Blurb; It is December 1941, and eight-year-old Galina and her friend Katya are caught in the siege of Leningrad, eating soup made of wallpaper, with the occasional luxury of a dead rat. Galina’s artist father Mikhail has been kept away from the front to help save the treasures of the Hermitage. Its cellars could now provide a safe haven, provided Mikhail can navigate the perils of a portrait commission from one of Stalin’s colonels. Nearly 40 years later, Galina herself is a teacher at the Leningrad Art Institute. What ought to be a celebratory weekend at her forest dacha turns sour when she makes an unwelcome discovery. The painting she embarks upon that day will hold a grim significance for the rest of her life, as the old Soviet Union makes way for the new Russia and Galina’s familiar world changes out of all recognition. Warm, wise and utterly enthralling, Molly Gartland’s debut novel guides us from the old communist world, with its obvious terrors and its more surprising comforts, into the glitz and bling of 21st-century St. Petersburg. Galina’s story is at once a compelling page-turner and an insightful meditation on ageing and nostalgia.
My Review; A few of you may know that I’ve been struggling with reading lately. But this book finally got me back into it. Hurray! Something different. Historical fiction. The story is split into three parts. The few first pages had me hooked and interested.
It starts off with life during WW2 then part two moves onto after the war and finally part three is set on the future. It’s a life story of sorts focusing on a specific few characters. Brilliantly written and the cover is simple yet eye catching. Molly has a brilliant writing style and description for each time period. You can tell alot of research, time and thought have been put into this story.
Some chapters are a little too long for my personal liking but that didn’t bother me much as I was really enjoying reading it after my long book slump. A well deservesld four stars from me. Highly recommend. If you fancy something a little different this may be for you. Thank you for giving me my reading mojo back!
Amazon Link UK
Amazon Link US
* BLOG TOUR* The Girl From The Hermitage – Molly Gartland ★★★★
Between The Pages Book Club 