Kristin Hannah

Winter garden

Sometimes when you open the door to your mother's past, you find your own future . . .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 travelled the world to become a famous photo journalist. 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.It begins with a story that is unlike anything the sisters have heard before - a captivating, mysterious love story that spans sixty-five years and moves from frozen, war torn Leningrad to modern-day Alaska. The vividly imagined tale brings these three women together in a way that none could have expected. Meredith and Nina will finally learn the secret of their mother's past and uncover a truth so terrible it will shake the foundation of their family and change who they think they are.Every once in a while a writer comes along who navigates the complex and layered landscape of the human heart. For this generation, it's Kristin Hannah. Mesmerizing from the first page to the last, Winter Garden is an evocative, lyrically written novel that will long be remembered.

Winter Garden

Akansha

A heart breaking account of a tragic time in history. Not an easy read, but an important one. 

Elyse 

alexandria slocum

this is my all time favorite historical fiction piece. i went through so many emotions throughout this book and remember being so moved at the end. it was overall just an amazing book, i would re read it and i don’t re read books. the winter garden brings you along with two sisters, their i’ll father and their mother who couldn’t care less about this. the only connection dion their mother had with them as children was telling them a russian fairytale. their fathers last wish was that their mother tell the full story to the end. the sisters finally hear the full story and learn the heart breaking truth about their mothers past.

I picked this book up because it was touted as historical fiction set during the WWII siege of Leningrad. It was that, but goodness, it took a long time to get there.

I enjoyed the story of Vera and her family during the siege. It was heartbreaking and painful and so eye-opening. The modern novel, especially the ending, however, was long and overly angsty for my liking. I enjoyed parts of the book, but this one won't stick with me.

Cheri McElroy

I picked this book up because it was touted as historical fiction set during the WWII siege of Leningrad. It was that, but goodness, it took a long time to get there.

I enjoyed the story of Vera and her family during the siege. It was heartbreaking and painful and so eye-opening. The modern novel, especially the ending, however, was long and overly angsty for my liking. I enjoyed parts of the book, but this one won't stick with me.

Ally Gagliardo

I wasn’t sure where this book was going when I started it, but wow. This is a wonderful book. At first, I didn’t like the “fairy tale”-like stories in the beginning, however, you learn to love the characters and want to know how it all connects.

Kerry Kalinoski

Kristin Hannah gets me every single time. I cried at the beginning and I cried at the end, such a beautiful story. Reading it I thought the beginning was too slow and too wordy but when I got to the end I knew it was perfect

Barbara Williford

Nina and Meredith have gone their entire lives trying to prove themselves to their cold, unloving mother. When their father passes away, they struggle fulfilling their promise to him to take care of their mother.

As they learn more about who she is, they begin to learn who they are and deal with their own person struggles and demons.

The characters were extremely self centered, annoying and hard to connect with. So many reviews said to stick with it and it would get better and they were right. About 3/4 into the book, the mother’s history comes to life and that’s when the book and the characters get better. When the daughter’s stop focusing on themselves and start focusing on others.

Mariam Mohsen

I cannot help smiling as I close this book—my book. After all these years, I have finished my journal. Not a fairy tale, not a pretense; my story, as true as I can tell it. My father would be proud of me. I am a writer at last. It is my gift to my daughters, although they have given so much more to me, and without them, of course, these words would still be trapped inside, poisoning me from within. I am a lucky woman. I did not always know that, but I do now. With all the mistakes I have made, all the bad and terrible choices, still I am loved in my old age, and, more important perhaps, I love.
 The book is wonderful, I loved how verra fought for her kids lives, though she was a little cruel with her girls after, and certainly I loved the father's roll, and how he cared for his girls as well as trying to make them love there mother even if she was pretty careless with them, surely it's worth 5 stars, and I really adored the kid Leo and I was really sad win he died

Suzy Dean

It does have a beautiful ending but the story itself did not captivate me as much as Hannah’s others. After reading The Nightingale and The Great Alone, I was left feeling a tad disappointed. I guess I could say this one was almost too modern for me. Perhaps less relatable characters? Meh

I am sobbing... That's how good this book was. My first five star read of 2022. Kristin Hannah is such an amazing author. I can't wait to catch up with her work. This was just wow ✨ 

Mesmerizing from the first page to the last, 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

Jordan Carr

Kristin Hannah has created a story that tore me apart and put me back together again every few pages. It was captivating and beautiful and heartbreaking all in one. I was sobbing all the way through the end and for hours afterward just thinking about it.

Meagan Fowler

Helena Cristina Nogueira Pereira

Jan Talkington

Another good one from Kristin Hannah. I was not surprised with where the story went, but the characters were so strong and well written that I was kept engaged. A prospective of WWII that I hadn't read before.

Elad Schulman

I really love Kristin Hannah's writing. However, I do feel like her characters in each book are a little similar, or at least, her characters from "The Nightingale" and this book are very similar. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed the story, and the only thing that slightly put me off was the fact that Meredith was a bit (more than a bit) annoying.

Emily Christensen

The first 100+ pages of this book were a bit rough to get through but once the story picked up it was SO GOOD! The epilogue could be skipped/was a little unnecessary. As far as Kristin Hannah books go it was par with The Great Alone, but The Nightingale is still the best.

Sometimes when you open the door to your mother's past, you find your own future . . . 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 travelled the world to become a famous photo journalist. 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. It begins with a story that is unlike anything the sisters have heard before – a captivating, mysterious love story that spans sixty-five years and moves from frozen, war torn Leningrad to modern-day Alaska. The vividly imagined tale brings these three women together in a way that none could have expected. Meredith and Nina will finally learn the secret of their mother's past and uncover a truth so terrible it will shake the foundation of their family and change who they think they are. Every once in a while a writer comes along who navigates the complex and layered landscape of the human heart. For this generation, it's Kristin Hannah. Mesmerizing from the first page to the last, Winter Garden is an evocative, lyrically written novel that will long be remembered.

Winter garden

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