Review: Russian Winter by: Daphne Kalotay

Title: Russian Winter
Author: Daphne Kalotay
Publisher: Arrow Books
Pages: 459
Source: Always With A Book Giveaway
Format: UK Paperback
Purchase: Barnes&Noble / Amazon

Description of Book:

A mysterious jewel holds the key to a life-changing secret, in this breathtaking tale of love and art, betrayal and redemption.

When she decides to auction her remarkable jewelry collection, Nina Revskaya, once a great star of the Bolshoi Ballet, believes she has finally drawn a curtain on her past. Instead, the former ballerina finds herself overwhelmed by memories of her homeland and of the events, both glorious and heartbreaking, that changed the course of her life half a century ago.

It was in Russia that she discovered the magic of the theater; that she fell in love with the poet Viktor Elsin; that she and her dearest companions— Gersh, a brilliant composer, and the exquisite Vera, Nina’s closest friend— became victims of Stalinist aggression. And it was in Russia that a terrible discovery incited a deadly act of betrayal—and an ingenious escape that led Nina to the West and eventually to Boston.

Nina has kept her secrets for half a lifetime. But two people will not let the past rest: Drew Brooks, an inquisitive young associate at a Boston auction house, and Grigori Solodin, a professor of Russian who believes that a unique set of jewels may hold the key to his own ambiguous past. Together these unlikely partners begin to unravel a mystery surrounding a love letter, a poem, and a necklace of unknown provenance, setting in motion a series of revelations that will have life-altering consequences for them all.

Interweaving past and present, Moscow and New England, the backstage tumult of the dance world and the transformative power of art, Daphne Kalotay’s luminous first novel—a literary page-turner of the highest order—captures the uncertainty and terror of individuals powerless to withstand the forces of history, while affirming that even in times of great strife, the human spirit reaches for beauty and grace, forgiveness and transcendence.

My Review: 

Oh my gosh can we say a deep book.  This book travels from historic Russia to Boston, USA.  When Ballerina Nina Revskaya decides to part with her jewels to Drew who works at a auction house little does she know the can of history about to unfold.  We watch as Nina becomes a prima Ballerina and her relationships with dancers, her mother, and her beloved friend Vera.  We also meet her love interest Viktor who comes from nobel standings, his eccentric mother who never got over loosing everything, to Viktors friend Gersh, a brilliant composer who challenges Stalin and what he represents.  Choices are made in this book without the whole truth being known, it isn’t until Nina faces the truth does she set things right.  I loved the description of the jewelry and the stories told in this book great for anyone who loves a great romance mixed in with Russian History!!

Formerly reviewed on Book Lover Stop my previous blog!