Winter Garden by Kristin HannahMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
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 was about two sisters, who were never loved by their Mom growing up, so each was sad and broken in her own way, yet managed to lead a quite normal and successful life as an adult. When their Dad died, they returned home, and insisted to find the answer for their Mom's sadness and alienation.
I had tears streaming down my face when I tapped the last page on my Kindle, sitting at a Barnes and Noble cafe table, with people staring at me and murmuring to each other. I was wrong. This was definitely not a fluff read and indeed something with substance. It shows us the extreme of loss and grief; the pain that come with loss when we love too much. We protect ourselves from the same pain happening to us again...by not loving.
The story also taught me a bit of history of Leningrad during WWII, although, as a Chinese with extent knowledge of communism and the Cultural Revolution, nothing surprised me under the sun. However, the story still filled me with extreme sadness, regardless of the perfect ending. So, I was wrong again by judging an author with one book. My next read will be Firefly Lane...which most of my friends loved. There's nothing I love more than stories of women friendship!
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This was my first time reading Kristen Hannah and I was absolutely mesmerized by this story and the way she portrayed the characters. It was a heartwrenching story of a time in history that changed so many lives and gave us a picture of how it changed a family forever. I was not able to put the book down once I started it and was drawn into the intrigue of what the secret of Anya's life was and what had turned her so cold. Kristen Hannah's storytelling in this novel give us a close decription of the connection between families and how love can prevail. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a great story and has time to curl up and enjoy this book.
ReplyDeleteHer books are now on my to be read list. I'm glad you enjoyed this book as well. Sorry about the late reply. I hardly receive comments on this blog! Thanks for commenting!
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