The Great Alone by Kristen Hannah

In  October we met at Kathy's home to discuss her book

"The Great Alone" by Kristen Hannah who also wrote

another book we had read entitled, "The Nightingale",

The book is about a family who move to Alaska on the Kenai Peninsula

to seek a new beginning, They are totally unprepared for the

unpredictable environment of this remote area, The Dad is 

suffering from post traumatic stress from Vietnam and the

mother and teenager Leni are subjected to his abusive behavior.

They are fortunate to enlist the help of the fiercely independent men

and women of the community.

Some people liked the beautiful descriptions of the natural beauty

of Alaska. The story is told mostly through the eyes of the 16

year old Leni who grows up to be a strong woman, There were

some similarities between Kya in the Crawdad book and Leni in

this book.

Donna chose "Ordinary Grace"  by William Kent Kreuger 

to be our next book.     

Where The Crawdad Sings by Delia Owens

In August we met to discuss 
Madeleine's choice which was

"Where the Crawdads Sing" by Delia Owens. This was a

very popular book and everyone loved it. It was set in the

coastal marshes of North Carolina where a 5 year old is

virtually abandoned by her family and is left to her own

wits to survive. Except for the intermittent presence of a drunk

abusive father she rarely has contacts with outsiders.

Kya has to learn to trust human connections. It is a 

coming of age story as well as an engrossing whodunit with

a major surprise ending.

This was Owen's debut  fiction novel and she delivers in gorgeous 

lyrical prose. 

Owens was a wildlife scientist in Africa and wrote three non

fiction books about her life in Africa.

Kathy chose "The Great Alone" by Kristen Hannah.