Enchantments by Kathryn Harrison

Back Cover Blurb:

1917 was a turbulent year for Russia. Already deeply enmeshed in World War I, there were problems on the home front as well, as the seeds of revolution began to sprout. On New Year’s Day, the body of the “Mad Monk” Rasputin, charismatic healer and confidante of the tsarina, was pulled from the icy river Neva. His daughters, according to his wishes, are placed under the protection of the Romanov royal family. Eighteen-year-old Masha, despite not being gifted with her father’s powers, takes his place at the bedside of the young tsarevitch, Alyosha. The heir to the empire, Alyosha is frequently confined to bed with the effects of his hemophilia, and Masha must do what she can to ease his discomfort. She tells him stories, of her parents and his, but even the most enchanting fictions cannot hide the fact that the Romanovs are under house arrest by the Bolsheviks, and that Alyosha may not survive long enough to die from his disease.

Review

Enchantments is the story of the Russian Revolution, fictionally recounting what happpened to Rasputin's daughters after their father's murder. The tsarina, desperate to grasp on to Rasputin's magical healing powers for her hemophiliac son, takes Masha and her sister to live with them, in the hopes they may possess some of their father's skills. Rasputin's life and murder continue to fascinate to this day. And this is what drew me to this story.

Kathryn Harrison did an excellent job of bringing to life the central characters in this story. I enjoyed the historical details and the poignancy she portrayed regarding the royal family at their anticipated demise. She truly is a talented writer who did a great deal of research. Many of her scenes are gripping and so real, they truly stirred a realm of emotions as I read them. In particular is the scene depicting the murder and recovery of Rasputin's death. At times, I wished for more of Rasputin to be brought into the story through flashback or recounting some of his escapades, but I bear in mind how difficult it is to write a novel set in such a complicated era and within the constraints of required novel length. 

The cover is spectacular and definitely a draw for readers. All in all, this novel is an excellent representation of a most traumatic time in Russia's history and recommended for those who love Russian historical novels.  

Petrograd by Philip Gelatt and Tyler Crook

Petrograd is the untold tale of the conspiracy behind the murder of Grigori Rasputin. The story follows Cleary, a reluctant British spy who finds himself tasked with the most difficult assignment of his career: orchestrate the death of the mad monk. To accomplish this almost impossible mission, he’ll have to negotiate dangerous ties with the secret police, navigate the halls of power, and tangle with dangerous radicals. And, as the city explodes in the turmoil of revolution, he’ll find that it is his own life on the line.

Petrograd was billed as a tense, historical spy thriller and it delivers on the history and tension.(One moment of menace, where the Okhrana  leader casually mentions the impolitic behavior of being a Jew, made my heart stop.)  Don’t think of Cleary as James Bond, however. He’s more of an Everyman and far more interesting because of it, in my opinion. The personal tension of Cleary trying to decide who he is – S.I.S. spy, Soviet sympathizer, or Irish national without a home – is utterly compelling. Then Gelatt and Crook set it in the midst of a bungled plan to murder someone who has already survived multiple assassination attempts.

 Cleary goes throughout the story aware that he’s in an impossible situation, likely to be murdered for a cause he does not believe in and for people he doesn’t care about with only one exception. He must betray that person’s trust for the sake of his job and regain that trust for himself.

Petrograd is a graphic novel, which basically means the individual comic books that make up the story were combined into “chapters” and placed within a hardback novel cover. The art is beautifully evocative of both the era and the sensations of poverty and paranoia. However, it was a little difficult to get into the first chapter. I believe it’s because the entire novel is done in three colors, which gives it a faded, sepia toned-feel. That’s perfect for the time setting, but readers may struggle to identify individual characters without the aid of additional colors suggesting the person in that color is Cleary’s boss, etc. I urge you to read past that first chapter, because many of the additional, problematic characters disappear, then the story moves fast, and is delightful in a way that leaves you breathless and wanting to more. 

The Winter Palace by Eva Stachniak

Catherine the Great's story told through the eyes of a spy! 

Overview

From award-winning author Eva Stachniak comes this passionate novel that illuminates, as only fiction can, the early life of one of history’s boldest women. The Winter Palace tells the epic story of Catherine the Great’s improbable rise to power—as seen through the ever-watchful eyes of an all-but-invisible servant close to the throne.

Her name is Barbara—in Russian, Varvara. Nimble-witted and attentive, she’s allowed into the employ of the Empress Elizabeth, amid the glitter and cruelty of the world’s most eminent court. Under the tutelage of Count Bestuzhev, Chancellor and spymaster, Varvara will be educated in skills from lock picking to lovemaking, learning above all else to listen—and to wait for opportunity. That opportunity arrives in a slender young princess from Zerbst named Sophie, a playful teenager destined to become the indomitable Catherine the Great. Sophie’s destiny at court is to marry the Empress’s nephew, but she has other, loftier, more dangerous ambitions, and she proves to be more guileful than she first appears.

What Sophie needs is an insider at court, a loyal pair of eyes and ears who knows the traps, the conspiracies, and the treacheries that surround her. Varvara will become Sophie’s confidante—and together the two young women will rise to the pinnacle of absolute power.

With dazzling details and intense drama, Eva Stachniak depicts Varvara’s secret alliance with Catherine as the princess grows into a legend—through an enforced marriage, illicit seductions, and, at last, the shocking coup to assume the throne of all of Russia.

Impeccably researched and magnificently written, The Winter Palace is an irresistible peek through the keyhole of one of history’s grandest tales.

Review

The Winter Palace by Eva Stachniak is a novel about a young woman named Barbara (or Varvara for the Russian version). She was the daughter of a Polish bookbinder who, through fate, finds herself an orphan and is sent to work in the palace of the elderly Empress Elizabeth. Before long, a marriage is arranged between a young princess named Sophie to Elizabeth’s only heir, her nephew. Princess Sophie is then renamed as Catherine she befriends Sophie. Behind the scenes, Barbara is left with no choice but to become a spy within the palace and soon she is trapped by intrigues and divided loyalties.

Told in first person narrative voice of Barbara, the novel quickly engaged me. Catherine and Elizabeth were portrayed as difficult antagonists, which added a continual thread of conflict from start to finish. Their personalities continually evolved and kept me interested. The author wrote a beautifully researched novel about the rise of a fascinating woman of history. Readers need to be aware that this is novel is only indirectly about Catherine the Great told through the eyes of another woman.

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A Mountain of Crumbs by Elena Gorokhova

A Mountain of Crumbs is a memoir about a young Soviet girl who comes of age during the 1960’s and 1970’s in St. Petersburg Russia – a country fraught with political struggles and vast limitations.

The story opens after World War II while Russia is well into the throes of communism. Elena’s well-educated mother is a trained physician with high expectations for both her daughters. Told through the author's own eyes, the memoirs provide the reader with a snapshot into everyday Russian life. It starts during Elena's childhood and the tale unfolds with innocence and vivid clarity.

The creative title of the book came from the author’s own grandmother who recalled that when her children complained there was not enough to eat but a crust of bread and a cube of sugar, she would crumble the food and sweet it into a pile and saying, “Look at how much you’ve got. A whole mountain of crumbs.” It was her way of making a little look like a lot.

While Elena’s physician mother, Galina, strives to make her way in a communist world, raising her daughters with strictness and high expectations for education, the author describes her world without bias and in a matter-of-fact style.

A Mountain of Crumbs is a fascinating memoir that reveals to readers a glimpse into the difficulties of growing up in a communist country. From the author’s demanding mother, to an ill father who dies far too early, it is a contrast of joy and sadness, struggles and success.

Although memoirs are seldom page-turners, this was a truly enjoyable book. The writing is beautiful and gives a good first-hand depiction of life in a country where nothing can be taken for granted. I thoroughly enjoyed this very private glimpse into the author’s own life and appreciate the passion with which she wrote every word.

An Interview with Elena Gorokhova

1. Welcome, Elena, I’m so glad to have this opportunity to chat with you. Can you share with our readers the essence of the story you’ve penned?

It is a story about growing up in Soviet Russia of the 1960s and 1970s. It is also a story about growing up with a mother who was a mirror image of the Motherland: overbearing, protective, difficult to leave. Our house was the seat of the Politburo; my mother – its permanent chairman. It is about a mother-daughter relationship – a controlling mother and a willful daughter. It is a story of separation – from a mother as well as from the Motherland.

2. You’ve chosen a very interesting title. What inspired the title? What inspired the book?

The title comes from a game my grandmother invented in post-revolution times of hunger, around 1920. My mother was already six and knew not to cry when she had nothing to eat, but her younger brother, who was three, would wail from hunger. Food was rationed then, and every family member got a slice of bread and a cube of sugar. My grandmother would crumble the bread with her fingers for the three-year-old and say, “Look how much you’ve got! A whole mountain of crumbs.” But it is also a metaphor for the failed Soviet state. It seemed to be such a mighty, indestructible mountain, and it crumbled so easily in 1991.

3. What makes this book special to you?

What makes this book special to me is the hope of one person that she can find a place where she could think and act as an individual and not as a tiny cog in the faulty engine of the collective.

4. What makes this a book that people MUST read and WHY?

It is the story of a country; it is also the story of a family. It is a mother-daughter story, universal to all of us.

5. What sparks your creativity? Any tips to help others spark their own creativity?

Truman Capote, I think, said that talent is a gift plus a whip. I can add that so much of what sparks creativity is a whip. You have a vision of your book – and it can come to you in dreams or while walking your dog – but what thrusts it forward is work. You chain yourself to a chair; you put in time in front of your computer. Work is the magic word, and nothing else.

6. What has been the biggest stumbling block in your writing? Can you share some tips to help others get past similar problems?

My biggest stumbling block is probably not wanting to offend my family by my writing. A memoir is always only one person’s perception of the past. “A memoir is an impression of your life,” said Gore Vidal. You deal with it by closing your eyes and telling the truth – the truth that you remember.

7. Tell me about the most unusual things you have done to promote your book.

About a year before publication, I sent the typewritten pages of my memoir to J.M. Coetzee, a Nobel Prize laureate and the finest writer alive today. I went to my local post office, put the pages into a cardboard box, and mailed them all the way to Australia. When I got home it occurred to me that I just mailed him my life. I was stunned by his graciousness - how quickly he responded with some suggestions and a beautiful quote for the book jacket.

8. Each author is different in the way they create a work of fiction. Please describe for us how you plan or plot a story.

A memoir is different from a piece of fiction in how you plot the story line. You must be honest in telling the story, or the reader will see through the falseness. There is less invention and more telling the truth.

9. Authors are very unique in the way they write, the tools they use, when they write, etc. Please describe a typical writing day for you? How do you organize your day?

I have a comfortable office with a view of a quite, tree-lined street. I sit at my desk, in front of my old computer, and don’t get up from my chair until something appears on the page. Then I allow myself a cup of tea and go back to stare at the screen, or the view of the street.

10. What is your current work in progress?

My current work is a continuation of A Mountain of Crumbs. It is about my first years in America, the travails of a stranger in a strange land.

11. Can you tell us where to find more information about you and your books and how readers can reach you?

I have a website, elenagorokhova.com. It has videos, photographs, and the latest happenings. I write a blog, parts of which are stories from my current project. Readers can contact me through the website. I love getting emails, and I read and answer every one of them.

12. What would you like our readers to know about you and your writing?

I would like you to know that my writing comes from the only place that is true to writing – my heart. The problems I struggled with in Russia are the same problems we struggle with in this country – family, love, separation, sadness, longing, hope.