The Madonnas of Leningrad – Debra Dean

This book was recommended to me by Amanda of Opinions of a Wolf when I joined up for her Mental Illness Advocacy reading challenge, she has a wonderfully detailed reading list if any of you fancy checking it out here. The Madonnas of Leningrad was first published in 2006 and is the debut novel for author Debra Dean. Dean is obviously a new name to me and for many others before becoming a writer she was actually an actress, how exciting is that?! She has now been the two professions I’ve often considered myself, acting and writing. Dean apparently also grew up reading Jane Austen so I’ve already decided we’d get on like a house on fire. I was drawn to The Madonnas of Leningrad not just for the Alzheimer’s theme in the book but the setting of World War II, there is also a strong theme of art within the book as well.

Marina is working as a guide in the Hermitage Museum in Leningrad in the autumn of 1941 as the city prepares for an attack from the Germans at anytime. The staff of the Hermitage are working day and night to pack away the vast collection of priceless paintings and statures, to either be transported by train further east or for the heavier objects to be stored away in the basement of the building, out of reach of the german bombers. As Marina works away she finds herself committing all of the visions of angels and madonnas to memory which she finds helps her to cope with the misery and chaos around her. Meanwhile in the present time Marina is an old woman living in the USA with her elderly husband and has two grown up children, and several grandchildren…but the ravages of old age are making it exceedingly harder for Marina to stay in the present. One moment she is cooking, cleaning or talking with her husband, next she is back among the echoing halls of the Hermitage, when she returns she has missed seconds, minutes, even hours.

The Madonnas of Leningrad was I thought a rather sad but beautiful tale of one woman’s life from youth to old age. Marina was a very attractive character I liked her very much and wanted her to do well, and that is what made the end so poignant, she survives all of these hardships only to be defeated by her own memory. Alzheimer’s or dementia as is sometimes called is one illness I think we all fear to get. Reading Marina’s story was intriguing because for her the memory loss wasn’t upsetting she was already gone really, but it was very painful to read her family’s feelings about it especially her husband. The style of writing really complimented the tale too it was slow and highly detailed, I could often picture perfectly the vast empty rooms of the Hermitage, the waste land that was Leningrad, and more importantly I could see the art work that Marina clinged to so dearly in her mind.

I would highly recommend The Madonnas of Leningrad if you are also working your way through the Mental Illness Advocacy reading challenge. But also if you are interested in an emotional/romantic tale with a striking historical setting then I think you would enjoy this too. Have you read this, if so what did you think?