Winter Garden

About the book

Meredith and Nina Whitson are sisters who share a strained relationship with their cold, detached Russian mother, Anya. Following their father’s deathbed request, the sisters press Anya to finish a fairy tale she began telling them in childhood. This narrative unspools into a historical account of the Siege of Leningrad during World War II. The story shifts between contemporary Washington state and 1941 Soviet Russia, detailing Anya’s survival through starvation, extreme winter, and the loss of her family during the German blockade.

Readers who enjoy multi-generational historical fiction will find a detailed depiction of the psychological effects of war-time trauma on family dynamics. The book serves those interested in the specific history of the Leningrad siege and the Soviet civilian experience. A reader finishes the book with a factual understanding of the extreme conditions during the blockade and how repressed memories shape adult relationships between parents and children.

Details

Published

2010

Language

EN