Book summary

As Alzheimer's insidiously corrodes Marina Buriakov's mind, she finds herself slipping out of the present and back to the days when as a young woman she lived with hundreds of other families in the basement of the Hermitage Museum during the siege of Leningrad. As the details of Marina's granddaughter's wedding fade, the famous paintings she once tried to protect from the Nazi bombs become increasingly vivid. Debra Dean's lyrical debut novel shimmers with fleeting and beautiful memories and powerfully portrays the emotional bonds forged by the Russian families living through the chaos of war.

Media reviews

"[M]emory, the hopes one pins on it and the letting go one must do around it all take on real poignancy, giving the story a satisfying fullness."

  "A beautiful story about a woman lost in the present while her mind is haunted by the past. Wonderfully descriptive recollections of the artwork at the Hermitage Museum give hope during the siege of Leningrad. “The Madonnas of Leningrad” perfectly intersects the life of a young Russian woman during World War II with the life of the same as an elderly woman gripped by Alzheimer's. An unforgettable first novel. "

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