Winter Garden

Wow, Kristin Hannah has done it again for me. I thought no novel could affect me the way The Nightingale did, but I was wrong. This book is so well-crafted and utterly heart-wrenching. The story line went in a direction I did not anticipate at the start of the novel, in a good way. I thought the plot would be more about the two sisters, Meredith and Nina, who have been damaged by their mother's lack of affection. When they lose their beloved father, they are brought together to fulfill his dying wish for them to hear their mother's Russian fairy tale, which turns into an epic story of their mother's life in Russia during the reign of Joseph Stalin and World War II. Through the telling of Anya's story, the three women learn who each of them really is and who they are as a family.

I absolutely loved this book. Once I got to the middle of the book, I could not put it down. Anya's story of her years in Russia kept me captivated. For the last 100 pages, I was emotionally invested in the outcome. I will admit a few tears were shed during this reading. I would highly recommend this book to anyone that enjoys a family saga mixed with engaging historical fiction. Five star read!

I enjoyed this story and Kristin Hannah never disappoints. It's about 2 sisters who have a rocky relationship with their mother, who is Russian, as she has always been very aloof and frosty with them, although they never understood why. When their father is ill, he makes them promise that they will learn more about their mother and when he passes away they feel they have to keep that promise.

The characters are well developed and the plot is fascinating, my only issue with it is that it seemed to take a long time to get to the “meat” of the story. Once you do, however, it was riveting and heartbreaking.

This is my 4th Kristin Hannah book and I plan on reading all of them. She is simply amazing...love her writing and characters and of course the feelings. I've cried, at some point, with every book I've read so far and LOVE it.

Meredith and Nina do not understand why their mother hates them. Their entire childhood has been loves with cold and distance. If not for their father they would have grown up without love and laughter. When he grows ill the girls are beside themselves.

He makes them promise to help their mom because he knows she will fall apart without him. He likewise makes Anya promise to tell their girls her story so they will understand.

Can years of solitude and pain be healed with a simple story?

Absolutely heartbreaking, amazing, and beautiful story. I could barely breathe reading the last few chapters. I'm a mother of 4 and Nana of 6 so I felt ALL THE FEELS. Grab a box of tissue, this book and something comforting to get you through.

Wow... just wow! In my quest to read all of Kristin Hannah's books, I purchased WINTER GARDEN as the next one to be devoured. And devoured it was.

Two sisters, Meredith and Nina, different as night and day, must connect with their distant mother, Anya, when their father, the family glue, dies. It would be easier to connect with a fence post. Both daughters in their 40s, have never seen their mother smile or received a hug from her. The only comfort she ever gave them came in the form of a Russian fairytale. Somehow, when she relays the story of a prince and a peasant girl in Leningrad, all the emotion and goodness missing from their every day exchanges falls away.

I'm not one to read a lot of historical fiction but this lesson wrapped in a novel isn't to be missed. How the daughters relate to their mother directly affects their relationships to their significant others (Meredith's husband, Nina's lover). It seems their mother's cold exterior has transferred to both daughters, crippling their ability to commit and communicate.

The saga of how the daughters delve into their mother's past, what they learn, and how it affects them both is a history lesson and a life lesson. READ THIS BOOK TODAY!