This one is set in rural Alaska in the early 1970's when the pipeline was still under construction. It is a small town on the Kenai Peninsula, a drive away from Homer.
Ernst is a Vietnam veteran who was shot down and kept prisoner for six years before coming home to his wife and child. Cora welcomed him home, but he was not the same man who went to war. The key element here is that he is a raging alcoholic who is unbearably violent and despite the fact that she is likely to be killed by him one day, she can't leave, and Leni, her daughter, won't leave without her. So they move to a remote Alaska town without the resources needed to make it through the winter (think Into the Wild), and they struggle in every way possible.
This is layered over a story of young love and everything that can go wrong does go wrong that is decidedly less complicated on its surface but troubled by a Capulet and Montague problem. It is an enjoyable read that I had trouble putting down.
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