Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah

This book will tweak your heart. It's the tale of a family that has secrets.

Their mother has always been cold to the two girls and nothing they did impressed her. Their father was always loving and served as a buffer zone between the family members.

As the girls grow older and develop their own careers, one with a family and one that travels the world taking photos, they find they still don't know anything about their mother.

Mother sits outside in the garden in the cold and won't come in. She simply says it's not cold and comes in when she feels like it. Their father tells them to let her be.

But this fragile family unit really falls apart when the father dies. They don't even know how to speak to each other.

However, mother can't be left at home alone. She's too forgetful and sometimes sounds like she has Alzheimers. The oldest daughter puts her in a nursing home. The youngest daughter comes back to take care of her and takes her home.

They don't understand their mother and they aren't doing well in their own personal lives because they don't understand themselves either.

They make up their minds to make their mother do what their father asked the mother to do - tell them the whole story. And what a fairy tale it is...

This was a very enjoyable read, even if you might need some kleenex in a few places. This book is now available at bookstores.

If you would like my copy of this ARC, which was provided by St. Martin's Press, please leave a comment here on my blog and email me at info @ bookfaerie.com (take the spaces out. I'll pick in a winner in about a week.