Winter Garden

Anya stops telling the story, leaving Nina with several unanswered questions. Anya begins to knit, so Nina leaves and thinks about the passion with which her mother tells the story.

Meredith had also been listening to the story without Anya or Nina knowing. Meredith leaves the house and returns home when the story ends, not wanting to get caught eavesdropping. She returns to Belye Nochi the next day to check on Nina and resume packing. She finds Nina at the kitchen table, surrounded by books and paper. Nina says she’s trying to piece together the story, having realized that some details relate to real places. Meredith refuses to be sucked in by the fairy tale and leaves to go grocery shopping.

Nina continues her research to find connections between real life and the story. Meredith prepares dinner, and the three women sit down together. As they eat, the women share facts about themselves before falling silent. Afterward, Meredith goes into her father’s study and looks for some documents she needs for the business. As she sorts through Evan’s files, she finds a letter to Anya from a professor of Russian studies, Vasily Adamovich, from the University of Alaska in Anchorage. She then hears her mother telling the fairy tale, so Meredith leaves the study.

That evening, Anya continues telling Nina the story. Vera is now a relative to the kingdom’s enemy, so she knows she must always be careful. Her neighbors act differently toward her, and the black carriages drive around the city, arresting other people deemed an enemy of the Black Knight. Vera is now 17 and trying to survive her difficult circumstances. She works in the castle library and fears the trolls will arrest her, her mother, or Olga. She tries to forget about Sasha but can’t. On Friday morning, Vera walks through the frozen city to the Great Hall of Justice to inquire about her father. After standing in line for two hours, Veral talks to a goblin, who tells her the government is studying his case. This news confirms that Petyr is still alive, so Vera leaves and goes to work.

Vera goes to the Hall of Justice every Friday, and the goblin tells her the same thing. One day, Mama says they must move in with her mother, Baba, because the food warehouse has cut her wages. They must leave tonight, so Vera goes to her room and packs her few belongings. When Vera and Olga arrive at their grandmother’s single-room apartment, they promise to be no trouble. Vera becomes angry and short-tempered, working all day at the library and into the evening with chores at home. She continues to ask about her father on Fridays, though her mother asks her to stop. Vera goes to the Hall of Justice on one such Friday, but the goblin tells her no one by that name lives in the kingdom—Vera’s father is gone.

When Vera returns home from work that night, Mama sees her forlorn face and takes her daughters to Grand Park despite the cold. Vera explains what happened at the Hall of Justice and that Papa is gone. Mama knows they’ve killed him, telling Vera she let her go each Friday so Vera could learn the truth in her own way. Mama then tells the girls they must continue living and stop dreaming, saying they will never speak of Papa again or show emotion about him. Mama then pulls a beautiful cloisonné butterfly out of her pocket, saying it represents those the family has lost.

Winter turns to spring and summer, and Vera laments that she can’t attend university to study great writers and artists. Mama reminds her that she works in a great library and passes the royal museum on her way home. Vera ponders this and asks an old man at the library for a tutor. He says he’ll talk to some students for her, though doing so is dangerous for both of them.

Meredith arrives home at midnight, and Nina arrives a few minutes later. Nina begs her sister to talk to her, hoping to strengthen their relationship as sisters. Meredith finally opens up and tells Nina that Jeff left her. The sisters then drink wine together, toasting to new beginnings.

On the evening of Evan’s birthday, Meredith and Anya go into the winter garden. Nina brings out the rosewood box containing Evan’s ashes. As she approaches her mother and sister, Nina trips and loses control of the box. It shatters against one of the copper columns, spreading Evan’s ashes everywhere. Anya helps Nina up, and the three women laugh together for the first time. The women then sit down to dinner, starting with a shot of vodka and a toast to Evan. They continue their tradition of sharing random facts about themselves. Anya says Evan promised to take her to Alaska, and Meredith admits she has always wanted to go. Suddenly, Anya walks out of the room, leaving Nina and Meredith in dismay.

That night, Meredith and Nina stay up late talking. The next day, Meredith continuously thinks about what she wants, realizing she’s tired of hiding behind a busy schedule. She drives to Jeff’s office and visits him, telling him she’s tired of putting everyone else’s happiness ahead of hers. Meredith drives home and calls her daughters, and then walks to Belye Nochi. Anya is in the living room knitting, so Meredith goes upstairs and begins packing her parents’ closet. Meredith then hears Nina’s voice talking to Anya in her bedroom, and she remains hidden in the closet as Anya begins the fairy tale.

It’s summer in the Snow Kingdom, and the sky stays light even at midnight. Vera is cleaning the library’s manuscript room when a woman appears and tells her a student needs her assistance. Vera goes to the library’s main hall, and Sasha calls out to her and tells her he’s been waiting for her. Vera pretends to be ill, begging the head librarian to send her home. She arrives at her apartment and tells Baba that she’s going into the country to pick vegetables. Baba warns her to be careful, and Vera rides her bike through the city to the Summer Garden. She sees Sasha, and he walks her to a picnic. They talk about what they’ve done when they’ve been apart and other information about themselves, stopping periodically to kiss. They stay all night, finally leaving just before dawn. They arrange to meet tomorrow afternoon. Vera arrives home and finds Mama waiting for her. She lies to explain her late arrival and lack of vegetables, but Mama warns Vera to be careful and not to lie to her again.

Vera wakes the next morning and washes her hair. Mama tells her to invite her young man to their apartment on Sunday, making Vera very happy. On the walk to work, Vera tells Olga about the prince and that she’s meeting him again today. Vera arrives late at the library, and the librarian says someone saw her at the park yesterday and not to miss work again. Vera feels trapped between needing her job and wanting to be with Sasha.

Vera runs to the trolley when her shift ends and gets off at her stop. She sees two black carriages in front of the bridge and freezes, fearing they’ve arrested Sasha. Though a man warns her that they’ve taken her man away, Vera sees Sasha standing under a streetlamp. They embrace and walk into the Royal Theater, slipping into a private box closed for repairs. They watch the ballet for two hours, and Vera is transfixed. After the show, the couple makes love.

On Sunday, Vera walks Sasha to her apartment. At the front door, Sasha asks her to marry him, and Vera says yes, especially because she knows she’s pregnant. They enter the apartment, and Vera introduces Sasha to her family. As they drink tea, Sasha tells Mama he wants to be a poet, causing her to drop a teacup. She accuses Sasha of endangering Vera the same way Petyr endangered his family.

Stepping from the closet, Meredith tells Anya to stop and asks if she’s okay. Anya looks tired and as if she were fading. Meredith tells her mother that she and Nina will take care of her, but Anya asks who will take care of them. In the hallway, Meredith tells Nina she’s been secretly listening to the fairy tale. She then says they’ll talk about the fairy tale tomorrow. After Meredith leaves, Nina stays in the kitchen, thinking about what Meredith said about Anya fading. She has learned to look at her mother without actually seeing her, so she doesn’t notice her mother’s condition. Nina knows she must do better to keep her promise to her father.