I decided to read The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean after reading and listening to the remarkable City of Thieves by David Benioff. Ms. Dean provides an alternate, equally creative telling of the horrific Siege of Leningrad during World War II.
The book starts in the present day with the elderly Marina as she displays the first signs of Alzheimer’s disease. As the disease progresses she slips into memories of her past --a past she has not revealed to her two adult children. Marina was a survivor of the deadliest siege in recorded history. Prior to the onset of war, Marina trained as a docent at the Hermitage, the great museum of art in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). She and other dedicated staff members hid the art treasures from the invading Nazis in the “cavernous vaults” below the Hermitage. Eventually Marina and her family sought refuge in the museum cellar with other Hermitage staff members, as their own homes were destroyed by the bombings. As the siege continued, many of museum occupants died from starvation and exposure. Marina maintained her sanity through this ordeal by “painting” mental pictures of the location and theme of the priceless treasures, particularly the various renditions of the Madonna and Child.
Ms. Dean provides a chilling rendering of this time period. There is no comic relief in this portrayal of the siege as in the City of Thieves. There is mystical quality to this book that might puzzle some readers, but would be a good topic for discussion. The author provides a keen depiction on the progression of Alzheimer’s as Marina contemplates her plight in the beginning pages of the book: “whatever is eating her brain consumes only the fresher memories, the unripe moments. Her distant past is preserved, better than preserved. Moments that occurred in Leningrad sixty-some years ago reappear, vivid, plump and perfumed.”