Publisher: Little Brown,  January 31, 2023

Format: ebook

Pages: 384

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

In this “riveting, heartfelt” novel of love and consequences (Heather Morris, New York Times bestselling author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz), a woman dreams of becoming a doctor until World War II leads her instead into an astonishing love—and a fateful choice.

Is it possible to fall in love at the edge of life?

Lena has lived a long, quiet life on her farm in Wales, alongside her husband and child. But as her end approaches, buried memories begin to return. Of her childhood in Poland, and her passion for science. Of the early days of her marriage, reluctant wife to an army officer. Of the birth of her daughter, whose arrival changed everything.

Memories less welcome return, too. Her Polish village, transformed overnight by the Soviets, and the war that doomed her entire family to the frigid work camps of the Siberian tundra. And buried in that blinding snow, amongst the darkness of survival, the most haunting memory of all: that of an extraordinary new love.

Exploring motherhood, marriage, consequences, and our incredible human capacity for hope, The Snow Hare is the story of a woman who dares to love and to dream in the face of impossible odds, and of the peace we each must make with our choices, even long after the years have gone by.

My Review:

Read if you like: WW2 stories not featuring the war.
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Lena grows up in a small Polish village and dreams of being a doctor, but due to unforeseen circumstances, she ends up married with a baby to a man she doesn’t love. Then when the Soviets take over her village, she and her family end up in a work camp in Siberia.
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This book was beautifully written but I struggled to get into it. It felt too long and while I usually love the back-and-forth between past and present, this felt disjointed. Then I felt like the ending happened so abruptly.
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Overall it was an interesting story though.
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Thank you, Little Brown and Netgalley for the gifted copy.