The first half of the book was a bit slow and took me a while to get into it, it really takes of half way through the book and I read the remainder of the book in one sitting. Such a heart felt story. Of course, the ending left me in tears. If you didn't know, I'm a complete and utter cry baby. It felt like my heart was literally torn in two - between what could have been and what was - but ultimately it was still a happy place to be. I absolutely LOVE Kristin Hannah. I do not know how she does it. You think you are reading a book about one thing and bam! it becomes so much deeper than that. The women in this book made me want to scream at how unemotional they where, and how they treated the good men around them.

But then we ramble on toward the final chapter. I once again agreed with an earlier reviewer; the years of neglect and cold silence would take me a LOT longer than a single cruise to eradicate, and the final tie-in with the fairy tale story was far too neat and tidy to be believable. The Nightingale is currently in production at Tri Star, with Dakota and Elle Fanning set to star. Tri Star has also optioned The Great Alone and it is in development. Firefly Lane, her beloved novel about two best friends, was the #1 Netflix series around the world, in the week it came out. The popular tv show stars Katherine Heigl and Sarah Chalke and Season Two is currently set to conclude the series on April 27, 2023. If I could, I would give the first half of this book 1 star, from about the middle until the final chapter 5 stars, and the final chapter 3 stars - - - so I guess that, all in all, the 3 star rating is probably the most accurate.This novel was a story within a story of so much love and loss that it separated a family, emotionally, for many years. Then the father, the glue of the family, dies and little by little the mom starts revealing her life in Soviet Russia before she met their father. It starts out as a fairy tale but then it takes a more realistic turn. I found it absolutely fascinating and captivating watching the way the 'fairy tale' that the mother was telling slowly blended into reality. The transition was so powerful -- there are all these subtle details that if you read carefully, you'll catch and they'll take your breath away. It's a truly stunning piece of writing. With differing opinions on how to help their heart-broken mother, the sisters work to convince her to tell the full fairytale. We soon find out that the fairytale is a real story about the hardships of life in Leningrad during WWII. Their mother, Anya, begins to soften by opening up. She releases her guilt and forgives herself for the impossible choices she had to make in her past. By sharing, she shines a light on the loss and starts to heal her wounds.

The writing is lyrical and great, Hannah knows what she is doing and you can tell that she is a talented author from her prose and the way she writes. The story has a poignant tone and I read it when it was raining outside and almost freezing which was a very good choice in my opinion because this is not a summer beach read! 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. Were there some weaknesses? Yes, but I’m so grateful for the quality of this novel, I’m willing to overlook them. By and far, this book blows anything and everything I’ve read this year, so far, completely out of the water. This book fell into the category of those home spin wonders of Eileen Gouge and other women who either watch too much of the wrong TV or read the wrong books or something. This had all the things I could hate about a book - writing like, - she worked hard to be the mother her mother wasn't. And she succeeded. She was best friends with her daughters. Nina and Meredith never had a mother they could count on or could talk to about boys. The only thing their mother was good for was telling them Russian fairy tales from her youth; Little did they know how important those fairy tales really were. Their father, however, was their hero. What they couldn't get from their mother, they got in spades from their father. When their father dies from heart problems, they are heartbroken. Nina's father makes a final proclamation as he lays dying: He wants Nina to convince her mother to tell the full fairy tale of "The Peasant Girl and The Prince." This fairy tale does more for their family than any of them could have ever expected. It will lead them on a journey of a lifetime..Once again, I find myself in awe of the power and beauty of Kristin Hannah’s words. She gives her readers the ability to crawl inside the story and see the world through the eyes of her characters. It’s her stunning gift for capturing the heart wrenching and emotional aspect of every connection that left me completely enamored with this family. Every single one of them. By the time I reached the end of the story, I was nowhere near ready to let them go. Be patient during the first half, it gets very good and emotional the second half. This is written in the past and present tense, which is a common format in many novels, but one that I enjoy. It's like reading two different novels. Now a note of caution: If you have recently lost a parent or a child, there are scenes in Winter Garden that you may find too tough to read. A father on his deathbed; children succumbing to the terrors of war. Kristin Hannah sure does know how to pull heartstrings, even if sometimes they’re tugged a little too hard. This is the second novel I have read from Kristin Hannah in the past week....... What can I say another engrossing read. Kristen is a brilliant story teller, she masterfully draws you in with her vivid description of the surroundings and her characters, you feel like you are there experiencing all the ups and downs. Kristin Hannah cleverly and skillfully weaves an emotional fairy tale into the storyline that becomes the core of this story and we begin to see how it shaped the relationship between Anya and her daughters. I was drawn into the story through the fairy tale and it became a favourite part of the story for some of us. The imagery in the tale came to life for me and became very real. I felt many emotions as my heart broke for the characters. Through the fairy tale, I came to know who the characters are. Brilliant!

In the present-day story the description of Sitka, in Alaska and its history was depicted such as one can easily visualize it. Kudos to author Hannah. She carries the reader through the scenes effortlessly. You feel yourself there and want to see it for yourself some day. The characters are flawed but believable, the novel hard to forget and the ending entirely satisfying to this reader. Definitely recommended. Winter Garden tells the story of Meredith and Nina Whitson and their supposedly heartless mother Anya. For over an extended period we get to know of Anya while she faces tremendous obstacles and disaster, but ends surviving despite all her suffering. It's not a trivial novel; it's not romantic, it is almost an epic. It's repeatedly a struggle. I think it's written to be read on a sunny day, or it might be shattering. That is how I felt from the way it impacted me, as a mother and as a sister. Despite it all, I fully enjoyed it. Hannah tells a breathtaking story, I don't comment on it feebly. It is astonishing and heartbreaking. But in the end there is hope, so all is well after all! But the girls made a promise to their dying father and they gradually begin to draw the truth out of their mother through the fairy tale she's been telling for years, but never finished it to the end. Alternating chapters tell her story of growing up in Russia and her experiences in Leningrad during the war. And what a heartbreaking story it is as her sweet fairy tale turns into a horrifying tale of what was endured during the siege of Leningrad. More than a set of facts from a history book, Hannah makes you feel and I was brought to tears more than once. 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. Meredith and Nina are two sisters that lead very different lives. They grew up with a distant mother and in turn have never been close to one another. Their mother told them a fairytale as children. When their father dies it is his last wish that their mother tell them the whole story.I found this novel to be both breathtaking and magnificent, yet exponentially heart-wrenching. It made me feel things I didn't even know I was capable of feeling. This book evoked such emotion in me, I didn't even realize I had tears streaming down my face. There are books that I read and I love.. and then there are those few, inimitable books that change me. That shake me to the core. Vera and Sasha: everything happened so fast for me she fall in love with him the first time they met?which made no sense to me. And then I blinked and they were married. I wanted more interaction between them so i can be invested in their relationship but sadly there wasn’t they only talked like 6 or 7 times in the book i counted them. And i know this is a women fiction not romance but still i wanted more then this.