The Great Alone

A beautiful woman with blond hair and delicate features, Leni’s mother has surprising strength and adapts well to Alaska. She creates meaningful friendships with two empowered women, Thelma and Large Marge. Rebellious despite her stringent upbringing, Cora left home at 16 when pregnant with Leni. She supported herself and Leni by being part of a commune while Ernt was away at war. As a woman, Cora struggles with finding her place in the world and explores various philosophies while adapting to her environment. Her devotion to Ernt and Leni remains constant, particularly to Leni, whom Cora refused to give up as a baby.

Cora, however, suffers from not seeing her own worth outside of Ernt’s love. Only Leni’s danger rouses Cora into action. Her low self-image allows her to bear Ernt’s erratic moods and his violence for years. While Leni notes the attraction between Tom and Cora, they will never act on it and Cora, Leni thinks, will consider him the chance she didn’t take. Leni notes that her mother has drawn attention from other men, despite knowing how Ernt would react. Leni also comes to realize that Cora has tolerated and hid Ernt’s violence from her. The two times that Leni pushes her mother to leave, Cora eventually takes Ernt back. When Cora goes to the police the second time, she does not press charges. It is only when Ernt hurts Leni that Cora responds with lethal force.

After Cora uproots Leni from Alaska, she struggles with her own guilt at having Leni see how much she tolerated from Ernt and at taking her from the place Leni called home. Wanting to do better for Leni, Cora mends the relationship with her parents and provides Leni with a sturdy support system. Her principal concern after growing sick from cancer is leaving Leni. She passes away in peace after Leni assures her that she will be all right. Cora, knowing that her daughter still longs for Alaska, leaves Leni with a confession and tickets for her and her son to return. 

A Vietnam veteran and prisoner of war suffering from post-traumatic stress, Ernt married Cora when they were both teens and Cora was pregnant with Leni. They lived at a trailer park while Ernt worked as a mechanic. For Leni’s first few years before Ernt’s call to service, the family was poor but happy. Broken from his experiences at war, Ernt moves his family from place to place. He succumbs to paranoia and has a violent temper, which Cora hides from Leni. He is profligate with their money, to the point that Cora must hide the fact that she needed to go to her parents for money. Due to his pride, Cora’s acceptance of the Alaskan neighbors’ charity is a frequent source of conflict. Ernt’s background as a son of rangers and his survival skills as a soldier serve him well in the frontier. Over time, as the weather worsens, Ernt becomes more extreme in his paranoia and drinking, leading him to become violent with Cora. Leni’s repeated attempts to push Cora to leave ends in tragedy when they have a car accident, but this serves as the impetus for Large Marge and Tom to force Ernt to leave for the pipeline, a choice Ernt reluctantly makes out of love for his family.

Ernt provides for them through his job but loses it four years later. Ernt’s paranoia as well as his antipathy for Tom make him oppose Tom’s desire to see Kaneq grow. Ernt goes as far as vandalizing the town saloon and becomes more insistent to Mad Earl’s family about their need to protect themselves from the outside. Ernt becomes more convinced that he’s under siege, and under the delusion of protecting his family, he builds a wall around his property. In secluding his family from outsiders, Ernt effectively distances Cora and Leni from himself instead. After his violent death, no one mourns him.

Matthew grew up a solitary child in Kaneq, without any other children his age as playmates. He and Leni quickly hit it off based on their love for books and their appreciation for Alaskan oddities. He tells Leni that his worst fear is his mother’s abandonment, a fear that becomes recognized during the winter when she falls to her death. Losing his mother is a life-altering experience for Matthew who then leaves Kaneq to live in Fairbanks. His sister Alyeska and Leni’s letters are instrumental to his healing.

Four years later, Matthew feels ready to return to Kaneq, and he longs to reconnect with Leni. While there, Matthew improves his relationship with his father, who he thought blamed him for Geneva’s death. During his return, Matthew and Leni’s relationship turns romantic, despite the tension between Matthew’s father, Tom, and Leni’s father, Ernt. Matthew asks Leni to come with him to college in Anchorage. He goes to protect Leni when he hears of Ernt’s abuse and intervenes to protect Cora for Leni’s sake. He follows Cora’s wishes to protect Leni and is even willing to abandon his own ambitions to stay with Leni and Cora.

Matthew’s fall while he is returning with Leni is another painful watershed experience, leaving Matthew in a coma for considerable time. He eventually learns how to speak, read, and even walk with difficulty. Throughout this trying time, Matthew remains focused on Leni. He takes up painting first as rehabilitation, but this becomes his passion. When Leni returns to his life with his son, Matthew is both delighted and scared that he will not be a good father. Leni reassures him that they will raise their son together.