Winter Garden

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I experienced Hannah’s writing slightly more than a year ago when I read The Nightingale and I liked it very much! My friend Leslie then recommended this one as her favorite by the author and I did not think twice and got a copy of the book! Leslie was right because this was hauntingly beautiful! Vera and Sasha: everything happened so fast for me she fall in love with him the first time they met?which made no sense to me. And then I blinked and they were married. I wanted more interaction between them so i can be invested in their relationship but sadly there wasn’t they only talked like 6 or 7 times in the book i counted them. And i know this is a women fiction not romance but still i wanted more then this. The women in this book made me want to scream at how unemotional they where, and how they treated the good men around them. 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.

Meanwhile, her friend Rosa finds herself in an unhappy situation, and only her own skill and determination will see her through. More like 2.5 stars. I listened to this on CD. The first half gets too bogged down in mundane details. There are too many chapters when we are told that Meredith goes for a run, Meredith sits on the porch with her coffee, Meredith feeds the dogs, Meredith treats her husband coldly, Meredith is frustrated and hurt by her mother. Yes, we get the point already. Meredith's life is mundane and not what she dreamed it would be. Get on with the story! 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, these two estranged women will find themselves together again, standing alongside their cold, disapproving mother, Anya, who even now, offers no comfort to her daughters. On his deathbed, their father extracts one last promise from the women in his life.

The biggest problem I have with this book is about the very unidimensional feminism. It is quite clear the author wanted to denounce the sexism of this time, but it is a feminism centered on the protagonists, a real egocentric white feminism. Not even a word about racism and colonization of this period, it could have been in the book as Beatrice is traveling, some opportunities was clearly missed here and in the end the book has some really sketchy racist vibes and ... no thank you if u like the vibes and storylines from the night circus/alice in wonderland definitely consider reading this one💗 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. What starts as a dysfunctional domestic situation between 2 sisters (American born) and their Russian-born mother ends up being so much more. Grief and a deathbed promise brings these unhappy women reluctantly together, and what seemed like a familial dysfunction becomes an intimate look at the mother of these two sisters who was raised in Russia during the war. Primarily they learn about a side of her they never knew. Her story of war-torn Leningrad, paints a vivid picture of the atrocity of war. One cannot fathom the pain, hunger, starvation and death all around the survivors, the terror of small children being taken by train away from their parents, starving, cold, crying and afraid. Your heart sinks and you feel your throat all choked up. Don't be surprised if your eyes smart a few times and tears cloud your vision as you're reading this emotional rendering. This part of the novel is truly heartbreaking. I found it very moving, and well written. Beatrice is shown the magical Winter Garden in her darkest moments as a child. When the garden moves on no one believes her. Skip 18 years and Beatrice is set to marry a man her father approved of, but Beatrice decides to disregard societal expectations and pursue her search for the Winter Garden. When Beatrice is invited to take part in an extraordinary competition she didn't realise she would be up against her best friend.

We all really loved the discussion we had for this one and we really dug deep into the emotional depth of this story and how it made us feel. We used some discussion questions that really enhanced our discussion. It’s stories and discussions like this that really bring out the best reading experiences for me. Winter Garden tells the story of Meredith and Nina Whitson and their supposedly heartless mother Anya. For over an extended period we get to know of Anya while she faces tremendous obstacles and disaster, but ends surviving despite all her suffering. It's not a trivial novel; it's not romantic, it is almost an epic. It's repeatedly a struggle. I think it's written to be read on a sunny day, or it might be shattering. That is how I felt from the way it impacted me, as a mother and as a sister. Despite it all, I fully enjoyed it. Hannah tells a breathtaking story, I don't comment on it feebly. It is astonishing and heartbreaking. But in the end there is hope, so all is well after all! The story within the story, the so-called Fairy Tale, is quite compelling, telling a personal account of the siege of Leningrad in WWII. This is the real meat of this book, but that doesn't get rolling until the second half of the book. I wish the author had just written straight historical fiction of only the Leningrad part and left all the present-day stuff out of it. I did find the ending too implausible to be a tear-jerker. I rolled my eyes when I think I was supposed to cry. i feel like that quote fits the main characters really well. i loved the women in this book. there were so passionate about their work, something i really can admire. Imposible no sentir en la propia piel el frío de una Leningrado en guerra, el dolor de sus habitantes, el dolor de sus familias resquebrajadas y cómo es capaz de llevarlo cada personaje; una historia con tantas perdidas y sufrimiento, que solo te lleva a preguntarte: ¿Cómo pudieron sobreponerse? ¿Cómo se sobrelleva tanta perdida? ¿Cómo tu corazón puede seguir adelante y luchar cuando todo a tu alrededor ha perdido el sentido?I didn't quite expect the melancholia but somehow it worked and, rather than depressing me, it helped me appreciate the escapism that the Garden presented. Both Nina and Meredith have grown up into adults who are unable to have normal relationships with others. Meredith's marriage is failing, because she shuts her husband out with an emotional wall. Nina is a world famous photographer who runs away from family and commitment by flying off to the latest war/famine/disaster. She refuses to accept a marriage proposal from someone who loves her and she loves because of her stunted emotional growth.