BOOK REPORT.....

Winter Garden - Kristin Hannah

Product Description(Amazon.Com)
Can a woman ever really know herself if she doesn’t know her mother?  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. 
Paperback: 448 pages 
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; Reissue edition (January 4, 2011) 
Language: English 
ISBN-10: 0312663153 
ISBN-13: 978-0312663155

MY THOUGHTS:  This was a book club selection that missed while hubby was in the hospital.  I'm playing catch up on books.  This book isn't what I thought it was, but it's a very moving book. The author's descriptions in this book come alive.  I felt I was right there in the Winter Garden and in Leningrad with Anya.  As Meredith and Nina grieve for their father, the wonder about their mother.  Anya starts talking to herself and acting "strange".  Nina comes home to help Meredith with her care.  Nina being investigative in nature, she starts checking up on some of the things in the fairy tale their mother is telling them.  Meredith finds a mysterious letter to her mother that their father kept.  Which leads all three women to Alaska.  What Meredith and Nina finds changes their lives forever.  I can't really tell too much as it will give away the story line.  I must admit I wasn't ready for the ending of this book.  If you get a chance to read this book, please do, it's an awesome book!