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Winter Garden

by Kristin Hannah (Goodreads Author)

4.08 of 5 stars 4.08 · rating details · 33,427 ratings · 5,171 reviews

Can a woman ever really know herself if she doesn’t know her mother?

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 h...more

ebook, 345 pages

Published February 2nd 2010 by St. Martin's Press (first published February 1st 2010)

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Oct 03, 2011 Gloria Bernal rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

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 scenario in many novels, but one that I enjoy. It's like reading two different novels.

What starts as a dysfunctional domestic situation between 2 sisters (American born) and their Russian-born mother ends up being so much more. Grief and a deathbed promise brings these unhappy women reluctantly together, and what seemed like a familial dysfunction be...more

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Dec 14, 2012 Ns rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Winter Garden is a mesmerizing and enchanting novel about survival, enduring love, family, and the choices that can forever haunt you.

With the death of the patriarch comes the further disintegration of an already fragile bond between a distant, secretive mother and her daughters who are as different as can be. With the loss of their father, Meredith and Nina Whitson find themselves no closer to their mother at a time when they should have found comfort in one another. Instead their mother retre...more Winter Garden is a mesmerizing and enchanting novel about survival, enduring love, family, and the choices that can forever haunt you.

With the death of the patriarch comes the further disintegration of an already fragile bond between a distant, secretive mother and her daughters who are as different as can be. With the loss of their father, Meredith and Nina Whitson find themselves no closer to their mother at a time when they should have found comfort in one another. Instead their mother retreat into her world of secrets and a haunting, unimaginable past.

Having made a deathbed promise to her father to have her mother tell her fairy tale in its entirety and to the end, Nina is determined to fulfill that promise -this against a guarded sister and unwilling mother. What she does not realize is how meaningful and life-changing the story will be to her family.

The fairy tale is anything but a simple tale, it is Meredith and Nina's only real connection to a mother they have never really gotten to know, having long-ago given up trying, much less understand. As the story is revealed, a dawning realization of who their mother really is, why she is the way she is, and an understanding of self come to light and thus, the three women begin a journey of self-identity.

At the heart of the story is three women connected by the bonds of family who deal with grief differently and must come to terms with it. Who must learn to live on. For Anya Whitson, it means facing the ghosts of her past without the strength of her husband and learning to forgive and love. For Meredith and Nina it is understanding who their mother is without the shield of their father no longer protecting them from her indifference to them, and realizing who they are and what they want in life.

The story alternate between the present and their mother's past, skillfully and meaningfully delving into historical facts and cultural traditions which bring relevance to the story. It is not just Anya's story which is compelling and heart-breaking, there is also Meredith and Nina's stories that reflect two women at crossroads in their lives. Meredith's marriage is slowly unravelling without love to support it or knowing how to get that love back. Nina's career no longer excites her, instead her exhaustion highlight her loneliness and longing to be loved but not daring to let herself be.

Like the butterfly piece that is passed down from Anya's mother to herself and later her own daughter, it represent the gradual evolution of the three women who had begun a journey as strangers but at the end discovers who they really are and truly become a family. (less)

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Jan 04, 2012 Karen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: chick-lit, family, loss-and-grief, women-s-fiction, russia, war

Kristin Hannah's books have been recommended to me by a lot of friends, and I love the cover arts! (Who said we can't judge a book by a cover?) Unfortunately, I read The Night Road as my first book, and did not enjoy it as much as I enjoyed works by other similar authors, namely, Picoult and Chamberlain.

However, at the persuasion of more friends, I decided to give her another chance, so I chose Winter Garden as my fluff read at the end of last year to balance the stress. I was so wrong.

The story...more

17 likes · like · see review

Nov 23, 2011 Almeta rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: grsauthorization, double-dog-dare-un, in-a-land-far-far-away

This book was actually abandoned in our apartment complex library. (Something that is done by the residents, once they are finished with a book and wish to pass it on.) I seriously doubt that I would have made a decision to read it otherwise. It is quite a departure from my chosen reading genres.

And c'mon, its cover was just crying to fit a Winter challenge somewhere!

Still it was a very good book, and I am glad that I decided to read it. Just reminds me that I need to stretch my legs occasiona...more

8 likes · like · see review

Oct 20, 2012 Mandy Jo rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This week’s headline? mom and daughters

Why this book? recommended by mom

Which book format? kindle enhanced version

Primary reading environment? vacation with mom

Any preconceived notions? high-strung, emotional

Identify most with? urge to run

Three little words? “Mom turned slowly”

Goes well with? meal at Veselka

Recommend this to? boyfriend (for recipes)

Two weeks ago, I sent my mom a copy of an application essay, and her response was enthusiastically supportive, something along the lines of "Why do y...more

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Oct 05, 2010 Janelle rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, favorites

This is one of those books that reminds me how much I truly love historical fiction!

Anya Whitson is a Russian immigrant who moves to the United States after marrying her American husband. Anya is very hard woman who shows no love to her two daughters, Meredith and Nina, throughout their lives. Nina is an unsettled world traveling photographer and Meredith is a workaholic wife and mother who remains home to run the family orchard and never does anything for herself, it's always for others.

When Ev...more

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Apr 18, 2013 Limau Nipis rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013-reads, on-nook, general-fiction

I cried buckets toward the end of the story.

My first Kristin Hannah's book, it was highly recommended if you are an ardent fan of Jodi Picoult. This is a heavy book, but unlike Jodi Picoult, it veers toward the lightness of the writing to bring up the heavy issue.

This book was a slow start, but it got interesting in the middle towards the end.

At first, it started as a small story, on why Anya Whitson, even as a mother to Meredith and Nina, seemed to not love her daughters. The daughters feel unw...more I cried buckets toward the end of the story.

My first Kristin Hannah's book, it was highly recommended if you are an ardent fan of Jodi Picoult. This is a heavy book, but unlike Jodi Picoult, it veers toward the lightness of the writing to bring up the heavy issue.

This book was a slow start, but it got interesting in the middle towards the end.

At first, it started as a small story, on why Anya Whitson, even as a mother to Meredith and Nina, seemed to not love her daughters. The daughters feel unwanted, and only their father seemed to provide the love and nurture as parents. They were confused because their mother told fairy tales for them, but only at night, blanketed by night. That was the only inkling that their mother was like a different woman, but only during this story telling session. Growing older, they become apart from their mother. And the sisters were opposite of each other. At one point, Meredith was the eldest and love her life is so organised in every seconds of the day, while Nina was considered the wild daughter, following her dream to become a photographer, traveling all over the world.

Then, their father got sick. And he passed away. But before he died, he asked both of them to take care of their mother - who is always distant. And he made another request, for Anya to continue telling her fairy tales to her daughters. Anya stopped telling the tales during the first chapter of the story. At one point of time, I could not seem to understand the importance of the fairy tales. But the fairy tales was actually the key to the mystery of her mother's past.

It was quite hard to understand how a mother seemed not to love her daughters. At first, I was quite mad at Anya. And, quite brilliantly, the fairy tale was actually recollection of her mother's life before she meets their father. It was haunting, intriguing and saddening. It was a story of a family, being haunted by the war. The war portion was quite heavy, I might not pick this up, but surprisingly, it was actually quite essential for the plot.

And then suddenly, after Anya opened up about her previous life, the daughters and mother seemed to bond with each other. The wall between them seems to crumble.

I love that the author focused and explored on the relationships between Anya and her daughters. Highly recommended!(less)

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May 10, 2012 jen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I cried buckets reading this story. The mother's story is revealed and is heart wrenching. I was disappointed by the ending because it seemed too much like a fairy tale. I highly recommend the book anyway. It gets 5 stars because I cried so much. I even woke the baby one night while I was sobbing. I would give it 4 stars for the writing style and the disappointing schmaltz at the end.

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Apr 14, 2011 Vickie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 An...more

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Apr 12, 2013 Dyea Lova rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

Winter garden is such amazing, great story, full of emotion , heartbreak and love. I really recommend this book.

This is story about the two sisters and their cold and distants mother. They cannot understand how her mothers can be a loving wife but don't care about their daughters. They keep on trying to seek attention from their mothers, but her coldness broke their heart , little by little.

Near the death of their father, her mother was requested to tell them a full of her fairy tale. A tale tha...more

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May 04, 2011 Ellen Black rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My daughter recommended Kristin Hannah's book, Winter Garden, to me. As my daughter said, "Mom, I don't think you would have liked Kristin's other books, because they're light reading for housewives. But I think you might like this book, because it's complex and has a historical bent to it."

So, I decided to read Winter Garden, and I'm very glad that I did. The story tells of two sisters, who lead very disparate lives, but are forced to deal with each other and their mother, who had always been v...more My daughter recommended Kristin Hannah's book, Winter Garden, to me. As my daughter said, "Mom, I don't think you would have liked Kristin's other books, because they're light reading for housewives. But I think you might like this book, because it's complex and has a historical bent to it."

So, I decided to read Winter Garden, and I'm very glad that I did. The story tells of two sisters, who lead very disparate lives, but are forced to deal with each other and their mother, who had always been very emotionally negligent and cold to them, when their father dies. The mother breaks down, because - while she'd been cold and distant to her daughters, she'd been very close and warm and loving to her husband. The sisters could never quite figure out what they'd done to cause their mother to withhold her love from them, when it was obvious - by her treatment of their father - that she was very capable of loving. Why couldn't she love her daughters?

What the daughters don't know and don't find out about until after their father dies, is that their Russian-born mother had lived through the hideous Siege of Leningrad and her grief and guilt about what she had to do to stay alive kept her distant from her American-born children. Now, as adults, the daughters force their mother to open up to them, which she does, telling them stories in the form of a fairy tale, until the daughters realize that she's telling a true, horrifying story.

I won't say any more than this, as I don't want to give away details, but I will say that I was deeply moved by Winter Garden, and amazingly, at the end of the book, I had tears in my eyes. I have not cried reading a book since the late '90s/early 2000s, when I read A Prayer for Owen Meany.

Winter Garden is not the first book I've read that discusses the Siege of Leningrad; plus, I'm familiar with this period of time, from reading about it, from a historical standpoint. I've always admired the people that survived this brutal period. I don't know how they did it. But Winter Garden does tell how one woman survived, even if she didn't begin to live again, until her final few years.(less)

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Sep 22, 2011 Nelly rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ugh, I hated this book for so much of it and if it wasn't for the very end it would probably have only gotten two stars from me. I'm a sucker, I know, but it really was a touching ending. WWII fiction, especially set in Russia, is probably my most favorite genre and I had high hopes for this book. Really, the plot saved it. Not that it's all that original nor well executed, but is still one to tug at your heartstrings and make you go peek in on your sleeping child and feel his little belly risin...more Ugh, I hated this book for so much of it and if it wasn't for the very end it would probably have only gotten two stars from me. I'm a sucker, I know, but it really was a touching ending. WWII fiction, especially set in Russia, is probably my most favorite genre and I had high hopes for this book. Really, the plot saved it. Not that it's all that original nor well executed, but is still one to tug at your heartstrings and make you go peek in on your sleeping child and feel his little belly rising up and down as he breathes.

The things I hated:

1)The first 3/4 of the book is long, drawn out, boring crap. Everything's established quickly and then just repeats and repeats and repeats.

2) I HATE it when authors who don't really know very much about a culture write about said culture. I would cringe every time a name was messed up, a male would be given a female last name, terms of endearment would be completely wrong, the native Russian foods would be some obscure dishes that a normal every-day Russian would probably not eat on any given day. I could go on and on. There is a whole world of fiction out there, why choose something that you have no idea about and that you'll most likely butcher with your lack of inside cultural knowledge?

3) I HATED all the female characters. They're all terrible terrible terrible people who make excuses for themselves and who all somehow, miraculously managed to (view spoiler) This made it too much of a chick novel for my liking.

4) Although the storyline was wonderful and this was a generally good idea for a plot, it could have been executed with a lot more grace. I don't know how else to explain it other than to say the writing wasn't very good. Too much rambling, not enough elaboration on parts that I felt needed to be elaborated upon, too many silent moments where it doesn't make any sense to be silent.

So I guess it's the plot that gets the 4 stars. Everything else gets maybe 2, and that's me being generous.(less)

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Jun 02, 2012 Tiffany Cooke rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: History lovers, Women

Shelves: 2011, great-heroines

Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah is an amazing book. It truly changed me as a woman and mother.
By living through the Siege of Leningrad as a young wife and mother, Vera is forced to make decisions that no woman should ever have to make. She faces devastating losses and manages to keep living because that is what the women in her life have taught her to do. Guilt and heartbreak close her heart to a relationship with her daughters. Her husband's dying wish is for her to tell their daughters a fa...more

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Feb 06, 2010 Sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: traded, chick-lit

Not my usual type of read, but I won this book in a Goodreads First Reads giveaway and started on it right away. To be honest, I almost put it down at the beginning because I didn't like many of the characters, especially Meredith who pretty much turned me off instantly. Though I did eventually find myself caught up in Meredith and Jeff's story, the floundering relationship between two people who were childhood sweethearts - could their cold marriage turn warm again? But at the heart of the book...more

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Dec 23, 2009 Deanna rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: goodreads-books-i-won, historical-fiction

I won this on a Goodreads give away.

First off, I LOVED THIS BOOK! Second, it well written and engaging. Third, this book could have gone 100 different ways and she went with it with a direction I could live with. And finally, I cried, twice. I don't cry over books.

This book is about two sisters who were raised by a very loving American father and a very hateful Russian mother. They never felt like their mother loved or cared about them. As adults their father, who is dying, begs them to get to k...more

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Dec 27, 2010 Cindy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010-read, favorites

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I was hooked with the prologue of this book which begins in 1972 with 12 year old Meredith and her 9 year old sister Nina planning a play that Meredith wrote based on the fairy tales their mother always told them about a “reckless peasant girl who dared to fall in love with a prince”. Their mother was emotionally cold to her daughters, “any warmth she had was directed at her husband”. Therefore, the girls were always searching for a way to get closer to her. Meredith thought she finally figured...more I was hooked with the prologue of this book which begins in 1972 with 12 year old Meredith and her 9 year old sister Nina planning a play that Meredith wrote based on the fairy tales their mother always told them about a “reckless peasant girl who dared to fall in love with a prince”. Their mother was emotionally cold to her daughters, “any warmth she had was directed at her husband”. Therefore, the girls were always searching for a way to get closer to her. Meredith thought she finally figured it out with the play; that it may even become a family tradition, that her mother would be thrilled, and the play would finally bridge the gap between mother and daughters. She couldn’t have been more wrong. Suddenly, just as Jeff, Meredith's friend, began to act out his part in the play as the prince and hands Meredith, the peasant girl, a pair of silk roses a loud crash sounds. It is their mother Anya who has broken a glass and cut herself and loudly demands an end to the play.
After reading the prologue, I wrote, “The girls were so very excited about the play and then Anya just ruined it, squashed it, made them feel so bad! I don't believe that this book will hold any redemption for Anya on the way I feel about her already! I don't care what she lived through!!”
Well, little did I know! Just keep reading!

The first chapter was more about Meredith, the second chapter about Nina. I was happy to see that Meredith did indeed marry her 'friend' Jeff, but it saddened me that there seemed to be trouble in the marriage and they had drifted apart. Nina's life sounds crazy! To travel the world taking pictures of war and terribly tragic events doesn't sound like fun at all. It seems Danny, Nina’s long-time boyfriend, is ready to take their relationship to the next level but Nina can't commit that much of herself. I was also sad that their father became ill and ultimately passes away after making Meredith promise to take care of their mother and making Nina promise to make their mother tell them the end of the fairy tale. Nina left shortly after the funeral and Meredith worked herself too hard both in the orchard business and taking care of their mother.

Page 115 - It seems that Nina is selfish and I feel sorry for Meredith. Meredith is the one who has always been there for her parents, living in a house right down the road and helping her father run the orchard while Nina has been jetting around the world to different locations as a photographer. Chapter 7 ended with a phone call from Meredith to Nina. Meredith was going to tell her sister that she needed to come home; that she needed help! This didn’t happen.

Chapter 8 to Chapter 11 – Anya is just beginning to tell her daughters the 'fairy tale' after abandoning the story for years, since the incident with the play. Jeff has moved out of the house because Meredith is too distant and wouldn’t even answer him after he asked her if she still loved him.

Page 266 – While going through her father’s papers, Meredith discovered a letter from a Russian professor to her mother. The professor was writing about the German siege of Leningrad, which was otherwise known as the “Great Terror”. The girls are trying to find the professor to get to the bottom of their mother’s true identity.
They find out that the professor is in an Alaskan nursing home after suffering from a stroke. They are taking their mother on an Alaskan cruise; something their father always meant to do.
Both Meredith and Nina seem to be at a crossroads in their lives compounded by the death of their father who they both loved so much and were so committed to especially given the aloofness and hostility of their mother. Meredith is searching for what SHE wants from life and Nina can’t commit to her boyfriend even after he asks her to marry him.

I became so engrossed in this story that sometimes it was hard to remember it was just that, a story!

I have to admit, I was hesitant to read the last part of this book. I just knew that the rest of Anya’s story was going to be heartbreaking. Truthfully, I probably wouldn’t have even started reading this book if I had known there were going to be so many graphic details about the war. I have trouble reading about World War II and it’s probably because my dad was in this war and I saw how it affected him.

While the ending is painful and the completion of the ‘fairy tale’ is heartbreaking, it also portrays love in all of its forms. Words taken from the cover, this book is “evocative, lyrically written, and ultimately uplifting, it will haunt the reader long after the last page is turned.” I couldn’t agree more! Rarely does the ending of a book leave me feeling so satisfied and this book has one of the best endings I have ever read. Yes, I do feel sympathetic toward Anya after finishing this book! The reasons why she acted so cold to her daughters were quite clear by the end of the book.

A great read that I highly recommend! (less)

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Feb 23, 2010 Lisa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I think this is the best Kristin Hannah book I've read yet. It's about estranged sisters, Nina and Meredith, who have grown up with a very distant Russian mother. When their beloved father dies, he makes Nina promise to get their mother to finish telling them the fairy tale she used to tell them as children. Trying to figure out their own lives as well as their mother's makes for quite a story. And I didn't like this book just because Meredith's husband has the same name as my childhood crush, I...more

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Jan 27, 2011 Julie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, from-russia-with-love

I was saddened to read some of the reviews calling this story trash. I think having read The Bronze Horseman series about this very tragic time in Russia's history gave me a better understanding and appreciation of what the mother went through, how it haunted her her entire life and made her so hardened and cold and how that affected her daughters and their lives. I loved the fairytale element that was woven throughout and the journey of all of the characters finding themselves and each other. I...more

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May 13, 2012 Beatrix rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, made-me-cry, read-in-2012, russia, world-war-two

This book made me cry.
On the surface it's a book about two sisters - Meredith and Nina Whitson, but underneath, this book is so much more. It's about surviving in cold Leningrad during World War II.
First half of the book is slightly boring, it's about Meredith and Nina, their lives; not much happens. But when their mother starts telling them story about the girl Veronika, you enter this new world. You can't wait for the chapters when they go back in time and when magic occurs.

This book is so...more

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Mar 19, 2012 Debbie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, history, favorites

This book was a little slow to get started. I would say I was at least 1/3 of the way through before I became invested. By the end I was in love and so moved. I haven't had a book make me cry like that in, well I can't remember when.

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Dec 19, 2010 Riley Vermilya rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: book-club

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Apr 30, 2010 Ashley (cnthrdlywt2bwz) rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: first-reads, year-2010

While the writing wasn't the solidifying factor in my five-star rating, it helped. What got me to love this book so much was my connection to it on a personal and a reader-level and also the development of very different characters that I loved seeing evolve and change as the novel progressed. I want to absorb this a bit more, but trust in me when I say that I enjoyed this very much, got (more than a little) teary at the end, and wish there was more to it. I am definitely interested in reading m...more

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Feb 09, 2012 Susan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, historical-fiction

Even halfway through this book, I was thinking of it as rather ho-hum, and was expecting to give it only 3 stars. I liked the characters, especially sisters Meredith and Nina, but it didn't feel like it was going anywhere. And the mother character seemed so extreme that it strained credulity.

Then suddenly it turned into so much more. I think the last part of the book is as powerful as anything I've read. It' not that it was shocking or surprising, but that the emotional impact simply kept buildi...more

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Jun 09, 2013 Winnie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

“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 An...more “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.” (From the Publisher)

I didn’t care for most of this book and had a hard time getting into it – but because a friend wanted me to read it, I decided to stick with it. This book was never really bad, but it was hard to get into and parts aren't believable, especially the present-day parts of the book.

Anya was so cold and indifferent and really emotionally crippling that I just didn’t care for her at all. I also had trouble believing that any mother could treat her children the way she did even now as they are middle-aged adults. It’s obvious that the daughters had a stronger relationship with their father and they truly loved him. But for a father to allow the girls to be treated like that, I found shameful. So all in all I found the present day story just too much like a “romance novel” – a bit contrived.

I did enjoy the last part of the book when the mother finally honors her dying-husband’s request by finishing the fairy tale that she had told parts of through the years as the girls were growing up. I enjoyed the Russian history and learning of a real-life event that I had little knowledge about. Maybe that is supposed to help us feel empathy for the mother, but I think by then it was too late.

(less)

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May 29, 2013 Keely Siegel rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah is a compelling read the tells the story of two women, who on honoring the wish of their dying father come to know the mother the never knew.

Nina and Meredith Winston have always been daddy's girls, and the only way they could even get their cold and distant mother to talk to them was when she would tell the fairytale of the peasant girl and the prince. But since the Christmas plays years ago they've lost even that strand of connection. Years later Nina is a wor...more

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Apr 16, 2013 Sinclair rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This turned out to be a captivating and heart wrenching book. As I slogged my way through the first third, I was ready to give up on this as a horribly flat and dull dud. However, I stuck it out, and was richly rewarded by the end.

The first third of this book takes too long to build the tone of cold, aloof, emotionally lost and fragmented individuals. It feels flat, as all the characters seem like heavy stones that just repeatedly bang against one another. They are unyielding in their stoicism a...more

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Mar 06, 2013 Pamela rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I thought I would love this book, but In the end, it was just ok. I was looking forward to reading a nice, light book after reading a heavy biography on WWII. But with Anya's cold demeanor and secrets, this book felt anything but light.

I enjoyed reading about Nina's travels, but felt that most of the book was slow going... with a lot of time spent on how cold Anya was and how she had no relationship with her daughters... over and over and over. And there was so much focus on her 'secret' which...more

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Dec 08, 2012 Bücherplanet rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"du weißt gar nicht was das menschliche Herz alles verkraften kann" - ist einer jener Sätze aus diesem Buch, der mich zum nachdenken brachte und den ich nicht vergessen werde.

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Meredith und Nina, zwei Frauen die ihr Leben lang unter der unnahbaren und kaltherzigen Mutter gelitten haben. Die nie verstanden, dass es möglich sein kann, dass eine Mutter zwar ihren Gatten liebt aber ihre Töchter nicht. Meredith heiratet ihre Jugendliebe Jeff, lebt ihr Leben so wie es großteils den anderen ge...more "du weißt gar nicht was das menschliche Herz alles verkraften kann" - ist einer jener Sätze aus diesem Buch, der mich zum nachdenken brachte und den ich nicht vergessen werde.

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Meredith und Nina, zwei Frauen die ihr Leben lang unter der unnahbaren und kaltherzigen Mutter gelitten haben. Die nie verstanden, dass es möglich sein kann, dass eine Mutter zwar ihren Gatten liebt aber ihre Töchter nicht. Meredith heiratet ihre Jugendliebe Jeff, lebt ihr Leben so wie es großteils den anderen gefällt, gründet eine Familie und kümmert sich um den Familienbetrieb und um ihre Eltern. Nina ist das komplette Gegenteil - sie reist ständig als Fotografin von einem Extrem zum anderen, fasst nirgends Fuß, liebt zwar ihren Freund - hat aber keinerlei Ambitionen sesshaft zu werden. Als der über alles geliebte Vater stirbt - führt er davor die drei Frauen seines Herzens an seinem Sterbebett zusammen und nimmt den Töchtern das Versprechen ab sich um die Mutter zu kümmern. Beide wissen noch nicht, was das bedeuten soll und bedeuten wird. Sie stehen am Anfang einer Reise, die zurück führt in das damalige Leningrad, ins kommunistische Russland. Und erst nach und nach, mit viel Gedult, stur bleiben und hinterfragen hören sie das russische "Märchen" ihrer Mutter - und finden dabei ihre Antworten auf die Fragen die sie ein Leben lang gequält hatten...

Fazit:

"Ein Garten im Winter" ist eine Geschichte über eine Mutter-Töchter-Beziehung, wie es schon viele gibt in Buchform. Aber diese Geschichte berührt einen tief, entführt den Leser in Zeiten, die man sich heute nicht mehr vorstellen kann. Und lässt den Leser immer wieder innehalten - um das Gelesene zu verdauen und darüber nachzudenken. Kristin Hannah versteht es perfekt, einen in den Bann zu schlagen. Man möchte weiterlesen, möchte begreifen und verstehen. Manchmal kamen mir auch die Tränen - denn oft wird schonungslos und beinhart geschrieben. Mich faszinierte die Art und Weise und der Stil den Hannah für dieses Buch gewählt hat - und ich finde, es passt perfekt. Es ist keine dieser 0815-Geschichten... Hannah verbindet hier geschichtliches, mit einer großen Portion Tiefgang und Verständnis. Und zeigt liebevoll auf das Mütter oft überirdische Kräfte besitzen wenn es um die Liebe um ihre Kinder geht. Das ein Mutterherz zwar viel verkraftet, weit mehr als man sich oft vorstellen kann - aber das jeder Verlust eine Narbe hinterlässt.

Einen Extrastern würde ich persönlich noch vergeben Punkto dem geschichtlichen Inhalt. Das damalige Leningrad wird hier nicht in Daten zerpflückt, mit keinen unzähligen Jahreszahlen ausgeschmückt und ist auch keine Beschreibung, wie man sie oft in Geschichtsbüchern liest. Nein, hier wird das stalistische Russland so beschrieben, dass ich manchmal selbst das Eis knacken hören konnte und den Schnee riechen. Das Leid dieser unzähligen Menschen, die geprägt waren und nur überleben konnten wenn sie gute sowjetische Bürger waren, ging mir zu Herzen. Aber auch der Stolz, der fast nicht gebrochen werden konnte. Der Stolz auf ihr "Mütterchen Russland" ging mir unter die Haut.

Dieses Buch ist jetzt schon auf meiner "Top-Liste 2012" und wird auch eines jener Bücher sein, die mehrmalig von mir gelesen werden.(less)

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Nov 28, 2012 Tracy rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: bocd

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!

The story within the story, the so-called Fairy Tale...more

5 likes · like · see review

Oct 04, 2012 Liza rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, rereadable, paper-book

Cried my way through most of the second half. Husband thinks I'm nuts. It's now 5am and I just put it down after reading nonstop for the last 4 hours. Need to stop reading at bedtime!

ETA (next day): This book absolutely haunted me. I'm not sure it's worth 5 stars, but I lost the ability to be objective around mid-book, and if nothing else, the author gets the fifth star solely from the emotional response she wrung out of me, which was extreme and in a way that I'm unable to justify to myself. I...more

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About Kristin Hannah

Kristin Hannah is the New York Times bestselling author of eighteen novels, including the blockbuster Firefly Lane and Night Road. She is a former lawyer turned writer and is the mother of one son. She lives in the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii with her husband.

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Quotes from Winter Garden

“We women make choices for others, not for ourselves, and when we are mothers, we...bear what we must for our children. You will protect them. It will hurt you; it will hurt them. Your job is to hide that your heart is breaking and do what they need you to do.” — 42 people liked it

“They would always be a family, but if she'd learned anything in the past few weeks it was that a family wasn't a static thing. There were always changes going on. Like with continents, sometimes the changes were invisible and underground, and sometimes they were explosive and deadly. The trick was to keep your balance. You couldn't control the direction of your family any more than you could stop the continental shelf from breaking apart. All you could do was hold on for the ride.” — 25 people liked it

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