Brenda ~The Sisters~Book Witch's Reviews > Winter Garden

I read Winter Garden in our Traveling Sisters reading good and made for a great discussion. It is a well-layered, intriguing and powerful family saga that explores the complicated relationships between a mother and her daughters and the two sisters. The story is told from the past through a fairy tale told by distant, cold and interesting Anya who is layered with mystery and the present as we see how the fairy tale begins to bond these women together.

Kristin Hannah cleverly and skillfully weaves an emotional fairy tale into the storyline that becomes the core of this story and we begin to see how it shaped the relationship between Anya and her daughters. I was drawn into the story through the fairy tale and it became a favourite part of the story for some of us. The imagery in the tale came to life for me and became very real. I felt many emotions as my heart broke for the characters. Through the fairy tale, I came to know who the characters are. Brilliant!

We all really loved the discussion we had for this one and we really dug deep into the emotional depth of this story and how it made us feel. We used some discussion questions that really enhanced our discussion. It’s stories and discussions like this that really bring out the best reading experiences for me.

The ending pushed this non-crier to choke up and fighting back the tears. I will leave you all with this quote from the story and we all highly recommend reading Kristin Hannah at her best with this one.

“Joy and sadness were part of the package, the trick, perhaps was to not let yourself feel all of it but to hold on to the joy just a little more tightly because you never knew when a strong heart could just give out.”