Ella Lungwitz

I cried after I was done reading Winter Garden. I can't remember the last time a book moved me so much. Leningrad is where I grew up, and the Siege of Leningrad was something that was inbred in everyone of us- there wasn't a family who hasn't endured a loss during that brutal winter of 1941-1942. Anya and her daughters found a way to reconcile with the past and managed to move forward, and I can't think of a more powerful and beautiful bond than the one created in Winter Garden. I have learned a lesson or two for my relationship with my two daughters and will long remember the book and its valuable lessons. I will be reading more of Kristin's books. This was my first.