Winter Garden

a shockingly good ending to wrap up a book that's taken me nearly a year to finish! I'm sorry, but the first section I got into had such a lack of interest for me that I immediately fell off putting the effort in and almost gave up. My mom reminded me I wanted to read it last month though, and I came back around. We were supposed to read it as a buddy-read in March. She finished it before April, and you see how my progress went.

Anyway! The book was a stellar ending that managed to make me overlook the beginning and middle bits I didn't jive with. I think it ultimately just could've been better throughout, but I can also see how someone would disagree with me. I loved the way Hannah led us through the story bit by bit so that we picked up on little things throughout, but never all at once. I never felt tempted to "guess ahead" either, because the story was always giving me something to think about, such that I wasn't trying to skip to the "big shock". Even at the very end, which I guess I would consider the "big shock" I still was happy at the pacing that the author chose.

I wrote in my book journal in response to the question: "Who would you recommend this book to? someone with mom trauma. but like... not too much

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.

3.5 stars

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!

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.

I was very reluctant to finish this book and almost gave up 3 times before I reached my 100 page decision point. But by then I was so pulled in I could not leave even if I wanted to.
The beginnig got me, having lost my own father, and it hit very close to home. But, based on the reviews I saw, I anticipated to end the book in tears. But I reached the last chapter with dry eyes, Anya's story following the narrative I expected, but two pages later I was destroyed with the most beautiful bombshell and definitely ended the book with a few sobs and risked being called a drama queen by my fiance.
Freaking amazing family saga that took my breath away...

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 could not put down this book. It was amazing! Hauntingly tragic, it was an original telling of Stalin's siege of Leningrad during WWII intertwined with a very believable family drama. This is a must read, and I'm sure I will read it again someday.

Enjoyable story, easy to read. There were little things here and there in the story that bugged me, but nothing that made me want to throw the book across the room. Will probably pick up another Kristin Hannah book in the future.