Synopses & Reviews
Nina Sankovitch has always been a reader. As a child, she discovered that a trip to the local bookmobile with her sisters was more exhilarating than a ride at the carnival. Books were the glue that held her immigrant family together. When Nina's eldest sister died at the age of forty-six, Nina turned to books for comfort, escape, and introspection. In her beloved purple chair, she rediscovered the magic of such writers as Toni Morrison, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ian McEwan, Edith Wharton, and, of course, Leo Tolstoy. Through the connections Nina made with books and authors (and even other readers), her life changed profoundly, and in unexpected ways. Reading, it turns out, can be the ultimate therapy.
Tolstoy and the Purple Chair also tells the story of the Sankovitch family: Nina's father, who barely escaped death in Belarus during World War II; her four rambunctious children, who offer up their own book recommendations while helping out with the cooking and cleaning; and Anne-Marie, her oldest sister and idol, with whom Nina shared the pleasure of books, even in her last moments of life. In our lightning-paced culture that encourages us to seek more, bigger, and better things, Nina's daring journey shows how we can deepen the quality of our everyday lives—if we only find the time.
Review
“The beauty of her project lies in seeing how books intertwine with daily life, how very much they affect our moods, interactions, and, especially important for Sankovitch, how we recover and process our memories….She makes reading seem accessible, relaxing, inspiring, fun.” Los Angeles Times
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“[An] entertaining bibliophiles dream…Sankovitchs memoir speaks to the power that books can have over our daily lives. Sankovitch champions the act of reading not as an indulgence but as a necessity, and will make the perfect gift from one bookworm to another.” Publishers Weekly
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“A beautifully fluid, reflective, and astute memoir that gracefully combines affecting family history with expert testimony about how books open our minds to ‘the complexity and entirety of the human experience. Sankovitchs reading list in all its dazzling variety is top-notch.” Booklist
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“Sankovitchs account works well because she uses her reading list to jump off into topics that are tangential, yet intriguing and often important.” Buffalo News
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“Her deeply moving memoir artfully intertwines her immigrant familys history with the universal themes of hope, resilience, and memory. Tolstoy and the Purple Chair celebrates not only the healing power of literature but its ability to connect us to the best of ourselves and each other.” American Way
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“Tolstoy and the Purple Chair is an absolutely lovely account of the healing power of literature.” Devourer of Books
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“Tolstoy and the Purple Chair is a must-read for anyone who adores books. It is also a primer on the healing power of taking time off to grieve by immersing oneself in a revered activity.” The Book Bully
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“Sankovitchs memoir stands as a tribute to the power of books to enrich our daily lives.” Christian Science Monitor
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“[Tolstoy and the Purple Chair] digs deep into that near-mystical connection between a reader and an authorthat startling feeling that you are channeling someone you have never met...A gripping and inspiring book.” Connecticut Post
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“Anyone who has ever sought refuge in literature will identify with Tolstoy and the Purple Chair.” O, The Oprah Magazine
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“Tolstoy and the Purple Chair is original, uplifting and very moving: a unique celebration of life, love and literature.” S. J. Bolton, author of Now You See Me
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“What Sankovitch has accomplished in her first book is not only to celebrate the transformational, even healing, powers of reading, but to give the reader a feeling of reading those books as well, through the eyes of an astute reader.” Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
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“Tolstoy and the Purple Chair masterfully weaves beloved and sometimes surprising books into central events in the writers life. There is much to learn from this moving book. Sankovitch writes with intelligence and honesty, leading us to respond in a similar manner.” Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, author of One Amazing Thing
Review
“Nina Sankovitch has crafted a dazzling memoir that reminds us of the most primal function of literatureto heal, to nurture and to connect us to our truest selves.” Thrity Umrigar, author of The Space Between us
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“Tolstoy and the Purple Chair will transport you to a time before texts and tweets. Through the stories of her own family, Nina Sankovitch shows how books have the power to refresh, renew, and even heal us. I loved this memoir.” Julie Klam, author of You Had Me at Woof
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“In Tolstoy and the Purple Chair, her affectionate and inspiring paean to the power of books and reading, Sankovitch gracefully acknowledges that her year of reading was an escape into the healing sanctuary of books, where she learned how to move beyond recuperation to living.” BookPage
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“[Tolstoy and the Purple Chair] offers timeless wisdom, is uplifting and has a powerful message.” PsychCentral.com
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“A beautifully paced look at how mindfulness can affect the psyche.” Shelf Awareness (starred review)
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“This graceful memoir describes a true love affair with books.” Boston Globe
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“[A] brilliant and heartwarming book.” Ventura County Star
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“An original and touching…account of one womans lifelong affinity for books and her attempt to channel that affinity to deal with her grief after her sister dies. Tolstoy and the Purple Chair is an understated but moving story about the effects of a ‘year of magical reading.” The Dartmouth
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“She is adept at stitching together musings about the books she is reading with memory and narrative from her own life.” < i=""> The Christian Century <>
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“What is best in Tolstoy and the Purple Chair, however, is not the authors literary criticism, but the way in which she blends her accounts of her reading with the story of her family and with broader human concerns.” < i=""> Smoky Mountain News <>
Synopsis
“NinaSankovitch has crafted a dazzling memoir that remindsus of the most primal function of literature-to heal, to nurture and to connectus to our truest selves." —Thrity Umrigar, author of
The Space Between UsCatalyzedby the loss of her sister, a mother of four spends one year savoring a greatbook every day, from Thomas Pynchon to Nora Ephron and beyond. In the tradition ofGretchen Rubins The Happiness Project and Joan DideonsA Year of Magical Thinking, Nina Sankovitchssoul-baring and literary-minded memoir is a chronicle of loss,hope, and redemption. Nina ultimately turns to reading as therapy andthrough her journey illuminates the power of books to help us reclaim ourlives.
About the Author
Nina Sankovitch launched ReadAllDay.org in 2008, and at the end of her year of reading, she was profiled in the New York Times. She continues to review books on ReadAllDay.org and for the Huffington Post. She lives in Connecticut with her husband and four sons.