Winter Garden
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Winter Garden
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Narrated by:
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Susan Ericksen
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By:
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Kristin Hannah
About this listen
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 Kristin Hannah's 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 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.
©2010 by Kristin Hannah. (P)2009 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.Editorial reviews
in Kristin Hannah’s Winter Garden, we find three women - a mother and two daughters by blood, but strangers in their hearts - reeling from the loss of the man who held their fragile family together. Emptiness pervades this story - hollowing out what is left of the Whitson family and creeping into the space between narrator Susan Erickson’s words.
Anya and her daughters Meredith and Nina have already lost their husband and father to death - and risk losing each other to pride. Evan Whitson knew of this risk, and on his deathbed asked his wife to tell their daughters her “fairy tale” from start to finish. And so we find the Whitson women gathered in the dark at their family home, Belye Nochi, night after night.
Meredith is the older daughter who stayed home to take care of the family business, and her marriage is falling apart. Younger sister Nina, meanwhile, has traveled the globe as a renowned photographer, but refuses to marry the love of her life. Neither sister has much of a relationship with the other - much less with their cold and distant mother, Anya, whose mysterious past in Russia haunts them all.
Erickson’s Anya is resolute, her Nina bold, and her Meredith lost. Effortlessly, it seems, Erickson captures in one moment the decades of sorrow in Anya’s voice and in the next the ready spirit in Nina’s. Always we hear the sheer exhaustion in Meredith’s. Erickson’s voice is at times empty and full, icy and warm, sharp and soft. Throughout the book all three women are alternately devastated with loss, isolated by bitterness, and joyous for the love of family, and Erickson lets us hear it all with her honest and gentle delivery.
Winter Garden is a story best listened to - it is after all a testament to the power of storytelling. What Meredith and Nina hear in their mother’s story will cause them to face their grief head on and just might make them a family once again. --Sarah Evans Hogeboom
Critic Reviews
“It's a tearjerker, but the journey is as lovely - and haunting - as a snow filled winter's night.” --People Magazine
“This tearjerker weaves a convincing historical novel and contemporary family drama.” --Library Journal
“Readers will find it hard not to laugh a little and cry a little more as mother and daughters reach out to each other just in the nick of time.” --Publishers Weekly
What listeners say about Winter Garden
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Pia Horan-Gross
- 27-03-2021
A historical novel at its best!
Superbly written, thoroughly researched and masterfully performed; the account of an individual family, surviving the unimaginable horrors experienced by the inhabitants of the then Leningrad and its siege by the German Army (now St. Petersburg) during The Second World War, where 700,000 people are said to have starved to death, and a further 300,000 were killed in daily, nightly bombing raids! It also describes life in The Soviet Union, under the oppressive rule of Stalin.
This tragedy is the backdrop of a beautiful, lasting love between two people from very different backgrounds, torn asunder by the insanity of war. Anya, the main character, appears cold and aloof to her daughters but gradually, her story is revealed through the telling of a beautiful fairytale.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Aylish
- 29-03-2022
Beautiful story, heartbreaking
The Irish accent was terrible, but that's my only criticism. The story was moving, heartbreaking, happy, hopeful. I loved the ending. And I had no idea about what happened in Leningrad.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 14-05-2024
Beautiful, raw and powerful
Thank you for telling us the story about love, loss, impact of trauma and connection
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 04-08-2024
Poignant!
What a book! This story was gripping, tragic and heartbreaking. Smiles and tears and some moments where I held my breath. I had to rewind and listen again to some chapters. Beautifully narrated. Highly recommend!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Kim
- 21-10-2024
Incredible
I almost gave up on this book. It is a little long winded but the story came together in the end and it blew me away.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 16-11-2023
Oh my heart!
Absolutely loved this narrative. I was hooked til the end. The fairytale embedded within the central storyline was very clever.
Great characters. Very emotional
Moments that had me in tears.
Another superb novel by Kristin Hannah
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- debcraig78
- 28-02-2023
Amazingly beautiful story
Engaging and entertaining it just begs to believe it’s a true story, which in fact it does mimic many of the survivors stories from Russia during that time. Highly recommend to all.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Fiona
- 15-10-2023
A heart wrenching story I couldn’t put down
A very well written story about a part of history I was unaware of. I couldn’t stop listening although it was so sad and heart wrenching.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 28-10-2021
slow with a bittersweet ending
Very slow boring start, took ages to get into but glad I did, the last 6 hours were worth it.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 14-04-2021
Enthralling
I cannot describe the emotions that this story evoked.
I felt like I was there for every step.
Now I have to find another book to take me on my escape.
Definitely a five star read and narration.
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