Elisabeth Plimpton's Reviews > Winter Garden

4.5 stars

One of my favorite Kristin Hannah novels. Winter Garden is a heart-breaking but beautiful story of the power of love, family, and connection.

Meredith and Nina are two sisters that lead very different lives. They grew up with a distant mother and in turn have never been close to one another. Their mother told them a fairytale as children. When their father dies it is his last wish that their mother tell them the whole story.

With differing opinions on how to help their heart-broken mother, the sisters work to convince her to tell the full fairytale. We soon find out that the fairytale is a real story about the hardships of life in Leningrad during WWII. Their mother, Anya, begins to soften by opening up. She releases her guilt and forgives herself for the impossible choices she had to make in her past. By sharing, she shines a light on the loss and starts to heal her wounds.

Everything in the story become more connected by the end; however, the last hundred pages were the most captivating. The author spent a lot of time in the beginning setting the scene. The first half of the book was dominated by family tension and each character’s own personal dilemmas. The novel didn’t feel as historically focused as other WWII books. Most of the history was in the second half. It was devastating but interesting to learn about this unique WWII perspective along with the terror of the Stalin regime and the siege of Leningrad.

The ending was unexpected but happy. Each character learned lessons and grew into their best selves. Anya is a warrior and a lioness. From hearing her story we learn that being vulnerable makes us stronger. Sharing our pain helps us heal and we must forgive ourselves in order to love fully. Anya’s heartfelt and tragic story was truly beautiful.

“To lose love is a terrible thing, but to turn away from it is unbearable.”

“Life—and love—can be gone any second. When you had it, you needed to hang on with all your strength and savor ever second.”