Reviewed by Michelle Boucher-Ladd

books:


	• The Madonnas of Leningrad: A Novel (P.S.) Debra Dean Harper Perennial, 2007 - 256 pages average customer review:based on 68 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Poignant, but lacks depth....

This is, as the other reviewers have so wel pointed out, a remarkable story of great love - of art, of family, and of survival at a time when it seemed nothing would survive - no decency, no beauty, and definitely not human beings besieged in the midst of a horrendous war.

Later we find our heroine equally besieged, by the unforgiving terrors of alzheimer's disease, as she struggles to remember family, friends, and at times who she is. All of this is premise for an unforgettable story.

However, I would have liked it to be longer. I would have liked to have known more of our heroes before the novel quickly descended into the horror of their situation. I would have liked there to have been more description of the physical nature of the Hermitage, and the many treasures that it holds. I guess I would have liked, well.... just more.

THis is indeed a lovely novel, and I imagine that there are many, many stories like this that are as unknown to us as they were to the families of the main characters. I guess my point is this novel is merely a taste of their story, and I wanted it to be so much more.

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Evocative of place and time

This short novel beautifully takes you to another place and time, both in history and in a human life being constrained by dementia. You are drawn into the lives of the key characters (which are not always the ones who get more "ink") and into parallel processes of societal adjustment and adjustment of a family to dislocations unexpected and unprepared for.

It is a book that stays with you long after you finish reading it. It would have five stars but for the fact that I found the shifting between time period distracting.

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Art & history lesson

To anyone who has visited the Hermitage, this look back at what happened during the seige of Leningrad will be a rewarding read. Debra Dean clearly has done extensive and detailed research to paint a picture of what life was like during that horrendous time - and how some managed to
survive. She intertwines the current life of two of them, and the story unfolds through flashbacks. An interesting footnote is these two main characters reside in Seattle, as does the author.
Viewing the Hermitage website adds another dimension to discussions of the artwork saved from the German attacks.

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Reviewed by Michelle Boucher-Ladd

The Madonnas of Leningrad is a haunting debut novel for Debra Dean. The main character, Marina, is failing. She is struggling to remember as age and Alzheimer's eat away at her memory. She lapses back to a tramatic period in her life and mixes past memories with the present. Her past is the siege of Leningrad during World War II where she worked at the Hermitage Museum as a tour guide. During the fall of 1941 with the Germans descending on the city she works with others to remove all of the art from the walls and frames of the museum. As she works she is locking away in her memory thousands of paintings so that she might point to any spot on the wall and remember vividly what was there. Someone must remember.

As the Germans begin to surround the city Marina's childhood sweetheart asks her to marry him, she agrees and he takes her picture with him to the front and later as a prisoner he takes it to Germany. It is her image that consoles him. This is a hauntingly beautiful story of faces. As Marina becomes surrounded by hunger and death it is the memory of art, paintings of the virgin that carry her through the winter. Marina creates for herself a "memory palace," where she is safe and can feast upon the beauty that was. Debra Dean's use of imagery brings the Hermitage to full glory on a contrasting background of human tragedy. It is an amazing story of survival and of love.

The modern day Marina is reliving the past only this time it is her mind that is under siege and Alzheimer's has replaced the Germans. Having survived the siege and a pregnancy Marina is then reunited with her love, Dmitri. Together they begin a new life in the United Sates where they raise a family, eat well, and never speak of the past. As Marina's memory slips back to her days at the Hermitage her daughter Helen becomes aware that there is more to her mother than just the doting old housewife she grew up with. Helen tries to pry away at her mother's memories hoping to draw from the past links to her own life and her own love of art.

This is a sad story told in such a loving way that it is hard to put down. Debra Dean has done a fantastic job of creating for the reader a museum of words and images that are both heartrending and breathtaking. This book will inspire a visit to your local art museum or gallery. It is a perfect pick for book clubs as it poses so many questions of art and humanity. Is art nourishment? How is war beautiful? How do we remember things? This passage could inspire much discussion:

" No one weeps anymore, or if they do, it is over small things, inconsequential moments that catch them unprepared. What is left that is heartbreaking? Not death: death is ordinary. What is heartbreaking is the sight of a single gull lifting effortlessly from a street lamp. Its wings unfurl like silk scarves against the mauve sky, and Marina hears the rustle of its feathers. What is heartbreaking is that there is still beauty in the world."

It is so thought provokingly written. The Madonnas of Leningrad will have you rereading its most contemplating segments and its imagery will haunt you. It will definitely have you looking forward to the next Debra Dean novel.

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A must read

A charming and fascinating blend of fiction and historical facts. It will have you packing your bags to go to St. Petersburg and see the Hermitage for yourself.

reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, page 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14

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