The Madonnas of Leningrad - Debra Dean

An intensely poignant and beautiful story moving between present day America with Alzheimer's encroaching upon Marina, and in wartime Russia when Marina was a museum guide, freshly engaged to Dmitri who has gone off to fight. It's set in the beautifully imposing and rich Leningrad Hermitage Museum, and Marina is working with others in a gruelling schedule to pack up the thousands of treasures in the face of the impending German invasion. The paintings in every room are richly described, revisited and brought to life in Marina's memories, stored in her memory palace. The frequent air raids and deprivations of war cause many of the workers to reside in the museum, living on meagre rations. One of my favourite scenes is during one of her lookout shifts on the roof - she walks past Rembrandt's works and recalls "Danae" where Zeus visits the nude Danae in a shower of gold. Marina is delirious from lack of food and sleep - Zeus appears shining and beautiful on the rooftop and seduces her. Another is in the public steam baths, when she convinces Olga that she's pregnant and the other women come to feel her belly, marvelling at the miracle. I read this book in one sitting.