The Madonnas of Leningrad, Debra Dean's first novel, tells the story of Marina, a docent at the State Hermitage Museum during the 900-day Siege of Leningrad. Marina's clear and detailed recollections of the Hermitage collection and the war are interspersed with her current dementia-impaired life in Seattle, Washington as she prepares to attend a granddaughter's wedding. The novel uses the vivid memories of the past to contrast with the struggles of an Alzheimer's victim in dealing with everyday life.
The Madonnas of Leningrad received mixed reviews. The Guardian wrote "Debra Dean paints a powerful portrait of a woman with Alzheimer's, a disease that makes the past an increasingly persistent intrusion on the present."[1] A review by the Historical Novel Society called it "a beautifully-written novel, a haunting tribute to the power of memory to help us survive in the worst of times."[2] and Ruth Rendell described it as "marvellous".[3] The New York Times observed that "The story is a little too schematic, and Dean's writing a little uneven", but also said that "it largely avoids the sentimentality that mars so much writing about the old and infirm."[4]
^Leslie Budewitz (April 2006). "The Madonnas of Leningrad: The memory palace". BookPage. BookPage and ProMotion Inc. Retrieved May 26, 2018. an artful story, lovingly told, that illustrates how humans deal with trauma the physical privations and fears of war, and the slow deterioration of the mind itself.
^"The Madonnas of Leningrad". Publishers Weekly. PWxyz LLC. November 21, 2005. Retrieved May 26, 2018. Although none of the characters emerges particularly vividly (Marina included), memory, 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.
^"The Madonnas of Leningrad". Kirkus Reviews. Kirkus Media LLC. December 15, 2005. Retrieved May 26, 2018. A thoughtful tragedy that morphs into a tear-jerker in the third act.
