Details
Rent Winter Garden
Author:
Format: Quality Paperback, Unabridged-CD
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Published: Jan 2011
Genre: Fiction - Family Life
Retail Price: $19.00
Pages: 400
Synopsis
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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Reviews
I was drawn to this novel for the interplay between past and present, and the idea of a fairytale motif masking a darker story. These elements kept me engaged, but the novel felt uneven. Several of the plot developments in the modernday story bordered too far on the melodramatic, and the fairy tale dragged on to the point of feeling heavyhanded. The sincerity of some of the quieter family moments and vivid, engrossing descriptions of Leningrad during the war were the novels greatest strengths. I wouldnt discourage anyone from reading this book, but I wont be itching to recommend it, either.
Loved it. Not usually a mystery fan, I really enjoyed the surprises in this book. Since I have friends whose parents endured some of the hardships told about in this story, it was especially interesting to me. Have recommended to several of my reading friends. Would certainly say excellent.
This is the best book I have read in quite some time. I love Kristin Hannah, and picked up this book without more than a cursory glance at the back cover. I was totally hooked within a few pages and could not put it down. The characters are so real, you feel like part o fthe story. There are lots of twists and turns in the plot, and something very unexpected toward the end. I loved it and wish there was a whole series of books with these characters.