The Longest Winter by Daphne Wright

Tags

russian revolution

Neither side in this struggle has a monopoly on cruelty-or on justification.

Petrograd, 1916. The Great War continues on and revolution is in the air. Grieving over the presumed deaths of both her fiancé and brother, Evelyn Markham has come to stay with her uncle and cousins, the Suvarovs. I think everyone knows what happens next, and as much as Evelyn would like to get back to England and safety, there’s no way out at the moment and she joins the Suvarovs when they head to the relative safety in the far north. Safety being a relative term, mind you, because things are seething up there as well with the White movement in full swing and the Western allies set on helping them.

The jacket blurb at Goodreads pretty much recaps it all nicely, and I’ve just wasted an hour trying to say it differently so I give up trying. I have better things to do today ;)

This was a good solid read, and focused on a bit of Russian history we don’t find often in historical novels. While I wouldn’t call Evelyn a self-centered miss, she did have a lot of growing up to do in this novel, especially when she and the younger Suvarovs retreat to Archangel (Arkhangelsk) to wait out the winter in hopes of catching a ship to England. I also liked watching the developing relationship between Evelyn and American reporter Bob Adamson, who she loathed from the start (he was somewhat supportive of the early revolutionaries). Loved it when the blinders finally fell off and her eyes were opened to the important things in life. My only real complaint is the somewhat abrupt ending – an epilogue would have rounded things out nicely.

And what did I end up taking away with me upon finishing? No matter what side of the *party* you are on, War. Is. Hell.

Somethings just never change, do they?

The Summer of the Barshinskeys by Diane Pearson

1902 was the summer when the Barshinskey family came to their small English village and forever changed the Willoughbys. The Willoughbys might be servants, but they are at the top of their social class and the Barshinskeys are at the very lowest rung, little better than tinkers with the children filthy and barefoot.

Mr. Barshinkey is Russian, and while a crude, coarse man with a fondness for drink, he has a way about him that charms – and the Willoughbys are no exception (well, maybe Mrs. Willoughby is immune). The Barshinskey family is scattered by death and violence, and two of the children stay behind and in touch with the Willoughbys and they begin their adult lives as tensions in Europe are ready to explode into war.

Edwin Willoughby has a new life and good job in London, until he catches sight of Galina, the oldest Barshinskey daughter, and it’s not long before she seduces him into her world of theatre and rich lovers. Galina is a master of yanking Edwin’s chain (well, I could use a coarser word, but you know what I mean), and he follows her and her wealthy lover to Petersburg and things go from bad to worse and he’s soon trapped in a world gone mad and not just himself in need of saving.

He didn’t answer. He felt sick and ashamed. Men were dying all over the world, fighting for their countries, and he was wasting his life trying to save this selfish, thoughtless, totally useless piece of humanity.

Personally, I’d have dumped the witch and high tailed it out of there, but lust love conquers all, eh? While some of the plot description might make it sound like this is an action-packed type of novel, it is anything but. The bulk of the story takes place in the countryside, and involves those of the lower classes. No Lords and Ladies to be found here, so if that’s your cuppa tea this book probably won’t suit. That said, the writing is excellent and I especially liked Sophie’s voice in the first third – you really do feel like you are seeing the world from her eleven year old POV and not an adult writer forcing it on you. The latter part of the book is written in third person and you’ll get not only Edwin’s story in Russia, but that of the younger Barshinkey daughter as she joins the Quaker relief effort in Russia and hopes of finding Edwin and bringing him home. A good solid read for me, and one I’d recommend for those interested in the period.

The Summer Day is Done by R.T. Stevens

From the book jacket:

“Grand Duchesses are not destined to share their lives with untitled Englishmen. Glorious summer days do not last forever. The memories, however, do linger.”

At the core this is a very simple story, that of John Kirby who has spent the last few years exploring Russia and its culture (he’s really a spy for the British government). John’s travels bring him to the Crimea as a guest of Princess Aleka Petrovna. The Imperial family is in residence at Livadia Palace and give a ball in honor of Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna’s birthday and John gets an invite. John makes a big splash with the royal family and he’s soon like one of the family, playing tennis with the Tsar and romping in the gardens with the children. Olga and John share an instant chemistry, and those feelings continue to grow, although they know it is a love that cannot be.

They had inherited autocracy, they were imprisoned by their heritage and governed by the edicts of their ancestors. On this summer day it did not seem important.

Russia is soon caught up in a war they are ill prepared for, and the country is ripe for revolution and John finds himself in the thick of it and no matter what path life sends him on, he always seems to land right in the lap of the royal family and Olga. I won’t say more, but I assume most of you know the fate of the Romanovs and that is where the book ends, although it does finish on a somewhat positive note with one of my favorite characters in the book (no, I’m not telling). I found this a good solid read, and I thought the method of using a character like John to give us an inside look at the Romanovs a good one, just be warned that that inside look was seen through a very rose-colored set of glasses. The Tsar and his family were such good, kind, loving, wonderful, beautiful people who hadn’t a clue that people could actually disagree with them, let alone kick them out for another form of government…Recommended for those who must read all things Romanov. Out of print, but I was able to obtain a copy via Inter-library Loan.

The Winter Palace by Eva Stachniak

Tags

Catherine II of Russia

Novels on Catherine the Great are few and far between, and I believe most of those are out of print and rather hard to find, so I was thrilled to bits to see a new one coming out. While this is billed as “A Novel of Catherine the Great”, the narrator is Barbara (Varvara in Russian), a daughter of a Polish bookbinder who works as a spy in the household of the Empress Elizabeth, beginning at the time a young Princess Sophie is brought to court to marry Elizabeth’s nephew and heir. Barbara and the newly renamed Catherine become friends (making Barbara a double agent of sorts), and the narration continues through Catherine’s becoming Empress. Fascinating stuff, yes?

Well, no. At least not in this one.

I’m generally not fond of first person narratives, but this one really started off well despite that. I liked Barbara’s voice and I liked the way she managed to impart a lot of historical background without endless exposition. I liked the spy in the household bit, and at first it was believable as Barbara was such a minor servant, but towards the end her indispensability to all and sundry as well her intimate knowledge of everything that happened began to stretch credulity. I also felt the choice to marry Barbara off to one of Elizabeth’s soldiers and remove her from the household for seven years was a poor one, because at that point anything that happened had court had to be relayed to her second-hand via letters or visitors and thus began the info dumps and I began nodding off…

I couldn’t help comparing this novel to Annette Motley’s Men on White Horses (see my review here), a book I read last year and enjoyed a lot. Motley’s book focused on Catherine, and I was able to *see* her thoughts and feelings first hand. With Barbara as the narrator, we’re only seeing what Barbara thinks about Catherine’s thoughts and feelings, and that was a difference that didn’t work as well for me as it did for other readers. I also loved what Motley did with Catherine’s nutty husband Peter (those poor rats…), and I just didn’t find much of that in this book, nor any author’s notes to let me know why that was left out. Three stars.

Reviewed for Amazon Vine.

The Gathering Wolves by Elizabeth Darrell

Tags

Red Army, russian revolution, White movement

This bit of history is too hard to put into my own words, so I will let the author’s notes do it for me;

“The Russian Revolution and the subsequent Civil War were history dramas that drastically changed the European political map. But there is a little-known aspect of the great Russian upheaval that is as bizarre, exciting, and tragic as any other.

From early 1918 until October 1919, the arctic forests of North Russia were occupied by troops of an astonishing variety of nationality and purpose. Starting as a revival of the war on the Eastern Front when the Russians made a separate peace with Germany in the midst of the Great War of 1914-1918, the struggle took on an unexpected and complex nature when the Armistice was signed in November 1918. Former enemies became friends, old allies became hostile.

In those forests through the dark frozen winter and short summer of perpetual daylight were British, French, Italians, Czechs, Canadians, Americans, Finns, Karelians-and Russians, of course. Red Russian, White Russians, partisans, counter-revolutionaries, starving peasants, political refugees, released convicts, mercenaries-all fighting for the future of Russia and all with different aims.”

British engineer Paul Anderson takes command of a remote Russian station with orders to repair the damaged bridge and keep the railroad lines clear for allied forces. Bitter over the Russian’s withdrawal from war in 1917, Paul is none too thrilled to team with Colonel Alexander Swarovsky and the two form an uneasy alliance that is sorely tested when it’s apparent there is a traitor among their group. Is it one of the British soldiers, or is there a secret Bolshevik in Swarovsky’s troop of peasant soldiers? And what of the Red army soldiers bent on killing them all?

“Throughout this beautiful land of pines and lakes the wolves were gathering-but it was not the grey ones that would drive him away.”

Further complicating things are the colonel’s wife Irina and sister Olga. Unstable Olga is hot for Paul, but Paul only has eyes for Irina and she feels the same. Into this mix comes the unexpected appearance of  Swarovsky’s former mistress Lyudmilla Zapalova, Imperial ballerina trying to high-tail it out of Russia. Eventually, the allies pull out and Paul faces his greatest challenge, getting them all out safely from their remote outpost and to a port where ships are waiting to take him (and perhaps Irina?) back to England – not an easy task with the onset of an unforgiving Russian winter.

“Now the little engine was expected to make a four-day journey up and down dangerous inclines, across unstable bridges, round treacherous bends, and through forest under attack from biting cold.”

This book started off quite slow for me and I almost bailed a couple of times. A lot of details of building the railroad bridge were a bit tedious and I really didn’t warm up to Paul and Irina as a couple until the very end (sniff). That said, the flight to safety on the rickety railroad was some seriously riveting stuff and Darrell really keeps you on pins and needles wondering if every one will make it out alive.  Three stars for the first half and four for the latter, rounded out to 3.5.

FTC? Library loot.

Forget the Glory by Emma Drummond

Tags

crimean war, Egypt, india

“In that December of 1853 his reputation as one of the most valiant officers in the service of Queen Victoria was undeniable, but in the breasts of his fellows burnt the secret desire to see the regimental daredevil brought to his knees. In the breasts of the fair sex burnt the same desire, except that they wished him to be brought to only one knee-at their feet, declaring his unquenchable passionate devotion.”

   And that my friends, is Captain Rowan DeMayne, the hero of this story.  Having disgraced himself over an unsuitable female and cast out by his family Rowan joins the 43rd Light Dragoons in the backwaters of India where they see little action, although they can march quite prettily in their full dress uniforms. The other half of this story is that of Mary Clarke, born and raised in the barracks and doomed to spend her life as the wife of a foot soldier – and if he dies she must immediately marry another – and there is never a way out of that life. Or is there?

The 43rd is called to Crimea to the aid of the fallen Light Brigade and as they begin the long journey there Mary gets the opportunity to “get a leg up” in life when she’s offered the job of personal maid to Rowan’s vapid  beautiful wife.  The 43rd makes an incredible journey as they travel across India, oversea to Egypt, then to Alexandria to set sail once again to reach the Crimea.

On the surface that might sound a tad bit boring, but trust me it’s not. Rowan carries some serious emotional baggage and Mary may be the only one who can heal them. Their verbal battles were a lot of fun to watch as the tension heated up between them. You’ll get to see the difficulties of moving a large troop of soldiers and their horses across land and sea – let alone how dangerous a ship full of terrified horses during a storm at sea can be. You will feel as parched and dirty as the soldiers did as they march across the barren desert, and heartbreak at the suffering of their fellow soldiers during the savage Russian winter. As for the final days before the seige of Sebastopol is finally over? Terrifying.

“What had it all been for, they asked themselves. Why had thousands died by sword, sickness and extremes of weather? For what reason had boys agonized and been sundered only yesterday?…There was no victory, no glory in this! Why had they come?”

Yes, war is hell. Another unputdownable book from Emma Drummond, and she will keep you on pins and needles until the very very last page. I really liked using Mary’s character to show the disparity between *classes* of the common foot soldier and their wives and the officers – well done.  Drummond also writes under the name Elizabeth Darrell and the same book can be found under both author names. Not sure why, but I love the exotic Eastern settings she uses and I will be hunting down more of her books in the very near future.

FTC? Library.

Marianne and the Crown of Fire

Tags

juliette benzoni, Napoleonic Wars

 Crown of Fire picks up immediately where Lords of the East left off, as Marianne and her merry band of loyal friends take the long road to Moscow so she can warn Napoleon of a treasonous plot against his Russian campaign. Once in Moscow, they find the city in panic and the citizens fleeing at the word of the Emperor’s approach. Separated from the rest of their group, Marianne and Jason cross paths with old foe Count Chernychev. Male egos and tempers fly and the two men duel, with Jason landing in the clinker (no spoilers, that’s on the jacket) and Marianne’s left to shuffle for herself – and just like a cat she always (well, almost always) lands on her feet.

The embittered Moscow residents plan to burn the city to the ground rather than yield it to the invading army, and let’s just say that our heroine definitely jumps out of the frying pan into the fire this time. Even if she can escape the burning city, there’s still a long road to travel as Russia’s deadly winter begins its bitter grip on the countryside – there’s little food, the horses are dying and plenty of marauding Cossacks are bent on revenge against all things French. Plus there’s still a very ticked off  Napoleon somewhere on the road behind her (and when she ticks him off she doesn’t mess around ;)).

Will our heroine survive this latest peril? Will Napoleon strangle her when he gets his hands on her? Will Jason escape prison and search for his beloved Marianne, or will he continue to be the jealous jerk he’s been in the last two books? Will Marianne finally get over her blind devotion to Jason, wake up and smell the coffee and realize where her true destiny and happiness lies? Gawd, I sure hope so.

This was just as much fun as the previous books in the series, although I am glad it’s finally over – a person can only take so much high adventure, returns from the dead, near misses and emotional turmoil – and all of that before she hits her twentieth birthday! There were a couple of things I wish had been resolved better instead of leaving the reader hanging wondering what really happened. We never do find out what you-know-who was really up to in Russia, what happened to Dr. Leighton and Marianne’s missing jewels, nor the mystery of the diamond and the identity of the person who retrieved it. Perhaps there was another book written and/or planned that never made it to this side of the pond? All in all this series was jolly good fun and I do want to hunt down Benzoni’s Catherine series one of these days. These books were wildly popular in France and have been put to film. I found this clip from the first episode on YouTube,

The series in order,

1. Marianne (also found in two volumes as Bride of Selton Hall and The Eagle and the Nightingale)
2. The Masked Prince
3. The Privateer
4. The Rebels
5. The Lords of the East
6. The Crown of Fire

Marianne and the Lords of the East

Tags

Aimée du Buc de Rivéry, constantinople, Lady Hester Stanhope, Odessa, ottoman empire

There comes a point in a series, especially one about which little is known, that putting too much of the plot into the review is bordering on spoiling the earlier books in the series. Because of that, this review is going to be a bit short (although I found some awesome covers to make up for it ;)).

Now safely landed in Constantinople, Marianne prepares to meet with Aimée du Buc de Rivéry, cousin of Josephine Bonaparte and Queen mother of the Ottoman Empire, to deliver a personal message from the Emperor Napoleon. Mission accomplished, high on her list of things to do are getting rid of something she very much doesn’t want to have, finding Jason Beaufort and sailing off into the sunset, but another surprise return from the dead puts a definite kibosh on that plan. And what a doozie that is – I suspected that person was a-coming back from the dead, but the big reveal sure surprised the heck out of me (loved it though).

Marianne and gang eventually high tail it to Odessa, where she picks up on some choice information that could have dire consequences on Napoleon’s Russian campaign and they’re on the road to Moscow. Like the other books, the action picks up at the start and never lets up. Benzoni really does a great job putting her story and characters in with real life ones – along with Aimée we get brief glimpses of Hester Stanhope, the Duc de Richelieu, The Black Pope along with a hint of a new mystery surrounding the main diamond from that diamond necklace (can’t wait to see what that’s all about). Only one more book until the grand ride is over.

The series in order,

1. Marianne (also found in two volumes as Bride of Selton Hall and The Eagle and the Nightingale) 
2. The Masked Prince 
3. The Privateer
4. The Rebels
5. The Lords of the East
6. The Crown of Fire

Russian Winter by Daphne Kalotay

Tags

Bolshoi Theatre, russia

 Nina Revskaya, a former Prima ballerina now confined to a wheelchair, prepares to auction off her fabulous jewelry collection. Drew Brooks is the representative from the auction house handling the event, and is intrigued when an anonymous donor gives them an Amber necklace – a necklace that seems to be a matched pair with the bracelet and earrings from Nina’s collection. The mysterious donor is recently widowed Grigori Solodin, who received the necklace  from his adopted parents, along with some unsigned letters in Russian.

Grigori believes these pieces reveal the identity of his birth parents, and he thinks Nina is the key – but she’s not talking. As Drew and Grigori eventually come together and try to solve the puzzle of the Amber suite and how it connects them all, Nina reflects back on her life in Russia as a premier dancer in the Bolshoi Ballet and her marriage to poet Viktor Elsin.  

In the end, I did enjoy this a lot and thought it was an excellent first book for Kalotay. Not surprising, but I enjoyed the bits in the past more than the present and found the images of life in Stalin’s Russia terrifying – I can’t imagine having to walk around on eggshells day in and day out for fear of saying or doing the wrong thing. I never did warm up to Drew and Grigori, nor to the present day Nina and while I thought I had the big ta-da figured out Kalotay pulled a fast one out at the end that I hadn’t seen coming. A fair part of this novel is set in present day Boston, so if you’re expecting to spend all 400+ pages in Soviet Russia, think again. A good book, but the slower pacing might not appeal to all readers, especially if jewels, auctions and the ballet don’t hold much interest.

FTC, copy courtesy of Amazon Vine.

DNF: The Jewel of St. Petersburg by Kate Furnivall

Tags

russian revolution, Saint Petersburg

SPOILERS AHOY!! Well, at least for the first half of the book that is ;)

Quick run down: St. Petersburg 1910 and Russia is on the verge of revolution. Valentina Ivanova is the pampered daughter of one of the Tsar’s ministers. She meets Danish engineer Jens Friis and its true love, but her parents want her to marry a wealthy Russian Count (and one with a jealous temper to boot). Valentina would rather become a nurse than dress up and go to  parties, but she needs her father’s signature on the application and strikes a bargain with him – she’ll let Captain Chernov court her and in exchange he’ll sign the papers.  Scratching your head at that? See, Chernov’s family is influential so some of that gravy train will pass down to Valentina’s father. In exchange, she gets to be a nurse. Got it now? Hope so, ’cause I don’t.

Anyhoo, Valentina loves Jens (not sure why no one notices the difference between the time the nursing shift ends and when she gets home) and they spend an afternoon together walking in the park, helping a sick peasant woman and more ending with the big love scene,

“Was her skin dead before? It must have been. Pale, lifeless and limp. Because it came alive on the reindeer rug in a way Valentina didn’t know was possible. She no longer recognized this extraordinary covering on her body as hers. Each pore, each fine layer, each smooth unexplored part of it possessed a separate existence of its own that only needed the touch of Jen’s lips to bring it to life.”

And that friends is when the book flew. I really don’t mind a good romance on occasion, nor a bit of sex, but I still want some believability in my story and I just wasn’t getting it here. An explosion in the sewers and fearing for their lives all she’s worried about is getting up close and personal with Jens? No one notices when she disappears from a formal ball and goes off unescorted with a strange man? As for the seething emotions of the dissatisfied masses? It was all rather shallow to me, more like window dressing than experiencing the *real deal*. I’d recommend Cynthia Harrod-Eagle’s Emily for a more emotional look at this period and a stronger, more believable love story along with it.