The Madonnas of Leningrad, Debra Dean
The Madonnas of Leningrad, Debra Dean
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The Madonnas of Leningrad

Author: Debra Dean

Narrator: Yelena Shmulenson

Unabridged: 7 hr 8 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 09/18/2012

Synopsis

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. . . .

About Debra Dean

Debra Dean worked as an actor in New York theater for nearly a decade before opting for the life of a writer and teacher. She and her husband now live in Miami, where she teaches at the University at Miami. She is at work on her second novel.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Will on October 11, 2023

Debra Dean - image from her Facebook pages This is a stunning novel. Marina is a woman in her 80’s about to attend her granddaughter’s wedding near her home in Seattle. Her mind is failing, however, and she is transported back to other times in her life, most particularly to the time when, as a you......more

Goodreads review by Melodie on January 22, 2009

I really didn't read this book. I was having some visual problems which made it impossible for me to read for a time. The Madonnas of Leningrad was our Book club choice for the month of January and it was not available in audio. I asked my sister Jane, who was staying with me for the holidays if she......more

Goodreads review by Paul on March 08, 2023

A heartbreaking story of two different battles War is undoubtedly hell but it is a particularly poignant cruelty when it is waged on civilians - men, women and children alike - as it was during the 900 days of the Nazi's bitter siege of Leningrad in 1941. Marina Anatolyevna Krasnova remembers her tim......more

Goodreads review by Teddy on August 11, 2007

I reviewed this book for Harper Collins Canada, here's what I said: The Madonnas of Leningrad is a lyrical and elegant novel about Marina, a young tour guide at the Hermitage Museum, during the siege of Leningrad in World War Two and her loosing battle with Alzheimer’s in present day Seattle. The nov......more

Goodreads review by MichelleCH on July 29, 2012

This was a half-book. A story of an elderly woman who is suffering from Alzheimer's with her husband and children coping the best that they can. I appreciate the author's idea of flashbacks and retained memories, but I felt like I was never in the loop with what was happening. For some of the book I......more

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