Russian Winter: A Novel

Daphne Kalotay

Sep 2010 · Harper Collins

About this ebook

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.

Includes an excerpt from Sight Reading.

Ratings and reviews

An aging ballerina, Nina Revskaya, has a secret past. The secrets haunt her in her vintage. Born in Russia, but now living in the United States, she endures the ravages of time on her crippled body and runs from her painful memories, deciding to sell part of her jewelry collection; some of the pieces have a hidden meaning and from them, the real secrets of Nina’s life are brought to light, exposing the agony and sacrifices they have caused herself and others around her. The Russian regime of suppression and control has created an atmosphere of suspicion and subterfuge, creating misconceptions and grave consequences for those involved in this tale, which is part mystery, part love story and part historic fiction. Stalin’s regime requires complete obedience to him, the father figure; it sows the seeds of mistrust in all Russian citizens, who are kept in a state of ignorance so that they know nothing more about life, other than that contained in their own meager existences. Everywhere, the politics of the time, here and abroad, is evident throughout each scene. The behavior of the characters is true to form for the atmosphere in the Russia of the early, middle and later part of the 20th century. We can see the progression from complete oppression to the evolution of some individual freedoms, but overlaying all of this is the inclusion of the state sponsored security forces, anti-semitism and state sponsored and controlled news media in an effort to control the rise of socialism and a one class society.

Inriguing subject and very interesting historically as well as showing the human story. Well written.

Really really exquisite

About the author

Daphne Kalotay is the author of the award-winning novel Russian Winter, which has been published in twenty languages, and the fiction collection Calamity and Other Stories. She has received fellowships from the Christopher Isherwood Foundation, the MacDowell Colony, and Yaddo, and has taught at Boston University, Skidmore College, Grub Street, and Middlebury College. She lives in Somerville, Massachusetts.