Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com
Summary:
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. . . .
Customer Reviews:
Average Customer Rating:
From S. Krishna's Books
Customer Rating:
I don't really know what inspired me to pick up The Madonnas of Leningrad. I was at the library, in a hurry because my husband was waiting outside in the car. I made a quick run over to the "New Releases/Popular Titles" shelf. Because it was a Saturday, it was pretty picked over, but this small novel caught my eye, and I decided to take it home on an impulse. I didn't know what it was about or even what genre it was, but I loved the title.
And now? Now I am so glad I took a chance on The Madonnas of Leningrad. (And how have I not heard about this book before? I think I'm the only one.) It's a short book, to be sure, but inside is a wonderful and moving story about Marina's struggles in the past (the siege of Leningrad) and in the present (Alzheimer's).
Prior to the novel, I knew enough about the siege of Leningrad to know that it was horrific, but the book puts a new face on the struggle. Through Marina, the reader is exposed to the appalling conditions in which people were forced to live while the Nazis were trying to take the city during World War II. It's not until you read a novel like this, whether fiction or not, that you really begin to comprehend what people must have had to deal with. However, I also liked that the struggle wasn't the focus of the novel. While the siege of Leningrad deserves novels, history books, etc. written solely about it, those aren't books I'll be reading because they would probably be depressing. The Madonnas of Leningrad isn't like it; it's sad, to be sure, but it manages to keep the reader's spirit high. It's not a burden or a weight.
I think the best part of the novel is the way it jumps in time. Dean seamlessly weaves the past and the present together; there is one point in the novel where Marina is sitting at her granddaughter's wedding, and before the reader realizes it, Marina has been taken back to Leningrad and watching a different wedding at a different time. Dean is an exceptionally talented writer and it shines through in The Madonnas of Leningrad.
This is a great novel that I think anyone would enjoy. It's easy to read and beautifully written; definitely pick this one up if you are debating on it like I was!
Sweet and Economical
Customer Rating:
A one-sit read, it is a tender story that does not delve too deeply into developing its characters nor the events unfolding around them. It's probably more a 3-1/2 stars for the total read, but Marina's last tour through the Hermitage is absolutely transcendent, so four stars it is.
A Memory Palace Back to Reality
Customer Rating:
This is a beautiful strange mixture of a sad, poignant tale of a beautiful young women in Leningrad in 1941 awaiting the German takeover and her life now as an old woman who is fighting dementia and remembering the horror and beauty of that time.
The author has a wonderful grasp of art history and critique and uses that knowledge extensively as she tells of Marina's memories of that time in Russia when just before the imminent arrival of the Germans, she was a docent at the Hermitage Museum. The recollection of these countless paintings is her link to the past and her link to her sanity.
It is a beautiful prosaic story.
A Great Read
Customer Rating:
We ( my wife and I ) both found the Madonnas of Leningrad to be an excellent, gripping and highly informative book. It is a complex tale, skillfully woven together, touching on Alzheimer disease, Russian history ( The German Siege of Leningrad), and the details of great art works. It has kindled in us a great desire to visit the Hermitage and St. Petersburg. More than that, it has inspired us to buy several more copies to give to friends who we thought would greatly enjoy reading this very well crafted novel. I recommend it highly!
The Madonnas of Leningrad
Customer Rating:
I really enjoyed this book. The main characters are well written and the subject matter very interesting. I also went on line to the Hermitage Museum's web site to look at some of the paintings mentioned in the book. I liked the way the author took the reader back and forth through time in the Marina's life. Not only is this a book on what happened during the siege of Leningrad but also about aging and love of family.
Select button not working? 
