A Gentleman in Moscow

A delightful cat and mouse game of personalities. The count, a gentleman, living in less gentle times, makes friends with his new comrades. He is basically inprisoned in house arrest for the remainder of his life, living the life of a pauper with aristocratic manners and taste. Beginning in 1922, the Bolsheviks are in power. And the Count lives in the Metropol Hotel. Eventually becoming a waiter in the hotel restaurant which actually suits his personality and knowledge of fine dining.

If a man does not master his circumstances then he is bound to be mastered by them. – Amor Towles, A Gentleman in Moscow

Towles descriptions of his surroundings, the deft observations of those people in his view are the pure delights of this reader. Give the book a chance, if you find it slow. It will reward you. Towles is prepping us for a delightful story, a man who grows to care and love others.

Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah

In another Kristin Hannah sweeping tale (I’ve read The Nightingale and The Great Alone), two sisters hope to heal from the loss of one parent while becoming closer to the other parent. In between, Hannah leads us on a journey through present day Washington state and Alaska as well as war torn Leningrad.

There is some comfort in the predictable storyline of two sisters with opposite personalities. The older sister, Meredith, surrounds herself with a stable family life, eventually taking over the family apple harvesting business. The younger sister, Nina, a world renowned photographer, travels the world and lives like a gypsy.

Both daughters have a close relationship with their father. Their mother? Eh, not so much. Is there a reason for her lack of empathy and coldness towards her family?

“And maybe that was how it was supposed to be…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…” -Kristin Hannah

As children, Meredith and Nina remember Anya’s fairy tales. It is the only bit of humanity they see within their distant and lonely mother. As adults, they ask their mother to finish one particular story. Throughout the remainder of the book, Anya illustrates the fairy tale. Is it real? Or is it a fairy tale? Read to find out the story of these women.