Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah *****

 Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah is the story of two sisters and their mother. Meredith married her childhood sweetheart, had two daughters, and took over the family apple orchard. She was the responsible and organized one. Nina was a conflict photographer, taking pictures of war zones and refugees. She was a fearless adventurer. Their mother, Anya, suffered from PTSD. The daughters didn’t know their mother’s history, only that she was cold and distant. These three strangers were held together by the father. They all loved him, so much so, that when his dying wish was for them to hear Anya’s story, all three overcame their differences to honor his wish. Much of this book is about the Siege of Leningrad. A strong, emotional book about mothers and daughters.

While the book centers on the relationship between Anya and her two daughters, most of the pages are dedicated to the Siege of Leningrad. The focus is on the women (“Every man between fourteen and sixty has gone to fight.”) who remained in Leningrad facing Stalinism, starvation, and cold. While many histories of the Battle/Siege of Leningrad report the military maneuvers with any mention of women being those who fought. This book gives life to the survivors, their children and their grandparents. Warning: some of the experiences of these women are difficult to read.

Kristin Hannah uses her god-like author powers to finish the book on an upbeat note.

Nina is a conflict photographer and chases crises around the world, with her boyfriend Danny. Her passion is to publish a book on strong women (and sex with Danny).

The book includes Russian dishes (and even recipes at the end), as well as lots of vodka shots and tea from the samovar.

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Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank B. Gilbreth and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey *****

And the winner for the worst movie adaptation is Cheaper by the Dozen (2003). Aside from the number of children, nothing of this 1948 (set in the 1920s) classic was included in the film. Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank B. Gilbreth and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey features a husband-and-wife engineering team who traveled the world giving lectures and improving factory efficiency. This short book, lovingly written by two of the children, includes many vignettes such as how they earned money by bidding on household chores (“The lowest bidder got the contract.”) and how they satirized their father’s lectures (“For the purpose of convenience,” [the child satirist] began pompously, “I have divided my talk tonight into thirty main headings and one hundred and seventeen subheadings. I will commence with the first main heading. …”). Highly recommended. An efficient use of your time.

The oldest girls were teens during the 1920s and the book includes many teen fashions of the era: Oxford bags (trousers), cootie garages (hairstyle), silk stockings, raccoon coats, and exhaust whistles for Model Ts.

Several of those girls went to Smith College.

The mother and the father were a team that would make any feminist proud 100 years later. The father “died on June 14, 1924, three days before he was to sail for Europe for the two conferences,” where he was booked to deliver lectures. The mother took his tickets and delivered the lectures.

 From the Foreword: MOTHER AND DAD, Lillian Moller Gilbreth and Frank Bunker Gilbreth, were industrial engineers. They were among the first in the scientific management field and the very first in motion study. From 1910 to 1924, their firm of Gilbreth, Inc., was employed as “efficiency expert” by many of the major industrial plants in the United States, Britain, and Germany. Dad died in 1924. After that, Mother carried the load by herself and became perhaps the foremost 

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