But of course, it is heavily clouded by war, by the things he has seen, the things he did and the things that were done to him: It has all become tainted with the Gulag, and he simply can’t cope.

It showed how both were not able to communicate with each other, how Alexander is overwhelmed with suddenly having a son, a wife, a job, a life, where before he could only dream of having all this to himself. This book had everything I wished for: It did not continue with the happy American lifestyle of the Barringtons after Tatiana and Alexander were allowed U.S. Everything we hear in those flashbacks is a further explanation of Tatianas self, of her motivations, of her emotions and how she copes with everything life has in store for her.

I must say I quite liked the flashbacks which offered a glimpse of how Tatianas childhood ended that one summer at Lake Ilmen. I loved how this trilogy came to an end, with all the heartbreak and heartache and mistrust and drama and love, lots and lots of love. I have to be honest, but when I finished “Tatiana and Alexander”, my thoughts were: ‘It can only get better with the third one’ – and indeed (and thank goodness) it did. Perhaps on the surface they were still in their twenties, but their hearts were old. The swimming child Tatiana of the Luga, of the Neva, of the River Kama. Well, Tatiana supposed that was only right.įor Alexander believed his Tatiana of once was gone, too. Where was he, her Alexander of once? Was he truly gone? The Alexander of the Summer Garden, of their first Lazarevo days, of the hat in his hands, white-toothed, peaceful, laughing, languid, stunning Alexander, had he been left far behind?

The summer garden by paullina simons