My choice this month is The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah. You may not have been expecting novels to be on the list of a therapist’s recommendations, but there is so much to learn from reading beyond the self-help aisle. Some of my favorite books are what I Iike to call “empathy fiction”. Great authors have the power to transport you to the world of another person, and to open your eyes to someone else’s life that you otherwise might not understand. As a therapist and a human being, I find this experience invaluable. In fact, studies have shown that reading quality literary fiction can actually increase your empathy, which is something I am always looking to do.
I chose The Great Alone as my first book from the empathy fiction category because at its core, it is a story of domestic violence. Intimate partner violence is one of those situations that can be really hard to empathize with and understand unless it has happened to you. Why doesn’t she just leave? It seems like such an obvious solution to a horrible problem. It’s something that I myself had a hard time understanding until taking a closer look at it in graduate school, since I have been fortunate enough to lack personal exposure. 
This book is a great way to take a glimpse into a fictional family and their wrestle with domestic violence. Ernt and Cora are in love, but the Ernt who comes home from the Vietnam war is a changed, damaged, and darker version of the man he used to be. The story is told through the eyes of their teenage daughter, Leni, as she comes of age and tries to understand her parents’ tumultuous relationship in the brutal Alaskan wilderness. 
If you’ve ever wondered, “Why doesn’t she just leave?” This book can help you understand. It’s complicated. It’s dangerous. She loves him. He loves her. She feels that she is the only one who understands him, that she can help him. He sincerely regrets his actions and promises to never do it again. They all hope what he promises is true, but know it’s not. Kristin Hannah delves into the complexity and painfulness of this topic in an approachable way—through a compelling fictional story that I think you will enjoy. 