Russian Winter...

I've just read Russian Winter, Daphne Kalotay and I have the urge to polish all that amber I've amassed from various sources.  I remember wearing some little bobble when I was in design school, and my pattermaking professor pretty much attacking me to buy it.  Well I didn't sell that particular piece, but one of my mother's friends wanted to sell a few pieces and so she got some at a very reasonable price.  The other thought that kept popping into my mind was " I should have stuck with art history" forget sewing.  Oh well on to the story.  This novel was reviewed by Mary of bookfanmary.  Towards the end of 2010 I was easily led astray of my challenges, so when Mary reviewed this and gave it a 41/2 stars I thought I'd check it out.  I was not disappointed. It had all the elements I love, history, ballet, historical romance, and AMBER. 

Throughout the book there were bits that I recall my mom talking about.  My parents were exiled to Siberia and my mom became quite fluent in the language and the NKVD was a big deal.  I remember watching the Olympics with my parents and them commenting on the security the Russian teams must have, and how they would be punished if they did not perform well.  Well, you can imagine, as children/teens, we really didn't believe what they were saying.  It was not until visitors from the western world were allowed to visit that I started to think those comments were sincere. I can even remember when my dad visited his family in Poland and had to report to the local police station, his family were very nervous during his visit. 

Now Russian Winter was not only a romance set in a politically turbulent  time, but a further record of what many couples, like my parents, must have experienced.  Imagine living with your mother-in-law with just a plywood door between you and your new husband.  I can picture it.  We here in Canada and the United States should be far more grateful for our freedom. 

P.S. I must add a post script to this post, I'm suppose to be reading romance novels, according to my teacher Dee Lloyd, and while I'm sure I'd love to write my book in this wonderful style, it's not happening just now. I believe I'm suppose to read shorter, less complicated versions of love/romance.  It's really hard. Until I met up with Dee I had no idea there were groups associated with the various genres. I always thought authors were hold up in  a cold, drafty cottage in the woods with their typewriters, secluded from the real world, and their creativity shone through. Not so, apparently they bounce ideas off each other. That's not working for me.

Author: Daphne Kalotay
Hardcover: 480 pages
Published: September 2010

Genre: Historical Romance
Source: Library

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