Winter Garden

Product Information

More like 2.5 stars. I listened to this on CD. The first half gets too bogged down in mundane details. There are too many chapters when we are told that Meredith goes for a run, Meredith sits on the porch with her coffee, Meredith feeds the dogs, Meredith treats her husband coldly, Meredith is frustrated and hurt by her mother. Yes, we get the point already. Meredith's life is mundane and not what she dreamed it would be. Get on with the story! I read Winter Garden in our Traveling Sisters reading good and made for a great discussion. It is a well-layered, intriguing and powerful family saga that explores the complicated relationships between a mother and her daughters and the two sisters. 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. Some themes are close to me notably stories that deal with mothers and daughters or families in general. That is a theme also dear to Kristin Hannah, from what I read of her books and especially in Winter Garden: 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.

Be patient during the first half, it gets very good and emotional the second half. This is written in the past and present tense, which is a common format in many novels, but one that I enjoy. It's like reading two different novels.Aunque me ha gustado muchísimo esta historia, considero que El ruiseñor jamás podría ser superado, me queda claro que la autora sabe como contar una historia desgarradora, que te vacía por dentro y te deja sin nada, literalmente sin ganas de tomar otro libro, porque sientes que a éste no les has dado el suficiente tiempo de duelo. As children, the only connection between them was the Russian fairy tale Anya sometimes told the girls at night. Wonderful story of the promise to a father to hear the story of mother's life that brings a family together in love and respect. When a book brings tears it is worth reading. Nina and Meredith never had a mother they could count on or could talk to about boys. The only thing their mother was good for was telling them Russian fairy tales from her youth; Little did they know how important those fairy tales really were. Their father, however, was their hero. What they couldn't get from their mother, they got in spades from their father. When their father dies from heart problems, they are heartbroken. Nina's father makes a final proclamation as he lays dying: He wants Nina to convince her mother to tell the full fairy tale of "The Peasant Girl and The Prince." This fairy tale does more for their family than any of them could have ever expected. It will lead them on a journey of a lifetime.. I read this because it was said that it’s her best work but for me Nightingale is her best work it was way than this better in my opinion. It’s one of the best books i’ve even read i still can’t stop thinking about it and I don’t think i’ll ever stop 🥲💗

I found it absolutely fascinating and captivating watching the way the 'fairy tale' that the mother was telling slowly blended into reality. The transition was so powerful -- there are all these subtle details that if you read carefully, you'll catch and they'll take your breath away. It's a truly stunning piece of writing. The writing is lyrical and great, Hannah knows what she is doing and you can tell that she is a talented author from her prose and the way she writes. The story has a poignant tone and I read it when it was raining outside and almost freezing which was a very good choice in my opinion because this is not a summer beach read! I found this novel to be both breathtaking and magnificent, yet exponentially heart-wrenching. It made me feel things I didn't even know I was capable of feeling. This book evoked such emotion in me, I didn't even realize I had tears streaming down my face. There are books that I read and I love.. and then there are those few, inimitable books that change me. That shake me to the core. 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.Winter Garden tells the story of Meredith and Nina Whitson and their supposedly heartless mother Anya. For over an extended period we get to know of Anya while she faces tremendous obstacles and disaster, but ends surviving despite all her suffering. It's not a trivial novel; it's not romantic, it is almost an epic. It's repeatedly a struggle. I think it's written to be read on a sunny day, or it might be shattering. That is how I felt from the way it impacted me, as a mother and as a sister. Despite it all, I fully enjoyed it. Hannah tells a breathtaking story, I don't comment on it feebly. It is astonishing and heartbreaking. But in the end there is hope, so all is well after all! 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. Imposible no sentir en la propia piel el frío de una Leningrado en guerra, el dolor de sus habitantes, el dolor de sus familias resquebrajadas y cómo es capaz de llevarlo cada personaje; una historia con tantas perdidas y sufrimiento, que solo te lleva a preguntarte: ¿Cómo pudieron sobreponerse? ¿Cómo se sobrelleva tanta perdida? ¿Cómo tu corazón puede seguir adelante y luchar cuando todo a tu alrededor ha perdido el sentido?

Vera and Sasha: everything happened so fast for me she fall in love with him the first time they met?which made no sense to me. And then I blinked and they were married. I wanted more interaction between them so i can be invested in their relationship but sadly there wasn’t they only talked like 6 or 7 times in the book i counted them. And i know this is a women fiction not romance but still i wanted more then this. Aún cuando sus primeras páginas (que no es poco, casi 40% del libro) sientes que no avanzas, que es una historia lenta y que no te atrae para nada, todo cambia repentinamente y ya no sientes apatía, quieres saberlo todo, que se termine "el cuento" para entender el por qué de las cosas. Ron Rash is renowned for his writing about Appalachia, but his latest book, The Caretaker, begins ... Maybe if I knew in advance what I'm about to read, it wouldn't have felt like the first 50% was just a loooong introduction that I wanted to skip! I would have enjoy it more.I experienced Hannah’s writing slightly more than a year ago when I read The Nightingale and I liked it very much! My friend Leslie then recommended this one as her favorite by the author and I did not think twice and got a copy of the book! Leslie was right because this was hauntingly beautiful! El que tenga oportunidad que lea este libro, lo disfrute a pesar de las tragedias, porque de ellas, definitivamente también aprendemos. There are people everywhere that find themselves in tumultuous relationships, but I think it would be the cold and uncaring attitude of a parent that would have the power to slice anyone to the core. Welcome to Meredith and Nina’s world. They grew up vying for their mother Anya’s love and attention, only to be pushed away and ignored. The worst part was seeing that she was actually capable of love in some ways. Anya shared an enviable connection with her husband; he adored her despite her frigid nature towards their daughters, but why? What did their dad see that Meredith and Nina couldn't? She will remember how she told them what she hadn’t known before: that war is about fire and fear and bodies lying in ditches by the side of the road.” Three and a half stars. Hard to write a review about this one as I had a few different thoughts. But here goes.

It’s possible that, for me, Hannah over-corrected in her rewrite, because I actually found the chapters about Meredith and Nina more interesting than their mother’s gradual fiction-into-fact revealing of her tragic experiences in the siege of Leningrad. I also found the ending to be a little too tightly wrapped in giant happily-ever-after bows of coincidence and catharsis, but readers who need cheerful conclusions may feel differently. Were there some weaknesses? Yes, but I’m so grateful for the quality of this novel, I’m willing to overlook them. By and far, this book blows anything and everything I’ve read this year, so far, completely out of the water. This isn't just one of my favorite books of the year, it's one of my favorite books of all-time. I know for a certainty that no matter how many books I read, this will always remain precious to me. It has beautiful writing, a breathtaking story, and a powerful ending -- the true sign of a fantastic novel. One of my favorite Kristin Hannah novels. Winter Garden is a heart-breaking but beautiful story of the power of love, family, and connection.

Winter Garden

Her novel, The Nightingale, has been published in 43 languages and is currently in movie production at TriStar Pictures, which also optioned her novel, The Great Alone. Her novel, Home Front has been optioned for film by 1492 Films (produced the Oscar-nominated The Help) with Chris Columbus attached to direct.