The Winter Garden

Have you ever read a book, and afterwards felt a little dazed by the impact?  I stayed up late last night to read the last pages in Kristin Hannah's The Winter Garden and oh my goodness.  

This book was unbelievable.  

Reading this was my first Kristin Hannah experience, although I hear and see her name almost everywhere.  I don't know where to begin with a review, because I feel inadequate to say anything other than - GO READ THIS BOOK as soon as you can. 

*two caveats* there is some language in this book (it doesn't feel like she throws it in just to do it, it fits with the turmoil of the characters in the moment) and there is sex (not explicit, but you definitively know what the character is doing - or about to do).  I know those are deal breakers for many readers and they usually are for me, but I felt that the raw, messy human emotion in all of its good, bad, and ugly was needed to to fully tell this story.

Meredith and Nina are Evan and Anya's beautiful, successful daughters who mask the pain of rejection in very different ways.  Their mother, Anya, is an indecipherable enigma they have spent a lifetime both trying to figure out and simultaneously co-exist along side without engaging too much of their hearts, in order to buffer the pain of rejection.  Their one bright spot, the glue that holds the four of them together is their Daddy, Evan.  His love is pure sunshine.  He does not ever give up trying to pull the three of his girls (his wife and two daughters) together. to have Meredith and Nina listen, really listen and to have Anya share, fully share the story she's carried in her heart for so long, too long.  

Take the time to slowly immerse yourself in the pages of this book, push through the slow beginning and get caught up in the story as it unfolds.  If you can read it during the wintertime, so much the better.  I initially checked this book out through the Libby app, but then bought the paperback when I was about halfway through.  I recommend the actual book over ebook.