Winter Garden Audiobook By Kristin Hannah cover art

Winter Garden

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Winter Garden

By: Kristin Hannah
Narrated by: Susan Ericksen
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About this listen

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 Kristin Hannah's 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 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.

©2010 by Kristin Hannah. (P)2009 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.
Family Life Fiction Women's Fiction World War II Heartfelt Fantasy Tearjerking Feel-Good
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Editorial reviews

in Kristin Hannah’s Winter Garden, we find three women - a mother and two daughters by blood, but strangers in their hearts - reeling from the loss of the man who held their fragile family together. Emptiness pervades this story - hollowing out what is left of the Whitson family and creeping into the space between narrator Susan Erickson’s words.

Anya and her daughters Meredith and Nina have already lost their husband and father to death - and risk losing each other to pride. Evan Whitson knew of this risk, and on his deathbed asked his wife to tell their daughters her “fairy tale” from start to finish. And so we find the Whitson women gathered in the dark at their family home, Belye Nochi, night after night.

Meredith is the older daughter who stayed home to take care of the family business, and her marriage is falling apart. Younger sister Nina, meanwhile, has traveled the globe as a renowned photographer, but refuses to marry the love of her life. Neither sister has much of a relationship with the other - much less with their cold and distant mother, Anya, whose mysterious past in Russia haunts them all.

Erickson’s Anya is resolute, her Nina bold, and her Meredith lost. Effortlessly, it seems, Erickson captures in one moment the decades of sorrow in Anya’s voice and in the next the ready spirit in Nina’s. Always we hear the sheer exhaustion in Meredith’s. Erickson’s voice is at times empty and full, icy and warm, sharp and soft. Throughout the book all three women are alternately devastated with loss, isolated by bitterness, and joyous for the love of family, and Erickson lets us hear it all with her honest and gentle delivery.

Winter Garden is a story best listened to - it is after all a testament to the power of storytelling. What Meredith and Nina hear in their mother’s story will cause them to face their grief head on and just might make them a family once again. --Sarah Evans Hogeboom

Critic reviews

“It's a tearjerker, but the journey is as lovely - and haunting - as a snow filled winter's night.” --People Magazine

“This tearjerker weaves a convincing historical novel and contemporary family drama.” --Library Journal

“Readers will find it hard not to laugh a little and cry a little more as mother and daughters reach out to each other just in the nick of time.” --Publishers Weekly

What listeners say about Winter Garden

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Gut wrenching....but well done.

It's actually 2 stories ....the mother's tale of Stalin's Russia/ Siege of Leningrad and the daughters' tale of being raised by this survivor....both were very interesting. I was drawn into the history and learned so much about Soviet Russia. The truth of it is very hard and sad, making it a difficult read at times. I must mention the narration. This is the first book I have purchased with truly EXCELLENT narration! I can't stress enough what a difference this made to the overall enjoyment of this book. Every emotion, every character and every accent was delivered with the obvious gift of an actress. I will never purchase another book again without rave reviews for the narration. What a difference! Bravo!

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98 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent writing, excellent narrating.

Powerful story. I listened to the audio of this, very well done. It is not an easy story to listen to, but beautiful all the same. The way Kristin Hannah tells the story both in the present day and back to Stalin's time works seamlessly. In the telling of the story love and redemption eventually are born. But before that great pain and loss. Sometimes almost too unbearable to hear. Recommend the listen.

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53 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Touched my heart

This was a great book. It was a bit slow in the first half,but the story in the 2nd part made up for it...couldn't put the headphones down once that started.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Winter Garden

Awesome! It was an interesting way of introducing the story line over generations. The story was never finished until the last page. How could you not feel the joy and the pain of the mother as a child and her daughters struggle to understand her. It just gets better and better. I loved this book. I will listen again and again.

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Truly captivating and a mysery to the very end . .

The story is like none other I have ever read or listened to, there was no feeling of been there,done that, with this book. The "fairytales" just sucked me in, I felt a part of them. The performance was exquist. Susan Erickson made each character their own and just did an amazing job. So very worth listening to.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A good listen

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

While this book was very slow in the first part - it picked up with the telling of the "fairy tale" . I liked the narrator and her accent - it kept even the slow parts bearable.. I think if I were reading this I would have quit in the first 1/2 of the book.

What did you like best about this story?

The Fairy Tale

Any additional comments?

Susan Erickson did a great job

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

an extremely good book

When i purchased this book i had no idea what it was about, i read the preview but it could not and did not give a clue as to the depth of this story nor the brutality the people endured trying to survive the hardships of war. It is my opinion that the author could not have done a better job in telling the story of the lives of this family and the unimaginable strength of the main character Vera. This is a book that will stay with me for the rest of my life, i will never forget this family. Like the unforgettable characters in Dr.Zhavigo so will these people live on in my mind.
The narrator also did an excellent job in the telling of this story, every thing about it from the words written by a gifted author to the narration by an equally gifted narrator held me captive until the very end where many many tears were shed by me at its conclusion.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Loved this booking

I have read and listened to this book a half dozen times. It is a beautiful story with great narrator.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

excellent ending

Told in a story tell manner the cultured accents only add to the depth of the tale. Another great book by this author well done by the reader.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent

I have listened to this while dressing for Work and while walking and while lying in bed at night. Its one of the best books. I highly recommend it. I don’t know where Hannah gets her stories but they’re unforgettable.
Makes me want to hug my sisters even closer.

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