The Madonnas of Leningrad: A Novel (edit title)

Shelfari edited the description of The Madonnas of Leningrad: A Novel Saturday, August 1 2009.

• Bit by bit, the ravages of age are eroding Marina's grip on the everyday. An elderly Russian woman now living in America, she cannot hold on to fresh memories—the details of her grown children's lives, the approaching wedding of her grandchild—yet her distant past is miraculously preserved in her mind's eye. Vivid images of her youth in war-torn Leningrad arise unbidden, carrying her back to the terrible fall of 1941, when she was a tour guide at the Hermitage Museum and the German army's approach signaled the beginning of what would be a long, torturous siege on the city. As the people braved starvation, bitter cold, and a relentless German onslaught, Marina joined other staff members in removing the museum's priceless masterpieces for safekeeping, leaving the frames hanging empty on the walls to symbolize the artworks' eventual return. As the Luftwaffe's bombs pounded the proud, stricken city, Marina built a personal Hermitage in her mind—a refuge that would stay buried deep within her, until she needed it once more. . . .

Shelfari edited the contributors of The Madonnas of Leningrad: A Novel Tuesday, July 21 2009.

• reordered the contributors.
• 1 : Debra Dean:

Peiyu W edited the quotations of The Madonnas of Leningrad: A Novel Sunday, July 19 2009.

• Added a quotation: “More distressing than the loss of words is the way that time contracts and fractures and drops her in unexpected places”

Shelfari edited the contributors of The Madonnas of Leningrad: A Novel Thursday, July 16 2009.

• Added a contributor: Debra Dean: (Primary Author)

Shelfari edited the first sentence of The Madonnas of Leningrad: A Novel Thursday, July 16 2009.

• This way, please.