Oh, I was really gripped and totally invested in the lives of Leni Allbright and her troubled family – dad, Ernt, returned from time in Vietnam including time as a prisoner of war and totally wrecked with PTSD and Mum, Cora, who does her best and stands by her man even as he gets more and more obsessive and violent and controlling of her.
When they move to Alaska, Leni finally feels at home in the tiny school where she meets her first true friend and the love of her life, Matthew.
The Alaskan scenery and harshness is beautifully described as is the close knit community looking out for each other who become Leni’s extended family. But, hoo boy, does poor Leni have to go through a lot of hard tragic life experiences. An emotional rollercoaster this certainly is, and in the hands of a less accomplished writer this may have strayed into melodrama, but it was in fact perfectly pitched to tug at the heartstrings and push the reader to the brink of anxious tension before everything is masterfully resolved.
I very much enjoyed it.
Sarah Wray Writer 