Winter Garden

Just put my Kindle down....I hardly know how to start this review. I will never forget this book, nor the strong feelings it engendered inside me. For this reason, it has to be five stars. I hate romances; I never read them, and can barely tolerate a romance tucked inside a thriller or mystery, or time travel science fiction. I must admit, I almost put this down a couple of times during the first 20% or even 30%. In truth, it was so terribly depressing that I argued with myself about whether I should keep reading. Not exactly a description of a five star novel, huh? The problem was that the characters were so well drawn that I almost felt I knew them from another time, another life. I was annoyed that the author just about hit the reader over the head to emphasize the character traits....okay, I get it already! Meredith works herself constantly to keep from feeling anything; Nina runs all over the world to keep from being at home with her own feelings. Any "constant reader" can predict portions of the ending when books start like this. But...but....then I began to realize the depth of the history that I was being taught. The siege of Leningrad....I never thought of it before. Nearly nine hundred days and over one million people dead - more than 700 thousand from starvation - women and children in a world turned upside down. I never realized that this was yet another horror of World War II. I've read the Holocaust stories and thought of the suffering and the losses and bravery of the people of Europe and other countries....but Russia? I'm ashamed to say I knew nothing. This brilliant author had a story to tell and told it in the best context possible - through realistic people whose lives and feelings just about jumped off the pages and into my heart. Thank you, Kristin Hannah, for an amazing read.

This book is pathetic - it repeats the same thing chapter after chapter. After the first 10 times I read how lost and isolated these girls feel (in almost the same words each time); I think I got the point. Hard to go on without Dad - yes, got it. Can't connect in their relationsships, yes, got it. Please tell me something new in the next few chapters or I give up out of boredom with all this repeated angst. I don't often put down a book without completing it; but I am going to make an exception with this one. The writing is juvenile, the characters "thin", the reflections on the human condition repeated ad nauseum. Save your money - i wish i could return this one. I can't fathom how it garnered 4 stars.

I NEVER write book reviews but this book was such a huge disappointment I felt compelled to write about it to hopefully give others an insight into what they might expect. I have to say I am shocked at all the amazing reviews it has received. A while ago I came across and read “The Nightingale” by Kristin Hannah and loved it so when this book was recommended by a friend and knowing that it was also about WWII era I picked it up enthusiastically. Unfortunately it turned out to be a HUGE disappointment as it does not compare in any way to her former book. The characters in this book are extremely flat, one dimensional and unrelatable. They are outright cold and unlikable and no matter the horrible experiences they go through I couldn’t bring myself to feel sorry for them. The first half of the book is a constant repetition of how damaged the relationship between the mother and her daughters is and how disconnected they are from each other and themselves. The plot barely advances and there is no deeper insight into the characters either, a complete drag. When the parallel WWII Russia story starts the plot somewhat gains momentum but again the book does very little to connect you to that era. It feels to me like despite the valuable research Mrs Hannah has done on Stalin era Leningrad she has very little understanding and appreciation of the nuances and intricacies of the culture and the place she writes about. As such her description of the events and characters in that era is superficial at best.And the ending was the worst part. It is so sugar coated it feels completely fake and unrealistic as if she wanted to reward her readers with cheap candy for perseveringly through the misery of the rest of it.All in all this book was definitely not for me or anyone looking for a good piece of literarure or realistic account of WWII Russia and its survivors. Please save your time and money and read something else!

I loved Kristin Hannah's The Nightingale. So naturally I was excited about Winter Garden. It started off interesting but it just dragged on about the dysfunctional relationship and the characters are so bland. I kept wondering when the mother would tell her story about Leningrad. This was one of those books I had to give up on. It had a good premise, but the execution fell flat. I think it would have worked if we had actually had the mother tell the story sooner rather than waiting further into the book. It seemed as though the author had many plotlines going on with the sisters fighting each other, their mom, Meredith having marital problems, the mothers fairytale/true story.

This was awful! I could barely get through this tedious train wreck of a story. Ugh! Huge waste of money. I read all the glowing reviews and bought it. When I went to write this review I scrolled through the negative reviews and they are spot on! Totally unrealistic and unbelievable. Next time I’m going to read the negative reviews first. Save myself $12

I know I'm in the minority but I hated this book. I love the author. Have read other books by her but I found this book depressing, and just plain boring. The story is about 2 sisters who must care for their mother after their father dies. Their mother has a past and the story is told by the mother to the sisters by way of a fairy tale; add to that the lives of the sisters being sprinkled into the plotline, this book was IMHO not even close to the Kristin Hannah books I've read previously.I say skip it read one of her others for example the Nightingale now there was a great book !

Awful from start to finish although I admit to skipping a lot. I read the author's book "The Great Alone" which I'm sure I must have given 5 stars..a fabulous book which is why I bought this one. This is however a really boring story of a woman's relationship with 2 of her daughters...including pages and pages of Russian fairy tales. Took a long time to get going, no zing or punch at all. Characters really boring especially the mother. I read the epilogue after really forcing myself to plod through the first half of the book which told me all I needed to know and if I had read that first I would have thrown the book in the bin. Not worth buying in my opinion.

I have to say I think I have found a new favourite Author in Kristen Hannah. This is my second book by her and yet another brilliant read (although - be warned - being left devastated seems to be a common theme with her books!).This story follows the lives of the Whitson family - sisters Meredith and Nina and their elderly parents Evan and Anya. The story is ultimately Anya's story. Anya has never been a loving or affectionate mother and through a series of stories we learn why Anya is the way she is. What unfolds is a vivid and heartbreaking account of survival and loss through Stalin's reign of terror in Russia.Kristen Hannah is excellent at drawing you into the worlds that she creates so you can visualise every tiny detail. The only reason I didn't award the full 5 stars is because the story doesn't really take off until just after the halfway point of the book. Once this happens, the story is riveting but up until that point it can be a bit repetitive by times however it still held my interest.All in all I loved this book and would highly recommend it. The other book I've read by this author is The Nightingale which was just phenomenal so if you liked Winter Garden and haven't already done so, I strongly urge you to read The Nightingale.

I downloaded this book because I had just finished reading Kristin Hannah's book "The Nightingale" that a friend gave me in Swedish. This was about Normandie - and I enjoyed it so much because I have myself written about WWII and the Occupation of the Channel Islands by the Germans. So I thought that I wanted to read more of Hannah's well-written books. "Winter Garden" is not for the faint-hearted however. She must have done an enormous amount of research concerning the Siege of Leningrad which must have been absolutely harrowing. Still, I felt that it was too much and too drawn-out. Many readers would give up unless they are extremely interested in The Siege of Leningrad. However, the story unfolds amazingly and the end is very exciting and unexpected. I would recomment this book to anyone who is extremely interested in History, although my five points go to "The Nightingale."

I had previously read and enjoyed The Nightingale by this same author. So, I was looking forward to getting lost in another novel by Kristin Hannah, and chose Winter Garden after a friend recommended it to me. Despite initially being put off by the rather cheesy front cover, I though this was a fabulous read. It's also a rather emotional page-turner, with an interesting mystery at its heart.Kristin Hannah certainly knows how to weave a story, and people it with characters that do feel 'real' - characters who I quickly came to know and to care about. The tale begins with two sisters, Meredith and Nina, who are like chalk and cheese. Meredith is a 40 year old married lady, who has two grown up daughters, and runs the family business - a large apple orchard and fresh fruit storage facility. In contrast, Nina is a carefree, successful 37 year old photo journalist, who travels the world - often visiting war-torn countries seeking out those dramatic photographs, whilst facing danger. For reasons that soon become apparent, the sisters are temporarily reunited at the family home. Whilst there, they try to find out more about their rather cold, elusive mother who originally came from Russia. Their mum has never spoken about her life before she came to finally settle in America, her only previous tentative references to Russia was via the Russian fairytales she told to them when they were children. However, in later years, Meredith and Nina begin to suspect that one of those fairytales is based on their mother's real-life experiences......

I really enjoyed The Nightingale and felt this was similar to begin with. However, it wasn’t the same at all and I couldn’t connect to the two sisters in a way I had with the previous book. They were so lost and in a way disfunctional but of course you get to understand why. The main story doesn’t actually take off until way over half way. That was a little disappointing but I kept pushing on, it wasn’t a chore I was gripped but just wished that the main portion of the book was solely based on understanding their mothers story. Then when it took off and really got going it was incredibly heart breaking. By the time I got to the end I was a mess, I just didn’t really want to feel that sad and unhappy about how a story unfolded. So many mixed emotions about this book, part of me wishes I never carried on with such a sad story, I almost willed it to end but part of me is glad I read it. I read The Bronze Horseman and that outlined the atrocities but in such a different way. However, I am just so saddened by what went on during Stalin’s time I literally cannot begin to imagine.