Winter Garden (2010) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit see section history

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Characters edit see section history

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• Evan Whitson: The father of Meredith and Nina. The glue that holds the family together.
• Anya Petrovna Whitson: Mother of Meredith and Nina, the storyteller.
• Meredith Cooper: The oldest daughter of Evan and Anya, the nurturer and responsible one. She is so much like her mother and she doesn't see it. Wife of childhood sweetheart, Jeff, Mom to daughters, Jillian and Maddy
• Nina Whitson: The youngest daughter of Evan and Anya. Nina is a freelance photographer who travels the world rarely settling anywhere for more than a few weeks. She is still trying to find herself.
• Jeff Cooper: Meredith's husband and childhood friend, he knows Meredith's family as well, if not better, than she does. Journalist.
• Sasha: Husband of Vera. Father of Anya and Leo.
• Anya: Daughter of Vera and Sasha.
• Olga: Vera's sister.
• Leo: Son of Vera and Sasha.
• Daniel Flynn: Nina's boyfriend and a world-renowned journalist.
• Daisy: Meredith's right-hand woman at the orchard, she has been with the company for decades and knows the family well.
• Jillian: Granddaughter of Anya and Evan, oldest daughter of Meredith and Jeff.
• Maksim: Vasily Adamovich's son
• Stacey: Waitress in the Russian pub in Alaska
• Maddy: One of Meredith's daughters
• Dr. James Burns: Family doctor to Evan and Anya, as well as Meredith's family
• Dr. Vasily Adamovich: Professor of Russian Studies at the University of Alaska
• Sylvie Porter: Add a description of this character.
• Petyr Andreyevich: A character from The Peasant fairy tale
• Gerald Koontz
• Jeff Hertzberg: Husband to Meredith
• Tom Birchard
• Natalie Danford
• Aunt Dora: Evan's sister
• Dr. Watanabe: Cardiologist
• Peter
• Phillip Kiselev
• Galina Ulanova: ballarina in Poland
• Stanley Kunitz
• Comrade Stalin
• Veronika Petrovna Marchenko Whitson
• Mama

Quotes edit see section history

• “"Can a woman ever really know herself if she doesn’t know her mother? "”

• Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers

• You couldn’t control the direction of your family any more than you could stop the continental shelf from breaking apart. All you could do was hold on for the ride.

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• Every choice changed the road you were on and it was too easy to end up going in the wrong direction.

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• “We women make choices for others, not for ourselves, and when we are mothers, we . . . bear what we must for our children. You will protect them. It will hurt you; it will hurt them. Your job is to hide that your heart is breaking and do what they need you to do.”

  Highlighted by 199 Kindle customers

• life—and love—can be gone any second. When you had it, you needed to hang on with all your strength and savor every second.

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• How could any woman know her own story until she knew her mother’s?

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• “To those who are here, those who are gone, and those who are lost.”

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• And maybe that was how it was supposed to be, how life unfolded when you lived it long enough. Joy and sadness were part of the package; the trick, perhaps, was to 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.

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• She hadn’t been where it mattered, making memories with her husband and children. Maybe she’d thought time was more elastic, or love more forgiving.

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• She’d lost too much of herself in parenthood to simply go back to who she’d been before.

  Highlighted by 112 Kindle customers

• Somewhere along the way, while we're doing everything for everyone else, we have to remember to care for ourselves, too. Honestly, I think women are so strong that it doesn't take a lot of pampering to keep us strong, but we do have to work at it. For me, this is where friends can make all the different. The more we connect with each other, the more we share our burdens, the stronger we become individually.

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Setting & Locations edit see section history

• Leningrad
• Alaska
• Belye Nochi
• Sitka
• Africa
• Atlanta
• Vologda
• Snow Kingdom
• Fontanka Bridge
• Neva River
• BP322: Washington State / Seattle
• Washington State / Seattle

First Sentence edit see section history

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

• Family relationships: Describe this theme.

Series & Lists edit see section history

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Kristin Hannah (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• #4 on the New York Time's Bestseller List (March 2010)

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: PS3558.A4763 W56
• Dewey: 813.54

Notes for Parents edit see section history

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Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Literature & Fiction › Women's Fiction › Mothers & Children
• Books › Literature & Fiction › World Literature › United States
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Genre Fiction › Family Saga
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Women's Fiction › Sisters

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

• Kristin Hannah: Author's website

More Books Like This edit see section history