Winter Garden, A Novel by Kristin Hannah. Another winner! This is a great book full of history. It goes back and forth between modern time and “war-torn Leningrad”. It will make you appreciate all you have and really think about things differently. The struggles, the relationships, the difficulties but also the love, compassion and caring. Women coming together, even if it takes years.

This was fabulous and it’s a keeper, will definitely reread one day and I just don’t do that…

Read about Winter Garden on the author’s website: KristinHannah.com.

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Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah

From the author of acclaimed national bestseller Firefly Lanecomes a haunting, heartbreakingly beautiful novel that illuminates the intricate mother-daughter bond and explores the enduring links between past and present.

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 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.

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.

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There is an excellent essay by Kristin Hannah “Behind the Book” – regarding the research for Winter Garden. Fascinating! Find it on her website – link above (or Google “Kristin Hannah Winter Garden”).

My review on Goodreads:

5 Stars! A rollercoaster of emotions and surprises throughout this book. The first half of the book sets the story, gives you the background on the relationship between a mother and her two daughters. There are struggles and so many questions. Then the story starts to fly by rapidly. Questions are answered. You won’t be able to put this book down. Another winner by Kristin Hannah!

📚 Until next time…