As children, the only connection between them was the Russian fairy tale Anya sometimes told the girls at night. I was completely smitten with both, they were as different as the sisters, but worthy in their own ways. The story is told from the past through a fairy tale told by distant, cold and interesting Anya who is layered with mystery and the present as we see how the fairy tale begins to bond these women together.

I even enjoyed the happy ending which I know I complained about but here it just felt like it flowed to that point naturally.They would always be a family, but if she learned anything in the past few weeks it was that a family wasn't a static thing.

g., "She exchanged her robe and pajamas for a pair of comfortable jeans and a cable-knit turtle neck sweater".Any attempts they tried to make to get close to her were rebuffed, so they gave up trying and began to believe that maybe their mother just didn't really care about them very much. The only other books that has made me cry this hard before has been The Bronze Horseman which is my favorite book in the world. So much of the personality quirks of each of the women is explained by delving into the dynamics of the family relationships. I think it was written like that on purpose -- to make you experience the message of the story first hand.

Her novel, Home Front has been optioned for film by 1492 Films (produced the Oscar-nominated The Help) with Chris Columbus attached to direct.

Meredith is a closed off sort of person, afraid to show emotion and Nina came across as selfish, with no regard for family. Unlike other non-fiction accounts of this horrible period of Russian history, this was no detached, emotionless telling of the hundreds of thousands who literally starved to death. By and far, this book blows anything and everything I’ve read this year, so far, completely out of the water.