Meredith and Nina are sisters - but two sisters couldn't be more different. The only thing they truly have in common is a completely dysfunctional relationship with their mother, Anya, and strong memories of the fairy tales she used to tell them as children. While they known that Anya is Russian and that their father loves her very much, Anya is otherwise a mystery to them until circumstances force these three women to find a way to understand each other. For both Meredith and Nina, getting to know their mother requires a journey they could never anticipate into a past they could never imagine.
I know so little about Russian history, I appreciate that this book, in its own way, gave me a small window to understanding the Leningrad of many years ago and what it might have been to live their during WWII. The overarching plot and ideas of Winter Garden I really liked but some of the minutiae, though, drove me a little crazy. Both the sisters are rather emotionally stunted because of their dysfunctional relationship with their mother and their individual storylines were frustrating to read. It's pretty repetitive throughout but overall, I liked how the fairy tale piece was woven into the story and by the end, I did care a lot about their family and what they'd been through.
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