Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah

Wow! What a book!

I like books that teach me something – history, human psyche, etc. Anything that’s a little out of ordinary. From this book, I learned about the siege of Leningrad during WWII, and it’s an amazingly horrifying tale. The resilience of human spirit is astounding, but the toll, what it takes to survive a historical event where somewhere between 700,000 and 1,000,000 people died of starvation while fighting off the German invasion of Russia, is also devastating.

I really didn’t think I would like this book so much. I read it with little expectation. I am embarrassed to say I’ve never heard of Kristin Hannah. I’m sure I passed by her books in the book stores, but it never drew me in (at least the covers). My sister-in-law was passing the books she’s already read around, and I decided to take a few (you can’t beat free books). I came home and read another book by her first. Although it was enjoyable, it didn’t move me as much as this book.

In the same vein as The Road, this book forced to me think about the unimaginable choices parents/mothers must make in face of abject devastation of their world. How do you choose who to save and who to let die among your beloved family members? Or your two children? Would you do anything to save them? What if you try your best to save both and end up losing them all? Would you be able to forgive yourself ?

Interwoven in the stories of three women (a mother and two daughters) who are all broken, some more broken than the others, is a beautiful fairytale based on the most horrific miseries their mother experienced during the siege of Leningrad. As the fairytale unfolds, the women find the unfettered truth that liberates them and helps them live their lives to the fullest.

Some reviews called this book a tearjerker, and it’s definitely that. But it’s so much more. It’s about a profound journey of the human spirit, and how it can claw its way out of hell through confronting the unrelenting memories of the most unforgivable choices (from the character’s perspective).