Nina Sankovitch: Tolstoj and the Purple Chair

Hi

This review is about Tolstoj and the Purple Chair by Nina Sankovitch.
I got it from The Book Depository and it has 240 pages.

“After the death of her sister, Nina Sankovitch found herself caught up in grief, dashing from one activity to the next to keep her mind occupied. But on her forty-sixth birthday she decided to stop running and start reading.”

The novel is a true memoir of Nina’s life. It’s about her family and coping with the loss of her sister, about the insights she gets through reading and through thinking about the words in those novels.

As an avid reader myself; I understand the meaning and the worth books have and how they can change the way we feel, live, see others and ourselves.

It’s not dark, dramatic or sad. It’s a beautiful recounting of the past mixed in with her life during her ‘year of magical reading’ and tidbits about the novels she is reading. Sankovitch gets a bit too sentimental for my tastes. Her sister was perfect and she had no flaws. Like, for real?

It does get repetitive. I loved the first 150 pages, but after that I had to push myself a bit to finish it.

This novel is definitely only recommended for readers. I think non-readers wouldn’t really understand why she would do that and how it could help her.

But books can heal and books can nurture.

I truly believe that.

Happy reading.
Helena