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It Happened Like This: A Life in Alaska
"In the wild, something inside me opens to innovation, inspiration, creativity, and imagination. It's a good feeling, one that leaves me light and full of energy, free to imagine who I want to be in this life. . . . Yet it's slippery and ephemeral, and I can never seem to pack it out with me." --Adrienne Lindholm
It Happened Like This is, on the surface, a memoir about what it means to live and love in one of the wildest places on the planet. But the love described is not a simple one; it's a gritty, sometimes devastating, often blood-pumping kind of feeling played out in the rugged Alaska wilderness.
In an authentic and honest voice, writer Adrienne Lindholm recounts her move to Alaska as a young woman eager to begin her career in environmental and wildlife studies. She finds herself initially out of her depth among her peers, many of whom are also "Outsiders," new to the state, but who seem more experienced, more confident. Eventually she finds her way, immersing herself in the rigors of wilderness adventures and building a community of outdoorsy friends to sustain her. Soon she falls in love with JT and gradually, at times painfully, they build a life together and decide to start a family amidst the wild.
Adrienne celebrates the many ways in which Alaska, and her outdoor adventures there, inspired self-discovery, as well as revealing her difficult and intimate journey into motherhood. Her love story encompasses the outline of massive mountains on the horizon, viewed for the first time; a caribou moving through an alder forest; the effort to climb a glaciated peak; and the peace that settles when contemplating a quiet Arctic lake. At times, her love--for JT, but also for nature and life--also feels savage, like when she charges onto a glacier alone, or when she shoots, kills, and skins her first animal.
With It Happened Like This, readers take an intimate, gently humorous, and occasionally adrenalin-spiked journey into adulthood, and into the depth and comfort of wilderness.
It Happened Like This is, on the surface, a memoir about what it means to live and love in one of the wildest places on the planet. But the love described is not a simple one; it's a gritty, sometimes devastating, often blood-pumping kind of feeling played out in the rugged Alaska wilderness.
In an authentic and honest voice, writer Adrienne Lindholm recounts her move to Alaska as a young woman eager to begin her career in environmental and wildlife studies. She finds herself initially out of her depth among her peers, many of whom are also "Outsiders," new to the state, but who seem more experienced, more confident. Eventually she finds her way, immersing herself in the rigors of wilderness adventures and building a community of outdoorsy friends to sustain her. Soon she falls in love with JT and gradually, at times painfully, they build a life together and decide to start a family amidst the wild.
Adrienne celebrates the many ways in which Alaska, and her outdoor adventures there, inspired self-discovery, as well as revealing her difficult and intimate journey into motherhood. Her love story encompasses the outline of massive mountains on the horizon, viewed for the first time; a caribou moving through an alder forest; the effort to climb a glaciated peak; and the peace that settles when contemplating a quiet Arctic lake. At times, her love--for JT, but also for nature and life--also feels savage, like when she charges onto a glacier alone, or when she shoots, kills, and skins her first animal.
With It Happened Like This, readers take an intimate, gently humorous, and occasionally adrenalin-spiked journey into adulthood, and into the depth and comfort of wilderness.
208 pages, Paperback
Published July 31, 2018
26 people are currently reading
587 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
January 28, 2020
I loved this book. I have met Adrienne snd most of her friends through my daughter who lives in AK. I know a bit of her story so that made it more personal. What I loved about it was her intense honesty and her vivid descriptions of her emotions and nature. She certainly has a way with words and I was able to visualize the scenes she so remarkably described.
Hard core Alaskan girls/women are a breed unto themselves. Through my daughter I have met many of them and don’t even get me started on the hardcore AK men. These folks have a love of the outdoors and for physical challenges that I find hard to understand at times.
I have enjoyed sitting and talking with many of them and Adrienne and JT at parties, potlucks of the extraordinary kind and over a beer or a glass of wine.
I look forward to discussing this book with my fellow book club lady friends and am wondering about the next book which I am sure is coming, I hope. Thank you Adrienne for writing such a beautiful book. I am sure it was difficult at times to relive some of these moments.
Hard core Alaskan girls/women are a breed unto themselves. Through my daughter I have met many of them and don’t even get me started on the hardcore AK men. These folks have a love of the outdoors and for physical challenges that I find hard to understand at times.
I have enjoyed sitting and talking with many of them and Adrienne and JT at parties, potlucks of the extraordinary kind and over a beer or a glass of wine.
I look forward to discussing this book with my fellow book club lady friends and am wondering about the next book which I am sure is coming, I hope. Thank you Adrienne for writing such a beautiful book. I am sure it was difficult at times to relive some of these moments.
June 8, 2020
There was one chapter on wilderness that was strong and a paragraph on p 152 that really resonated. It read in part "...and we only have to lose once and we've lost wildness forever. The part of me that acknowledges that energy must come from somewhere won't flex to the part of me that believes these places will be worth so much more if we leave them just the way they are for another thousand years." If the book had followed this line I would have enjoyed it more.
Otherwise it was a coming of age tale and a woman's struggle with whether or not to have a family.
Otherwise it was a coming of age tale and a woman's struggle with whether or not to have a family.
January 2, 2021
Incredibly enjoyable and beautiful. I don't know if I'll ever tire of reading books written by women about living and thriving in Alaska.
June 17, 2019
Some essays in this book were hit or miss for me. I really enjoyed about half of them and the other half I found myself skimming. (Nothing wrong with them, just not for me.) However, the overall writing of this book was incredible. At times, I literally gasped with how deeply her words resonated with me. In particular, her discussion of her deep need to move to Alaska but the guilt she felt at leaving her loving parents rang so, so true.
It's hard to describe to people exactly what Alaska does to you when you feel its pull. I so appreciated reading the perspective of someone who "gets it." Sometimes, it felt as if I could have been writing these words myself.
It's hard to describe to people exactly what Alaska does to you when you feel its pull. I so appreciated reading the perspective of someone who "gets it." Sometimes, it felt as if I could have been writing these words myself.
July 2, 2023
At first, I dismissed this book as another coming of age as an adult memoir, but this one set in Alaska rather than Manhattan, which is a great advantage. Adrienne, called A by friends, discovers her love of camping and mountains on month-long family summer trip at age 11. She pushes her boundaries after college, biking and climbing as much as she can while working some pretty crappy jobs. Eventually, someone tells her that if she wants "the biggest mountains of all," she should try Alaska, so she gets a summer job as a backcountry ranger in Denali National Park.
On the plane there, she makes a list of tenets she intends to live by, including fighting development, no hunting, no marriage, no children.
She hikes and learns in Denali and then stays on to become an outdoor recreation planner for Denali National Park. She thrives knowing wilderness beyond human control exists and that she is part of protecting it. Adopting a dog and finding friends, she builds a community of outdoorspeople like herself who support and encourage each other in their endeavors.
The best parts were figuratively joining her on her adventures in the wilderness in places I am unlikely ever to go, even the wilds near her home, where she meets up with a bear while walking her new dog. A and her friend Becky fly small chartered planes into the North Slope and Gates of the Arctic National Park with plans to be picked up by similar flights in a week miles away from where they land. There are no trails. Like Julie of the Wolves and John Muir, they use their experience and tools to get where they want to go, following ridge lines and creeks, walking around lakes, retracing their steps when a particular way doesn't work out. They collect and carry wood when they see that they're heading into an area without wood for fires and they forgot a piece of their camp stove.
Bit by bit, A learns the tenets she clung to so firmly when she was new to Alaska don't serve her anymore. She relies on her group of friends and eventually even marries. She learns to hunt, understanding that it's part of eating meat, and not hunting doesn't make her any better if she's still buying meat at the supermarket. When she is lucky enough to draw one of the prized permits to hunt a caribou close to Anchorage, her hunt with her friend Matt is one of the book's highlights.
Hers is not the same type of growth one encounters in other books about becoming an adult, and I am thrilled that my recent trip to Alaska and attendant search for works set there led me to it.
On the plane there, she makes a list of tenets she intends to live by, including fighting development, no hunting, no marriage, no children.
She hikes and learns in Denali and then stays on to become an outdoor recreation planner for Denali National Park. She thrives knowing wilderness beyond human control exists and that she is part of protecting it. Adopting a dog and finding friends, she builds a community of outdoorspeople like herself who support and encourage each other in their endeavors.
The best parts were figuratively joining her on her adventures in the wilderness in places I am unlikely ever to go, even the wilds near her home, where she meets up with a bear while walking her new dog. A and her friend Becky fly small chartered planes into the North Slope and Gates of the Arctic National Park with plans to be picked up by similar flights in a week miles away from where they land. There are no trails. Like Julie of the Wolves and John Muir, they use their experience and tools to get where they want to go, following ridge lines and creeks, walking around lakes, retracing their steps when a particular way doesn't work out. They collect and carry wood when they see that they're heading into an area without wood for fires and they forgot a piece of their camp stove.
Bit by bit, A learns the tenets she clung to so firmly when she was new to Alaska don't serve her anymore. She relies on her group of friends and eventually even marries. She learns to hunt, understanding that it's part of eating meat, and not hunting doesn't make her any better if she's still buying meat at the supermarket. When she is lucky enough to draw one of the prized permits to hunt a caribou close to Anchorage, her hunt with her friend Matt is one of the book's highlights.
Hers is not the same type of growth one encounters in other books about becoming an adult, and I am thrilled that my recent trip to Alaska and attendant search for works set there led me to it.
August 14, 2019
When Adrienne Lindholm was a child her family took a month-long, cross-country trip to several National Parks from their home in Pennsylvania. This was when Lindholm first discovered her love of the outdoors and nature. In college she met a friend and they moved out to Colorado - working any job they could find just to be able to live out West. After several years of adventures in several Western states Adrienne gets a job as a park ranger in Denali National Park in Alaska - the ultimate outdoor adventure destination. Once in Alaska Lindholm loves it and finds a group of friends who all came to Alaska looking for adventure like she did. Eventually she falls in love and gets married and decides to stay in Alaska.
There were a few things I didn't love about this book. Lindholm talks about how before moving to Alaska she hated the idea of hunting, but once there she saw how many people depended on hunting for their food. She started being more open to hunting as a better alternative to the industrial food industry and did actually hunt, but then barely mentioned it again. It just seemed odd that she did it a few times and just dropped it. I was also disappointed that the last several chapters of the book were about her struggle with her husband over having children. He decided he couldn't live without children, but she was still on the fence. She eventually gave in and then they struggled with several miscarriages before finally having their daughter when Lindholm was almost 40. I don't begrudge their decision to have a child, but I'm tired of so many women who say they don't want children then giving in because it's expected or everyone else is having kids, etc. and now their life is complete. The book wasn't amazing, but the end was just not what I was expecting in terms of the focus of the book. It just goes to show that even in Alaska among very adventurous people there is still that pressure to "settle down" and have kids.
There were a few things I didn't love about this book. Lindholm talks about how before moving to Alaska she hated the idea of hunting, but once there she saw how many people depended on hunting for their food. She started being more open to hunting as a better alternative to the industrial food industry and did actually hunt, but then barely mentioned it again. It just seemed odd that she did it a few times and just dropped it. I was also disappointed that the last several chapters of the book were about her struggle with her husband over having children. He decided he couldn't live without children, but she was still on the fence. She eventually gave in and then they struggled with several miscarriages before finally having their daughter when Lindholm was almost 40. I don't begrudge their decision to have a child, but I'm tired of so many women who say they don't want children then giving in because it's expected or everyone else is having kids, etc. and now their life is complete. The book wasn't amazing, but the end was just not what I was expecting in terms of the focus of the book. It just goes to show that even in Alaska among very adventurous people there is still that pressure to "settle down" and have kids.
November 21, 2020
Once I started reading this book I didn't stop until the end. In this memoir, Adrienne Lindholm shares her experiences camping, hiking, climbing, bushwhacking, canoeing, kayaking, racing, and living a big bold life. Her writing style is descriptive enough to transport you to the wilds of Alaska but strikes a smooth balance she avoids being flowery or sugary, she is succinct.
I appreciated the way she takes readers through her life from childhood to adulthood. The whole book deftly weaves through her relationships with others and herself. She seemingly effortlessly describes relationships with friends, family, and her husband. I respect the way she wrote about her struggle with deciding to have children, and the three consecutive painful miscarriages. It isn't easy to bare your soul on the page.
Overall, I thought the author wrote solidly about people, places, and self. As a reformed couch potato, a city girl who loves the mountains...this was a good read. While reading this book I smiled often, laughed a few times, and dreamed fondly of my next trip to the mountains. I'm encouraged to plan longer adventures in the great outdoors.
I appreciated the way she takes readers through her life from childhood to adulthood. The whole book deftly weaves through her relationships with others and herself. She seemingly effortlessly describes relationships with friends, family, and her husband. I respect the way she wrote about her struggle with deciding to have children, and the three consecutive painful miscarriages. It isn't easy to bare your soul on the page.
Overall, I thought the author wrote solidly about people, places, and self. As a reformed couch potato, a city girl who loves the mountains...this was a good read. While reading this book I smiled often, laughed a few times, and dreamed fondly of my next trip to the mountains. I'm encouraged to plan longer adventures in the great outdoors.
September 17, 2018
I picked up this book in a Ketchikan independent bookstore when we were in Alaska last month. We had just spent two weeks exploring the interior of this amazing state and sailing on a cruise. My family and I fell in love with the rugged scenery. We had even flown into the Arctic and did adventures like I had never done before.
When I saw her book, I resonated with the author’s background as I too came from the east coast and landed on the west coast. We, as a family, yearn to explore more of Alaska so her book really spoke to me. I enjoyed reading about her journey and backcountry adventures. I appreciated her perspective and respect her desire to protect the wilderness. Having traveled around Alaska, I could visualize many of the ranges and places she described. I’ll never forget our journey into the arctic so I appreciated reading of her awe and fascination with that place.
It’s a good book to read if you’re curious about Alaska, like adventure and have pondered the possibility of moving there.
When I saw her book, I resonated with the author’s background as I too came from the east coast and landed on the west coast. We, as a family, yearn to explore more of Alaska so her book really spoke to me. I enjoyed reading about her journey and backcountry adventures. I appreciated her perspective and respect her desire to protect the wilderness. Having traveled around Alaska, I could visualize many of the ranges and places she described. I’ll never forget our journey into the arctic so I appreciated reading of her awe and fascination with that place.
It’s a good book to read if you’re curious about Alaska, like adventure and have pondered the possibility of moving there.
May 19, 2020
I binge-read this book from cover to cover and I’m sorry to see it end; I quite enjoyed my time in Lindholm’s world. This memoir of wanderlust and adventure-seeking in remote wilderness areas of Alaska invites readers into intimate encounters with landscapes most of us will never glimpse, though not in any sort of macho look-at-me-and-my-athletic-prowess sort of way, but in a completely relatable human seeking meaning and fulfillment way. Though I’ve never been drawn to the sort of extreme wilderness sports or backcountry excursions Lindholm shared in this book, I came to understood why she was, and some of what she got out of it. Unlike many travel or adventure writers, Lindholm knows how to explore and express meaning in her writing, answering the “so what” that I’ve often come away with after similar books. This memoir was an enjoyable vacation from my world, a window in to a life vastly different from mine, and at the same time, as the best memoirs are, simultaneously a window into myself and the choices I’ve made along my own wild road.
January 7, 2025
I wanted so like this book so bad! To preface, it’s always hard to critique a true story. But here goes. I just could NOT with JT after one trip 44% into the book where JT and Adrienne have hiked down a glacier and slept overnight in a tent. In the morning they inflate their boats and Adrienne expresses that she is nervous about navigating the river – a section that neither of them are familiar with. But JT “playfully” asks Adrienne “how freaked out do you think you’re going to be today?” and follows it up with “how many boxes of Kleenex is it going to take to wipe up all of your tears today?” Dismissive of her legitimate concern – ick. That such a capable woman would accept this as humorous and continue a relationship was not something I wanted to spend any more time with. With that being said, Adrienne really captured describing the majesty of the Anchorage area and I loved the chapter in the National Wildlife Refuge. DNF’d after 50%
June 20, 2025
After our Alaska trip of 2024, I have a special interest in all things Alaska. This book was in our home… I had time… I read it in one day.
It speaks to the personal journey of a young woman who was born and raised on the east coast. But adventures were in her blood. She started heading out west and then finally, Alaska on what was to be a three month summer job. She never came back.
She speaks of her life there, her friends, and meeting her husband out in the wilderness. She worked for various National Park services throughout the state.
But the book goes to her personal life. How she met someone who shared her values. They married and continued on with “adventures.”
The book ends with her telling us if her daughter, Avery. After four miscarriages and much frustration.
This was a good read, a fast read.
It speaks to the personal journey of a young woman who was born and raised on the east coast. But adventures were in her blood. She started heading out west and then finally, Alaska on what was to be a three month summer job. She never came back.
She speaks of her life there, her friends, and meeting her husband out in the wilderness. She worked for various National Park services throughout the state.
But the book goes to her personal life. How she met someone who shared her values. They married and continued on with “adventures.”
The book ends with her telling us if her daughter, Avery. After four miscarriages and much frustration.
This was a good read, a fast read.
December 11, 2018
Deeply engaging memoir of a life entwined with the natural world. I love that it could be read as short essays over the author's life. I love that there are so many ambivalencies -- the struggle between preservation and utilization in national parks, the difficulties women face when deciding if they want to have children, the blending of values from progressive to conservative when living in a place that is so much more dependent on hunting for survival. Lots of really interesting questions to think about, and she does a fabulous job thinking about them. Also, does a wonderful job with the setting -- Alaska as experienced by someone who enjoys high level hiking adventures. Fascinating.
June 19, 2025
My kids got me this book for my birthday. The author starts out from a very different place that I'm at in life. At the beginning of the book, I worried that her belief system could be off putting to me and I wondered if I would be able to enjoy her story regardless of her very strong beliefs that are antithetical to my own. I enjoyed watching her own beliefs morph and change in some ways and could agree with a lot of her heartfelt feelings regarding those changes. It was very interesting to watch a young woman "grow" and it reminded me of my own changes since being a young woman.
I enjoyed her story telling and learning about regions of Alaska that I hadn't explored through reading yet.
I enjoyed her story telling and learning about regions of Alaska that I hadn't explored through reading yet.
February 22, 2019
I thoroughly enjoyed the first 3/4 of this book. Lots of tales of adventure and learning about yourself while out in the woods. I resonated with a lot of what the author was saying in the first 3/4's. I'm glad to see the shift from east cost views on topics such as hunting had changed - and she did a great job at explaining the connection we are missing and should have with our food. But like another reviewer said - the last 1/4 talked about her issues with childbearing so much it felt like a separate topic that completely took over.
January 1, 2020
Aw, I loved this little book. Lindholm has a beautiful way of writing about wilderness and the outdoors. Better yet, she tackles complexity head-on with thoughtfulness and grace. Alaskan politics, the nature of conservation and wilderness, hunting, and motherhood - all get a fair look at both sides. Out of all the “nature memoirs” I read, I really enjoyed this one. A standout for me for sure, and a fitting way to wrap up a year in which a majority of books I’ve read seem to have been women’s memoirs.
March 30, 2022
I’m a sucker for every Alaska memoir out there. Adrienne’s thoughts resonated with my own about complex issues, like Alaska’s “resources, respectfully giving both sides of the argument. Her writing is captivating. With that being said, I did have the feeling the whole time I was just reading about her Alaskan adventures in a semi-chronological way without any purpose. Kind of like pieced together storytelling that started and stopped and started and stopped. Still good, especially if you love reading about Alaska as much as I do.
June 7, 2023
After reading quotes like this early on in the book I almost stopped reading: "Technology and development are evil. Hunting animals is wrong, Children compromise the ability to ring the nectar out of life. I for one will not be having any. You don’t need anyone to take care of you. You don’t need a husband." etc.
Glad to see she didn't hold to these beliefs after living in Alaska for awhile. I have read a ton of books about living in Alaska and was looking forward to reading this. However it was not nearly as good as many of the other books I have read.
Glad to see she didn't hold to these beliefs after living in Alaska for awhile. I have read a ton of books about living in Alaska and was looking forward to reading this. However it was not nearly as good as many of the other books I have read.
September 20, 2018
Absolutely incredible read with twists and turns with every page. It felt at times as if I were a part of the story as the authors writing is truly gripping. Every adventure has a purpose in growth both physical and emotional. You will quickly bond with the stories and gain perspective on both the authors journey and your own. This is a MUST read and the very best book I've read in a long time!
May 10, 2020
Full confession: I enjoyed the first half of this book, which was a look at what it would be like to uproot and move to Alaska (in an alternate reality where I am an active outdoorsy person instead of a lazy outdoorsy person), but lost interest in the second half which seemed to pivot completely and almost could have taken place anywhere (largely focused on the author's marriage and fertility struggles and losses).
cw: miscarriage
cw: miscarriage
March 15, 2019
I'm drawn to memoirs that capture the feeling of wilderness and connection with nature. This is the story of Adrienne's experiences in Alaska and how the wildness of place has become home to her. I also appreciated being able to "see" many areas of Alaska that I did not see while I was there and to feel like I was there.
August 30, 2025
I'm half way through, and LOVING IT! The book reads smoothly, effortlessly telling her multi-faceted story about her life in Alaska, obviously! No spoilers here, read it, you will definitely enjoy it, and probably get inspired to have your own adventure, maybe even in Alaska! I know for sure I want to go someday, just to experience even a tiny silver sliver:)
January 26, 2020
A beautiful telling of one woman's journey in the wilderness of Alaska as she travels her own paths in life. Travesing societal norms and how they fit into her idea of a life well lived, her honesty is refreshing.
February 11, 2021
Another book motivating me to visit Alaska. The author is very honest about her hesitancy to do the "normal" things like marry and have kids as that path is associated with a loss of independence and adventure, and how her thought process changed over time.
May 31, 2022
This was a really interesting listen, I love to read about people living in remote places such as Alaska. I can’t review well as I have never read a personal memoir before, but I am definitely curious to read more.
August 24, 2018
purchased on Amazon
November 25, 2018
Well written, well told story. I appreciated her reflections on people/family vs. place. I, too, am a child whom the PNW adopted and made her own.
December 9, 2018
Amazing journey of her life I Alaska. Gave insight to the Alaska wilderness, and her personal journey.
February 2, 2022
Want to read about someone’s beginning in Alaska? This is one of those stories.
October 1, 2019
I had read other reviews that were so complimentary, so I bought this book thinking it would be a really informative read on Alaskan life. It may be unfair to dislike this book, because I may have been looking for something within it that was never there to begin with. I'm sure Adrienne is a fantastic friend in real life (as many of the reviewers are) but as a completely non-Alaskan reader, this book was sort of a letdown. She narrates in a semi-chronological way, but darts around so much within each story that it was like reading a conversation with myself when I've had too much coffee. Within each story are about 10 tangents, and it's hard to focus on her descriptions of the landscape when I'm trying to figure out what she's talking about and if it's in the same time period as the beginning of the sentence.
I really wanted to read a story about someone like myself, who has a lot of compassion for animals, and finds themselves in a state where there's natural beauty but not many people who see it the same way. I find it heartbreaking that the author mentions her love for wild creatures, but fails to even mention the death of her dog, August. She chronicles the death of her husband's dog, but her own dog, August seems to be an afterthought among her own self reflections and "quiet moments" hiking around their house. I shouldn't judge someone I don't know, but if you take the time to write a book about your life and forget to mention your dog that has lived beside you for almost two decades, then I can't really see her as the empathetic figure she tries to paint herself as.
I found this book to be disappointing because nothing ever is explained in a sensible way. This woman has made a fantastic life for herself but glosses over the exciting adventures to focus on her feelings about random things. All in all, I would say keep searching if you are looking for a window into Alaskan life.
I really wanted to read a story about someone like myself, who has a lot of compassion for animals, and finds themselves in a state where there's natural beauty but not many people who see it the same way. I find it heartbreaking that the author mentions her love for wild creatures, but fails to even mention the death of her dog, August. She chronicles the death of her husband's dog, but her own dog, August seems to be an afterthought among her own self reflections and "quiet moments" hiking around their house. I shouldn't judge someone I don't know, but if you take the time to write a book about your life and forget to mention your dog that has lived beside you for almost two decades, then I can't really see her as the empathetic figure she tries to paint herself as.
I found this book to be disappointing because nothing ever is explained in a sensible way. This woman has made a fantastic life for herself but glosses over the exciting adventures to focus on her feelings about random things. All in all, I would say keep searching if you are looking for a window into Alaskan life.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews