What do you think?
Rate this book
Wintergarden
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
June 25, 2018
Book was a little slow and took awhile to get to the meat of the story. Interesting, but not my favorite. Nightingale was a much better book.
June 30, 2023
This story was so emotional and heart wrenching. Took a bit of time to get into the story but we’ll worth reading
July 19, 2025
Great read. It takes a bit to really get hooked, but then it only gets better and better.
December 18, 2019
For Meredith and Nina´s whole life, they wondered why their mother was so self-contained. Their father has kept their family together all these years but after he becomes ill, the three of them must depend on each other to stay together. Anya retells them a mysterious love story that was more than just a childhood story she told her children years ago. Meredith and Nina find out about their
mother´s past and they also find out who they are within. This story displays trauma, emotion, heartache, and reunion.
Kristen Hannah tells this story in a very wonderful way. If you are an emotional person, this book would definitely get to you. The beginning is a little slow, but once you get further into the book, who will not regret reading it.
I definitely recommend this book. It may be hard to keep reading if you are that type of person to read the first few pages and not like it. The second part of the book is really interesting. Kristen Hannah uses suspense and mystery to draw you in. The end can be heartbreaking but as Anya tells this powerful story, her family becomes closer than ever.
mother´s past and they also find out who they are within. This story displays trauma, emotion, heartache, and reunion.
Kristen Hannah tells this story in a very wonderful way. If you are an emotional person, this book would definitely get to you. The beginning is a little slow, but once you get further into the book, who will not regret reading it.
I definitely recommend this book. It may be hard to keep reading if you are that type of person to read the first few pages and not like it. The second part of the book is really interesting. Kristen Hannah uses suspense and mystery to draw you in. The end can be heartbreaking but as Anya tells this powerful story, her family becomes closer than ever.
January 23, 2018
A story within a story. Kristin Hannah is a wonderful writer. This book is geared more towards women, in my opinion. It's a love story. Hurtful and beautiful. Very enjoyable to read. I would recommend this novel to my female friends. The characters are empowering. While they all have their weaknesses, they are able to come together as a family to overcome and understand. It is a story of growth and acceptance and change. This was a good read.
November 19, 2019
It is a story about the choices people make, the suffering they endure and how that impacts not only on their life but on others as well.
I don´t enjoy the first part of the book at all. The second part of the book start to be much better , particularly Hannah's retelling of the siege of Leningrad, is fabulous. 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. Hannah uses the characters of Vera, Sasha and their children to bring that horror and pain to life, and to illuminate the reasons for the cold reserve adopted by the mother towards Nina and Meredith. This section is magic.
The ending is like the beginning , not good! Still at nice book to read.
I don´t enjoy the first part of the book at all. The second part of the book start to be much better , particularly Hannah's retelling of the siege of Leningrad, is fabulous. 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. Hannah uses the characters of Vera, Sasha and their children to bring that horror and pain to life, and to illuminate the reasons for the cold reserve adopted by the mother towards Nina and Meredith. This section is magic.
The ending is like the beginning , not good! Still at nice book to read.
March 9, 2018
Many people liked this book, but I found it kinda meh. I think it would be great for someone in junior high school. The writing was not as all encompassing as other authors I've read and the story was interesting toward the end, but the characters needed more development to be empathetic, in my opinion. I found a lot of the description and character development to be superficial.
Read
March 6, 2019This story felt like it was going in circles with the whole family issues. Halfway through the book I dnfd it because it made a reference to describing a character’s appearance as The Unabomber. Seriously wtf total left field. I went back twice to make sure I was hallucinating that word. I found that reference disgusting and disrespectful!!!
June 4, 2024
Another devastating story of war and how the woman are left behind to try every means possible to help their family survive the siege of Leningrad in WWII. This is told in a flash back as two daughters in modern day, try to bond with their Russian Mother after their Father's death. (I found this part a little forced.)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 11, 2017
Kristen Hannah tells beautiful stories.
August 15, 2017
Nov, 2012, TCBC. A very interesting story. A family in Wash. state. Mother & daughters understanding each other. Mothers background revealed.
January 16, 2018
A story of survival in the war in Leningrad-w/ the resulting trauma. Then the eventual peace when family comes together
April 1, 2020
4.5 stars
July 29, 2022
3.5 this one grew on me as I was reading.
December 27, 2023
4 1/2 Very descriptive, it made me feel as if I were there. A real tear jerker, but the weaving of the fairy tale affected my concentration.
April 20, 2025
Took a little while to get into this book but the ending is well worth it.
April 18, 2020
Read during Pandemic quarantine. Two sisters, Mom lived during the fall of Lenin grad during WWII.
October 28, 2015
What a wonderful book. I boo hooed through the last couple of chapters. My only regret is the Evan, her husband whose dying wish was that Anya tell her story to their daughters, is totally left out in the epilogue. But then, how could you make it work?
August 15, 2013
Started out a bit slow for me - but it got better - I loved it.
September 18, 2013
loved this book
May 4, 2014
What a heart opener! Great book read, greater ending, greatest epilogue!
September 21, 2015
It is a "nice story" about relationships and the power of the past...What I liked most about it was the historical backdrop of the siege of Leningrad...the imagery is real and vivid!
September 11, 2015
LOVE Kristin Hannah! Cried a bunch of times which is rare for me in a book for some reason... Now have to figure out which of her books is up next for me!
Read
August 12, 2016Excellent read
September 7, 2016
Good book
November 11, 2016
What a beautifull story. I cried during reading the story that is told. It breaks your hart.
It tells the history of a woman who has been through so much. I'm hoping they will film this book.
It tells the history of a woman who has been through so much. I'm hoping they will film this book.
September 13, 2016
Loved it, loved it, loved it....
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews