[WGU]⋙ PDF Winter Garden Special Edition Kristin Hannah 9780312364120 Books

Winter Garden Special Edition Kristin Hannah 9780312364120 Books

Download As PDF : Winter Garden Special Edition Kristin Hannah 9780312364120 Books

Winter Garden Special Edition Kristin Hannah 9780312364120 Books

Just put my Kindle down....I hardly know how to start this review. I will never forget this book, nor the strong feelings it engendered inside me. For this reason, it has to be five stars. I hate romances; I never read them, and can barely tolerate a romance tucked inside a thriller or mystery, or time travel science fiction. I must admit, I almost put this down a couple of times during the first 20% or even 30%. In truth, it was so terribly depressing that I argued with myself about whether I should keep reading. Not exactly a description of a five star novel, huh? The problem was that the characters were so well drawn that I almost felt I knew them from another time, another life. I was annoyed that the author just about hit the reader over the head to emphasize the character traits....okay, I get it already! Meredith works herself constantly to keep from feeling anything; Nina runs all over the world to keep from being at home with her own feelings. Any "constant reader" can predict portions of the ending when books start like this. But...but....then I began to realize the depth of the history that I was being taught. The siege of Leningrad....I never thought of it before. Nearly nine hundred days and over one million people dead - more than 700 thousand from starvation - women and children in a world turned upside down. I never realized that this was yet another horror of World War II. I've read the Holocaust stories and thought of the suffering and the losses and bravery of the people of Europe and other countries....but Russia? I'm ashamed to say I knew nothing. This brilliant author had a story to tell and told it in the best context possible - through realistic people whose lives and feelings just about jumped off the pages and into my heart. Thank you, Kristin Hannah, for an amazing read.


Tags : Winter Garden: Special Edition [Kristin Hannah] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <B><I>Can a woman ever really know herself if she doesn't know her mother? </I></B> <B><I></I></B> <B><I>From the author of the smash-hit bestseller </I>Firefly Lane <I>and </I>True Colors <I>comes a powerful,Kristin Hannah,Winter Garden: Special Edition,St. Martin's Press,0312364121,Domestic fiction.,Mothers and daughters;Fiction.,Russian Americans;Fiction.,060103 St Martin Trade Fict All Prior,AMERICAN CONTEMPORARY FICTION,American Contemporary Fiction - Individual Authors +,Contemporary Women,FICTION Family Life General,FICTION Women,Family Life,Fiction,Fiction - General,Fiction-General,GENERAL,General Adult,HANNAH, KRISTIN - PROSE & CRITICISM,Mothers and daughters,POPULAR AMERICAN FICTION,Russian Americans,United States

Winter Garden Special Edition Kristin Hannah 9780312364120 Books Reviews

This book is pathetic - it repeats the same thing chapter after chapter. After the first 10 times I read how lost and isolated these girls feel (in almost the same words each time); I think I got the point. Hard to go on without Dad - yes, got it. Can't connect in their relationsships, yes, got it. Please tell me something new in the next few chapters or I give up out of boredom with all this repeated angst. I don't often put down a book without completing it; but I am going to make an exception with this one. The writing is juvenile, the characters "thin", the reflections on the human condition repeated ad nauseum. Save your money - i wish i could return this one. I can't fathom how it garnered 4 stars.
I know I'm in the minority but I hated this book. I love the author. Have read other books by her but I found this book depressing, and just plain boring. The story is about 2 sisters who must care for their mother after their father dies. Their mother has a past and the story is told by the mother to the sisters by way of a fairy tale; add to that the lives of the sisters being sprinkled into the plotline, this book was IMHO not even close to the Kristin Hannah books I've read previously.

I say skip it read one of her others for example the Nightingale now there was a great book !
Kristin Hannah has a tremendous gift in her ability to weave voluminous historical details with relevant relationships in the present. In Winter Garden, she sets out pieces of a puzzle that grows in multiple dimensions with her characters and their individual and intersecting worlds. She truly takes one on a voyage throughout the world, into the past, and back to home. Kristin allows readers to have snippets of insight along the way without revealing next steps on the journey. While this is fiction, one realizes that real people did in fact experience horrible circumstances and yet survived. Growth and healing are key elements that help the reader absorb some of the horrific facts.
I loved Kristin Hannah's The Nightingale. So naturally I was excited about Winter Garden. It started off interesting but it just dragged on about the dysfunctional relationship and the characters are so bland. I kept wondering when the mother would tell her story about Leningrad. This was one of those books I had to give up on. It had a good premise, but the execution fell flat. I think it would have worked if we had actually had the mother tell the story sooner rather than waiting further into the book. It seemed as though the author had many plotlines going on with the sisters fighting each other, their mom, Meredith having marital problems, the mothers fairytale/true story.
This is one of the best books I have had the pleasure of reading. Not only from a storyline point of view, but also from a literary side - the writing is elegant, eloquent and simply a pleasure to feast your eyes and mind on. The descriptive text immediately conjures up the most vivid pictures (I hope this book is never made into a movie as it would destroy the beauty that a well-written book achieves). I am amazed at the way Kristin Hannah is able to jump from one character to the next, seamlessly, and actually get into that character's head so perfectly. It's like she IS those people! I was fascinated by the fact that she had described the Siege of Leningrad so well - I have been to St Petersburg and visited the Siege museum - it's horrific, fascinating and thought-provoking all in one. I have also been to several German and Polish concentration camps and not been as moved (still incredibly moving, I don't want to minimise the effect the latter have as well but differently so). It is hard to imagine what it must have been like for the Russian women in Leningrad under the Reign of Terror that winter; the psychological strain of Stalin's regime, the physical strain of the cold, the war and the famine, and the emotional strain of seeing your loved ones killed or die from starvation, illness and the cold. All these are so well portrayed by the author. In addition, I thought that the way she wove the two stories together through a fairy tale was exquisite - it kept me reading until the end. And the end...so satisfying in every way. This is a book that should be on everyone's MUST READ list!
Just put my down....I hardly know how to start this review. I will never forget this book, nor the strong feelings it engendered inside me. For this reason, it has to be five stars. I hate romances; I never read them, and can barely tolerate a romance tucked inside a thriller or mystery, or time travel science fiction. I must admit, I almost put this down a couple of times during the first 20% or even 30%. In truth, it was so terribly depressing that I argued with myself about whether I should keep reading. Not exactly a description of a five star novel, huh? The problem was that the characters were so well drawn that I almost felt I knew them from another time, another life. I was annoyed that the author just about hit the reader over the head to emphasize the character traits....okay, I get it already! Meredith works herself constantly to keep from feeling anything; Nina runs all over the world to keep from being at home with her own feelings. Any "constant reader" can predict portions of the ending when books start like this. But...but....then I began to realize the depth of the history that I was being taught. The siege of Leningrad....I never thought of it before. Nearly nine hundred days and over one million people dead - more than 700 thousand from starvation - women and children in a world turned upside down. I never realized that this was yet another horror of World War II. I've read the Holocaust stories and thought of the suffering and the losses and bravery of the people of Europe and other countries....but Russia? I'm ashamed to say I knew nothing. This brilliant author had a story to tell and told it in the best context possible - through realistic people whose lives and feelings just about jumped off the pages and into my heart. Thank you, Kristin Hannah, for an amazing read.