Can a woman ever really know herself if she doesn’t know her mother? From the author of the smash-hit bestseller Firefly Lane and True Colors comes a powerful, heartbreaking novel that illuminates the intricate mother-daughter bond and explores the enduring links between the present and the past Meredith and Nina Whitson are as different as sisters can be. One stayed at home to raise her children …
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.
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I read this a few years ago, but it has never left my memory. It took me a while to get into it and to really understand the story; but once I did! Only emojis can describe the rest of my experience with this book. It gave a human face and emotion to what millions of survivors of war experience and face decades later. Some of the images it …
Absolutely amazing. I’ve recommended this book several times and have been thanked for the recommendation. Beautiful mother-daughter life lessons.
Stories with strongly defined characters are my favorites. One knew the mother had a “story” that made her so distant and hard to her daughters. The story as it unfolded was haunting, sad and real. There was history to be learned and one must marvel at the strength of these women in Russia, and also at her daughters who were trying so hard to …
One of my absolute favorites by far! I adore all of Kristin Hannah’s books!
I almost didn’t finish this one. I had a really hard time getting into the story, mainly because I found Meredith’s character to be really, really difficult to like/understand/sympathize with. I enjoyed her sister Nina’s storyline a little more and that’s what carried me through the first quarter of the book. I would suggest to anyone about to …
I loved it. I’ve read it 3 times.
Loved this book
This was a fantastic book. The further I read, the more engrossed I became!
The mother’s story was fascinating and the book held an air of suspense in anticipation of her full story. I could have done without the sisters’ dramas regarding their personal lives; it didn’t add much to the story for me, except how their mother’s secrets impacted them. The historical aspect concerning Anya’s life was the driving force of the …
A historical fiction based on real life events. Couldn’t put this book down.
Meredith and Nina spend half of their lives not understanding why Mom doesn’t seem to love them. She won’t even make eye contact with them let alone talk to them. After their Dad dies, Mom starts telling a fairytale they had heard as kids. Only as kids they didn’t know they were only getting the beginning of the tale. Mom starts from the beginning …
This is probably one of my top 3 favorite books. I loved the story development and the story within the story. Great read and one I’ll read again and again through the years.
This was the first Kristen Hannah book I read and I’ve been hooked ever since!
how well do we really know our parents?
In my opinion one of the top five books of all time. While other of her books get more acclaim, such as Nightingale and Firefly, this book seems to have been overlooked. The others were good, this was GREAT. I was gripped, enthralled, in agony and overall just in awe that a book could make me feel so much. I am writing this review about nine years …
It was really a page turner-did not want to put it down! Every chapter was leaving you to want to see what happens in the next chapter.
Great story & learned some history as well!
Romantic as far as her words and description goes …. loved it
I didn’t think it was one of her best books. The Nightingale was my favorite of all books she’s written
It was slow at first but once you got into the fairy tale it kept you hooked