Madonnas of Leningrad
Just a quick note on a book I just finished, "The Madonnas of Leningrad" by Debra Dean. This is a first book that has many levels. It is about a woman who survived WWII living in the Hermitage, a large Russian museum, in Leningrad. As an old woman, she is losing her memory to Alzheimer's. Although the subject matter at both times is very bleak, the woman herself is a fantastic character. The story flashes between the two times, giving the woman great depth. While surviving the horrors of war, the woman remembers the paintings that once hung in the vast museum. It is the descriptions of the paintings and her love for them that give the book beauty in the midst of such horror. It is also her love of beauty in the present time that overcomes the sadness of her memory loss. I highly recommend it.