When I checked out “Winter Garden” by Kristin Hannah, I was hoping for an interesting audio book to pass the hours on my recent road trip. I liked the cover, had not read any of Kristin Hannah’s work, and heard an intriguing discussion on the radio about it. Into my hands it went, along with two other audio books, just in case I needed another “read”, and off I went.
I just finished “Winter Garden” this morning as I pulled into a parking space to meet up with a friend. I didn’t want it to end and I did something I haven’t done with a book in a while. I cried those sobbing, choking tears that emerge from deep in one’s throat while reading a book. I call them my little women tears; the tears I always cry when Beth March dies.
I was thinking that “Winter Garden”, with its beautiful cover of snow, might be something for our book group come December. I’m silly that way. Snow on the cover – a good Christmas read? What a silly girl I am! This is a story within a story of love and hardship, deprivation and forgiveness.
Sisters Meredith and Nina are brought together at the death of their beloved father. On his deathbed, he asks Meredith, who lives nearby and is involved in the family’s Washington apple orchard, to take care of their mother, Anya. He asks Nina, a renowned photographer who travels the globe, to hear the untold portions of their mother’s Russian fairy tale. He requests of Anya, who was born in Russia, that she finish telling the fairy story she began when the girls were children.
As the sisters work through their grief, they struggle with their cold and distant mother – and with each other. It is in the gradual, reluctant, telling of the tale by Anya that they grow to understand her and themselves.
The sisters believe the story to be a traditional Russian folk tale; a prince and a beautiful maiden, trolls and black knights, elements that make up Russian folklore. There is more to this fairy tale, however, as it takes the reader from Washington State to Leningrad and then Alaska over a span of more than sixty years.
I’m not sure I would have continued with this book if I wasn’t listening to it on a long car ride. With twelve CD’s, I barely made it through the first six before I returned home. If I had not read a few reviewers admit that they almost gave up on the book, urging readers to keep going, I might have stopped. I’m so glad that I kept with it. So glad.
SPOILER ALERT This Russian tale inside the story is, at first, enchanting and romantic, of young lovers and poets in Leningrad. It takes a turn as the beautiful Vera’s father is arrested by trolls in a black carriage. Vera and Olga, her sister, are forced to take work in the Hermitage. There are food shortages and distrust of anyone and everyone, bombings, tragedy and unimaginable choices.
It is the fairy tale that captivated me, drew me in, deeper and deeper, as the tale unfolded with Anya’s telling of the horrors of the siege of Leningrad.
I knew of the siege. High school world history texts wrote of it, if only in a few paragraphs. My world history teacher, who had been to Russia, expounded on it, but, I really did not understand those 900 days of siege in a starving city in the coldest of Russian winters that came alive through Hanna’s writing. It left me wanting to learn more about this horrific time and place where it is estimated that one million people perished. It also made me wonder about the Russians who emigrated to Alaska and the west coast of the United States, especially after World War II.
Was Winter Garden more than an interesting cover? It surely was!
Wow, Penny! It must have been a truly emotionally hard-hitting read (listen) to so deeply impact you. I know the “Little Women” tears very well, and haven’t had anything, book or movie, hit me like those tears in an extremely long time. I am always interested in hearing about your audio books because I play around with the idea of them, but don’t seem to have long enough commutes anywhere to engage. If I listen at home I know I will be distracted. Thanks for another one of your really welcome book reviews. I keep a list! I think this would be a book I’d enjoy at some point. I do understand how one book can open interest to a new desire to know more about a topic or historical context. Isn’t that one of the most fantastic things about reading…there are NO limits!
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It was, Debra. I tried, for a few seconds, not to cry – then just sobbed, at several points in the book. It is a long book, but well worth the effort, especially as the Russian tale enfolds. I usually only do audio when I take a long trip. Like you, I’m too distracted at home. I have been know to sit in the car, in the driveway, finishing an audio book. I started reading this way when I had a twenty minute commute to work, years ago. It was fun as other audio readers (books on tape in those days) learned about it and confessed to their reading while driving as well. One of the owners even gave me his list of books he listened to and we connected on that level. Hi, Penny, what are you reading now? tee hee
You are spot on with book topics and historical context leading us on. Right now, I am interested in the heroic people, mostly women, who endured that horrible time and it is because of this book.
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I picked this up at a second hand shop. I too thought that it was a beautiful winter story. This was one of those books that “got under my skin”. I cried too and I actually felt cold while reading this even though I read it in my warm home. The vivid details and the courage of these people make this book such an engaging and unforgettable experience. I read this over a year ago and it is with me still. I had forgotten some details, but not the experience of reading it. Your review is perfect! I have been looking for more books by this author.
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Oh, Janet, now that you mention it, I first heard about Winter Garden from you. There it is, on my list of books to read with your name next to it. I just checked. That must have been why I was drawn to it. Can you imagine that cold? the frost on the little boys face as he slept? the deprivations? It was uncomfortable – and I couldn’t stop listening. There is so much I wanted to say in this already lengthy review about the siege, but, didn’t want to ruin it for those who might want to read it. I’m sure I will actually read some of her other books, especially if I come across a good “find” or I will check out other audios on my driving adventures. Thank you, Janet.
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This one is going on my reading list right now, Penny. I have been doing so much so-so reading of late (all books recommended to me by people ‘in the business’, things that might help my writing. Bleh.) This sounds PERFECT. You always share interesting books.
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Aw, thank you Andra. Just bear through the first part for the second half is so worth it. As I writer extraordinaire you will appreciate the characters and how they develop.
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Dear Penny, I’ve written down the name of the book as I will check it out from the library–on audio–when I next drive to Minnesota for a visit with friends. Thank you for sharing it with us.
I’m wondering how you are liking the PBS version of “The Midwives.” I’m so enjoying it and when the story quiets for a moment and we are with the nuns in chapel and they are chanting the lovely Gregorian music that was part of my life when I was in my twenties and early thirties, tears well in my eyes. So much beauty amidst so much hardship and pain in this series.
And yet within each nun is a deep, committed desire to help others. To work for justice. They are down-to-earth, pragmatic realists. They aren’t the “airy-fairy” kind of people that some think of when they think of nuns. They get their hands dirty and grimy and smile at the possibilities for life among us all. I’m so glad you suggested the book several months ago. Peace.
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It is a good one to take via audio on such a long drive, Dee. Just try to hang in through the first half as the second is worth the wait.
I’m liking it. The first episodes of “The Midwives” left me a tad disappointed, but, I realized that the characters needed to be introduced. There was just so much more to the couple with 25 kids that needed to be said. Having said that, however, I’m enjoying each and every episode tremendously.
The quiet time of chanting is indeed beautiful. I can imagine how it would bring back your memories. Having been raised in the Greek Orthodox faith, it draws me in as well. It is a calm amidst all the poverty in the lives surrounding them all, isn’t it?
I was particularly touched in the last episode with not only the woman who gives birth to a bi-racial child and her loving husband, but, with Jenny’s care of the veteran.
I’m so pleased that you enjoyed the book and now the series, Dee. I love the nuns in this story; working, caring, practical as they go about their mission. It will be enjoyable to see their and the nurses’ characters develop over the series.
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OK. You cried like you did when Beth March died…this tells me that the book is worth the time it will take. I will add it to the list. I don’t do audio books (I”m not proud of that, I just have’t gotten into it)…but I’ll look for it.
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A kindred spirit you are, Sallie. You know exactly what it means to cry when Beth March died. I think you will enjoy this – just know it takes awhile to get to the tears.
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Thank you for the excellent book review Penny, I’ll add it to the list!
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You’re welcome, Janet. I hope you enjoy it.
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[…] try, so I checked out “We Have Always Lived in the Castle” on audio along with “Winter Garden” to keep me company on my recent trip up to Minnesota. The last week of October, I […]
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[…] “The Winter Garden“, “The Madonnas of Leningrad” is about an aging woman who survived the siege of […]
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