Winter Garden

Author: Kristin Hannah
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group, 2010
Pages: 448
Rating: Recommend

Synopsis: 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.

The tale their mother tells them is a captivating, mysterious love story that spans more than sixty years and moves from frozen war-torn Leningrad to modern-day Alaska. Nina's obsession to uncover the truth behind the story will send them all on an unexpected journey into their mother's past, where they will discover a secret so shocking, so terrible, it shakes the foundation of their family and changes who they believe they are.

Review: I'm a huge fan Kristin Hannah fan, but this novel took a few chapters to build traction. I was wondering early on at what point that we "would get on with it." 

The story/plot was good. Anya's storytelling was an effective device. However, there were conversation and details that didn't propel the story forward as well. I'm giving this a good, not great, rating.