t be tempted to read it before you have read the original novel as plot surprises will be well and truly ruined.

Kathryn Cope, 2018

Kristin Hannah

Kristin Hannah was born in 1960 in South California. After attending law school in Seattle, she became a lawyer. As her mother predicted, she eventually gave up law to become a writer.

Hannah’s first novel, A Handful of Heaven, was published in 1991. Since then, she has written more than twenty others. Her first bestseller came with Firefly Lane in 2009. She became a household name, however, with the phenomenal success of her 2015 novel, The Nightingale. Based loosely on true historical events, The Nightingale tells the story of two sisters who become involved in the French Resistance during World War II. A publishing sensation, the novel sold almost 4 million copies and remained on the bestsellers list month after month.  

When it came to writing her next novel, Hannah felt the pressure of readers’ expectations. She worked on a book which was later discarded in favour of a fresh idea that became The Great Alone. The Alaskan family saga, set in the 1970s, was inspired by the author’s own family’s travels and experience of Alaska. When she was eight years old, Kristin Hannah’s family left California and travelled across the USA in a VW bus in search of adventure and a spiritual home. They eventually settled in the Pacific Northwest. Later, however, Hannah’s parents went to Alaska and, along with another pioneering family, established the Great Alaska Adventure Lodge. It is this range of experiences that created the spark for The Great Alone.

At first glance, The Great Alone seems to have nothing in common with Hannah’s previous bestseller, The Nightingale. While the subject matter is completely different, however, both novels focus on the strength and determination of female characters when they find themselves in incredibly challenging situations. This is a theme that also appears in the author’s earlier novels.

TriStar pictures are currently producing a movie adaptation of The Nightingale. They have also optioned the film rights for The Great Alone.

Kristin Hannah has homes in the Pacific Northwest, near Seattle, and in Hawaii. She lives with her husband.

Link to Kristin Hannah’s website

Plot Synopsis

The novel opens in 1974. It is told largely from the perspective of Leni Allbright who is thirteen years old when the story begins. For several years, Leni and her mother, Cora, lived on a commune while her father fought in the Vietnam War. Since his return from Nam, Leni’s father, Ernt, has suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome. Moody and unpredictable, he is unable to keep a job, and continually uproots his family in search of a better life. Leni has attended five different schools in four years and never fits in.

Leni’s parents argue when Ernt loses yet another job. Shortly afterwards, he receives a letter delivering the news that Bo Harlan has left him a cabin and forty acres of land in Alaska. Bo and Ernt were POWs together in Vietnam and Ernt was forced by his captors to watch his friend die.

Cora has been largely estranged from her parents since meeting Ernt, as they disapprove of her husband. One day, however, she takes Leni to see her grandmother to ask for financial help. Cora’s mother tries to discourage her daughter from going to Alaska with Ernt. Nevertheless, she gives Cora some money. Cora warns Leni not to tell her father where the money has come from as his pride will be hurt.

The Allbrights travel to Kaneq: the Alaskan settlement where Bo’s cabin is situated. Large Marge, the owner of the local trading post, welcomes the Allbrights to the small community. She also warns Cora and Leni of Alaska’s dangers.

The Allbrights follow Large Marge’s directions to the cabin which stands on an isolated strip of land called the Kenai Peninsula. They drive as far along the rough track as they can and then hike the last stretch when the road becomes impassable. Cora and Leni are dismayed to see the condition of the cabin. Cramped and dirty, it has