Dean, Debra. The Madonnas of Leningrad.(Brief Article)(Book Review)

* Dean, Debra. The Madonnas of Leningrad. Morrow. Mar. 2006. c.240p. ISBN 0-06-082530-8 [ISBN 978-0-06-082530-0]. $23.95. F

As a young woman, Marina became a docent, guiding Soviet citizens through the treasures of the Hermitage Museum. Through the 900-day siege of Leningrad beginning in 1941, her knack for describing in great detail the images of the works of Italian Renaissance painter Titian and Flemish Baroque painter Rubens helped her survive when thousands of others died. Later, she and her husband fled westward and settled in the United States. As this first novel by Dean, a Seattle college teacher, opens, Marina is living in the tattered shreds …