Jaclyn’s Review: Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah

Winter Garden
written by Kristin Hannah
published by St. Martin’s Press, 2010

find it here: (affiliate links) Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Apple Books, Target, Walmart, Kobo, Book Depository, Goodreads

Did I enjoy this book? In this Kristin Hannah book, we are given a story about two sisters’ relationships with each other AND their mother AND their significant others. She really hit on everything in this one.

Essentially, this story is about sisters who lived with but never really KNEW their mother. After their father’s death, mom finally concedes to tell them her past and WOW, what a past! We find out that mom lived in Leningrad during WWII and nearly died in the siege. She had a husband and children who died; she was rescued by an American soldier, who eventually married her. This story is VERY slow moving, and the beginning was quite frustrating. I initially had a hard time when the story would switch between present day and WWII, but by the end of the story, I was enthralled. There was a beautiful plot twist at the end that I didn’t see coming.

Would I recommend it? This is a beautiful story, and if the WWII era interests you, I would definitely recommend this. As a book in general, I thought this was very slow moving and difficult to get into. It is a good story of love and loss and reconnecting. It is just also a big time investment.

 

 

About the book – from Goodreads: Can a woman ever really know herself if she doesn’t know her mother?
From the author of the smash-hit bestseller Firefly Lane and True Colors comes a powerful, heartbreaking novel that illuminates the intricate mother-daughter bond and explores the enduring links between the present and the past.

Meredith and Nina Whitson are as different as sisters can be. One stayed at home to raise her children and manage the family apple orchard; the other followed a dream and traveled the world to become a famous photojournalist. But when their beloved father falls ill, Meredith and Nina find themselves together again, standing alongside their cold, disapproving mother, Anya, who even now, offers no comfort to her daughters. As children, the only connection between them was the Russian fairy tale Anya sometimes told the girls at night. On his deathbed, their father extracts a promise from the women in his life: the fairy tale will be told one last time—and all the way to the end. Thus begins an unexpected journey into the truth of Anya’s life in war-torn Leningrad, more than five decades ago. Alternating between the past and present, Meredith and Nina will finally hear the singular, harrowing story of their mother’s life, and what they learn is a secret so terrible and terrifying that it will shake the very foundation of their family and change who they believe they are.

 

 

 

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** This post first appeared on Every Free Chance Books (everyfreechance.com) on July 5, 2021.