Title: Winter Garden Pdf
Author: Kristin Hannah
Mesmerizing from the first page to the last, Kristin Hannah's Winter Garden is one woman s sweeping, heartbreaking story of love, loss, and redemption. At once an epic love story set in World War II Russia and an intimate portrait of contemporary mothers and daughters poised at the crossroads of their lives, it explores the heartbreak of war, the cost of survival and the ultimate triumph of the human spirit. It is a novel that will haunt the reader long after the last page is turned.1941. Leningrad, a once magical city besieged by war, cut off from aid, buried in snow. A city full of women desperate to save their children and themselves 2000. Loss and old age have taken a terrible toll on Anya Whitson. At last, she will reach out to her estranged daughters. In a halting, uncertain voice, she begins to weave a fable about a beautiful Russian girl who lived in Leningrad a lifetime ago Nina and Meredith sit spellbound at their mother s bedside, listening to a story that spans more than sixty years and moves from the terrors of war-torn Leningrad under siege to modern-day Alaska. In a quest to uncover the truth behind the story, Nina and Meredith discover a secret so shocking, so impossible to believe, it shakes the foundation of their family and changes who they believe they are. Another powerful story of family love, and strong women a fascinating story that weaves fairy tales into reality, fairy tales that don t always have the expected endings. The Herald-News a gripping read. Hannah s audience will find plenty to discuss in this enthralling entry. Booklist
I've thickened out after 4 chspters.I'm sure if I stuck with it I'd enjoy finding out more about the characters and its real written. But it's unremitting misery. Father dying, women desperately unhappy in their lives. Just nothing I want to read about. I'm so disappointed. Maybe I'll try it again sometime.Slow Start - Magnificent Finish Just put my Kindle down....I hardly know how to start this review. I will never forget this book, nor the strong feelings it engendered inside me. For this reason, it has to be five stars. I hate romances; I never read them, and can barely tolerate a romance tucked inside a thriller or mystery, or time travel science fiction. I must admit, I almost put this down a couple of times during the first 20% or even 30%. In truth, it was so terribly depressing that I argued with myself about whether I should keep reading. Not exactly a description of a five star novel, huh? The problem was that the characters were so well drawn that I almost felt I knew them from another time, another life. I was annoyed that the author just about hit the reader over the head to emphasize the character traits....okay, I get it already! Meredith works herself constantly to keep from feeling anything; Nina runs all over the world to keep from being at home with her own feelings. Any "constant reader" can predict portions of the ending when books start like this. But...but....then I began to realize the depth of the history that I was being taught. The siege of Leningrad....I never thought of it before. Nearly nine hundred days and over one million people dead - more than 700 thousand from starvation - women and children in a world turned upside down. I never realized that this was yet another horror of World War II. I've read the Holocaust stories and thought of the suffering and the losses and bravery of the people of Europe and other countries....but Russia? I'm ashamed to say I knew nothing. This brilliant author had a story to tell and told it in the best context possible - through realistic people whose lives and feelings just about jumped off the pages and into my heart. Thank you, Kristin Hannah, for an amazing read.Extremely disappointed, cannot believe all the good reviews this book received! I NEVER write book reviews but this book was such a huge disappointment I felt compelled to write about it to hopefully give others an insight into what they might expect. I have to say I am shocked at all the amazing reviews it has received. A while ago I came across and read The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah and loved it so when this book was recommended by a friend and knowing that it was also about WWII era I picked it up enthusiastically. Unfortunately it turned out to be a HUGE disappointment as it does not compare in any way to her former book. The characters in this book are extremely flat, one dimensional and unrelatable. They are outright cold and unlikable and no matter the horrible experiences they go through I couldn t bring myself to feel sorry for them. The first half of the book is a constant repetition of how damaged the relationship between the mother and her daughters is and how disconnected they are from each other and themselves. The plot barely advances and there is no deeper insight into the characters either, a complete drag. When the parallel WWII Russia story starts the plot somewhat gains momentum but again the book does very little to connect you to that era. It feels to me like despite the valuable research Mrs Hannah has done on Stalin era Leningrad she has very little understanding and appreciation of the nuances and intricacies of the culture and the place she writes about. As such her description of the events and characters in that era is superficial at best.And the ending was the worst part. It is so sugar coated it feels completely fake and unrealistic as if she wanted to reward her readers with cheap candy for perseveringly through the misery of the rest of it.All in all this book was definitely not for me or anyone looking for a good piece of literarure or realistic account of WWII Russia and its survivors. Please save your time and money and read something else!
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