Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah

 

Summary (from the publisher): 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.

Summary: Sisters Meredith and Nina have vastly different lives. Meredith lives in her hometown, where she raised two daughters and works for the family orchard business. And Nina has traveled the globe as a photojournalist. But when their beloved father, the glue of their family, falls terminally ill, they must come together again. On his deathbed, he asks his daughters to listen to the Russian fairytale their distant mother used to tell them as girls. After his death, they honor his wish, and finally hear the harrowing story of their mother's life in war-torn Leningrad. 

This book had a slow start with seemingly low stakes that mostly center on Meredith's dissatisfaction with her life and marriage as she moves into her forties. But the tension dials up when their father dies and anxiety about their mother grows. The true heart of this story are the heartrending sections that detail their mother's "fairy tale" version of her childhood and life in Russia. Finally hearing about the horrible events she witnessed and endured during the war bring the sisters and their mother closer together and bring new understanding to the strained relationship they had with her throughout their childhood. 

I really appreciated that this book focused more on the generational fallout and decades' long trauma that survivors face in the aftermath of World War II. I have read and loved so many wartime novels but loved the different perspective on this one. Despite their mother's wish to bury the past, only in learning her story can her daughters truly know and appreciate who their mother is. I did think Nina's character and relationship was poorly fleshed out. And I questioned why their father was so passionately devoted to their mother given the husk of a person she was after the war. But otherwise, this was another enjoyable read from Kristin Hannah. 

Stars: 4

Related Titles: 

• The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
• The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah