“Mesmerizing from the first page to the last, Kristin
Hannah's Winter Garden is one woman’s sweeping, heartbreaking story of
love, loss, and redemption. At once an epic love story set in World War II
Russia and an intimate portrait of contemporary mothers and daughters poised at
the crossroads of their lives, it explores the heartbreak of war, the cost of
survival and the ultimate triumph of the human spirit. It is a novel that will
haunt the reader long after the last page is turned.” So starts the Amazon
review and I couldn’t agree more.
Meredith and Nina Whitson are as different as sisters can
be. One stayed at home to raise her children and manage the family business
while the other followed her dream and traveled the world becoming a famous
photojournalist. The sisters find themselves reunited when their beloved father
turns ill. They are also reunited with their cold, disapproving mother, Anya,
who even now, offers no comfort to her daughters. As children, the only
connection with their mother was the Russian fairy tale she sometimes told them
at bedtime about a beautiful Russian girl who lived in Leningrad a lifetime
ago….
On his deathbed, their father extracts a promise from the
women: the fairy tale will be told one last time— and all the way to the end. Alternating
between the past and present, Meredith and Nina hear the harrowing story of
their mother’s life, beginning in World War II Leningrad and spanning more than
sixty years to modern day Alaska. The story will shake the very foundation of
their family and change who they believe they are.
Kristin Hannah, the author of more than twenty books, started
out writing romances but has since changed her focus to stories of women's
lives and relationships, particularly in families. Her character-driven novels wrestle
with universal issues surrounding parenthood, marriage, infidelity, and loss. Many
of Hannah’s books can be found on the libraries’ shelves.
4.18 stars on Goodreads, 4.6 on Amazon
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