Winter Garden

Meredith goes to work the next day but can only think about the fairy tale. She researches more and discovers that Vasily is in a nursing home in Juneau after a stroke. Meredith then talks to Daisy, a longtime worker at the orchard, and learns that Anya was very sick when she married Evan and came to America, taking over a year to recover. Meredith leaves work and goes to Belye Nochi. Anya is in the kitchen making bread. Nina is out running errands, so Meredith goes to her mother’s closet and searches for clues. She tries on a blue cashmere coat and discovers a picture of two young children sewn into the pocket lining.

Nina returns home and finds Meredith in the closet. Meredith shows her sister the picture, and they puzzle over who the children might be. Over dinner, Nina tells Anya and Meredith that she bought tickets for all of them on an Alaskan cruise.

The next morning, Danny arrives at Belye Nochi. He tells Nina that CNN has offered him a job hosting his own show and asks her to marry him. Nina responds by asking for more time. As Meredith packs for the trip, her excitement grows. She drives to Jeff’s office to remind him that she’s leaving tomorrow. He kisses her goodbye and tells her he hopes she finds what she’s looking for.

Anya, Nina, and Meredith board the cruise ship the following day. Nina and Meredith go to the ship’s bow for cocktails while Anya goes to her room. Nina tells Meredith about Danny’s proposal, and Meredith tells Nina that she admires her sister’s passion. After dinner, Nina and Meredith follow their mother to her stateroom. Nina shows her the picture of the two children, and Anya confirms that the story isn’t just a fairy tale but asks to tell the story the only way she can. For the first time, Anya begins the story with the lights on.

Vera and Sasha marry and have their first child, a daughter whom they name Anastasia but call Anya. Vera gives birth to Leo the next year and is very happy despite their meager circumstances. Vera still works at the library while Sasha attends university. One day, when Vera is 22, she takes four-year-old Leo and five-year-old Anya to pick vegetables from their small plot of land outside the city. When they return home in the late afternoon, people crowd the streets, and a speaker announces that Germany has attacked the Soviet Union.

Vera returns to the apartment and finds Mama and Olga taping newspaper to the windows. Mama takes Vera and Olga with her to get their money out of the bank and buy everything they can from the grocery store. However, the bank is closed, and the store’s shelves are almost empty. They buy a few things and go back to their apartment. Vera begins to worry because Sasha isn’t home yet, but he arrives at 8:00 pm.

Two nights later, Vera and her family wake to gunfire. They gather some food and head into the street with their neighbors. The gunfire comes from the Soviet antiaircraft guns as they practice for the coming attack. Sasha tells Vera he has joined the People’s Volunteer Army. She makes him promise he’ll return to her, though she knows it’s pointless. The next morning, Vera takes their wedding photo, folds it, and places it in Sasha’s coat pocket. The couple says goodbye, and Sasha leaves.

Leningrad’s appearance changes as the army camouflages its statues and bright buildings. On her way home from work one day, Vera goes to the bank and withdraws 200 rubles. She then stands in line to buy bread and cheese, grateful there is anything left with food so scarce. Vera returns to the apartment; Olga arrives and says the city is evacuating the children. On the morning of the evacuation, Vera feels she can’t send her babies away and go on with life like usual. She talks to Mama, who tells her she must send her children away, having complete faith in Stalin’s ability to keep them safe.

Vera tells Leo and Anya they’re going for a walk. Olga, Mama, and Vera’s grandmother say goodbye to the children, trying to hide their sadness. Vera then takes her children to a building crowded with people and tells them they’re going on a trip. She hands them a suitcase with clothes and food and explains that she must stay behind but will be there when they return. The children become upset, but Vera asks them to be strong and stay together.

Vera and her children stand in line for five hours; then, the children are processed, sorted, and moved to other lines. The train arrives in the late afternoon. Vera hugs her children and watches them disappear into the crowd. She stands as if she is frozen, but then forces her way toward the train when she realizes she didn’t tell her children she loves them. She tells the attendant she’s a nonessential worker, so the attendant allows her to board. When Vera finds Leo and Anya, she sits with them, too overwhelmed to speak.

The train departs and travels south for a few hours. Suddenly, the train blows its horn and begins slowing down. Gunfire erupts outside the train, and planes start dropping bombs. Vera grabs her children and runs off the train to a nearby barn with the other passengers. She decides to leave the barn, so she takes her children, along with another woman and her children, and leaves the barn. Vera and the woman estimate they’re about 90 kilometers south of Leningrad and begin walking. They make it back to the apartment, but the experience causes Vera to volunteer for the work crews trying to stop the Germans. Mama agrees to watch Leo and Anya so Vera can do her part to help.

Anya stops the story, and Meredith says she doesn’t look as tired tonight. Anya says it’s because she has stopped fighting her promise to Evan to tell their daughters the whole story. Meredith and Nina return to their room and decide the children in the picture must be Anya and Leo.

The ship reaches Alaska’s Inside Passage the next day, and Nina takes some early-morning pictures of the frigid landscape. She then sits in a chair on the ship’s deck. Meredith joins her, and Nina says she found the address to the nursing home in Juneau where Vasily is recovering from his stroke. The ship will be in Juneau in three days, so the sisters discuss how they’ll talk to the professor. Anya suddenly appears and says they’ll see him. Nina apologizes for hiding the truth behind the trip, but Anya understands and says tomorrow is her 81st birthday. Anya then says they’ll all see the professor but warns her daughters that they’ll be sorry they brought all of this up.

In Ketchikan, the three women watch a man carving a totem pole. They then sit in a diner and discuss what would be on their family’s totem. The waitress brings a piece of cake with a candle for Anya, and her daughters wish her a happy birthday. Anya tells them that she couldn’t look at them in the past because she was ashamed of her mistakes. She also admits that her real name is Vera but refuses to say more.