The Jewel of St. Petersburg #1 : Russian Concubine; Book 1

The national bestselling author of The Russian Concubine takes us back to Tsarist Russia for a sweeping novel of love and intrigue. Russia, 1910. Valentina Ivanova is the darling of St. Petersburg's elite aristocracy-until her romance with a Danish engineer creates a terrible scandal and her parents push her into a loveless engagement with a Russian count. Meanwhile, Russia itself is bound for rebellion. With the Tsar and the Duma at each other's throats, and the Bolsheviks drawing their battle lines, the elegance and opulence of Tsarist rule are in their last days. And Valentina will be forced to make a choice that will change not only her own life, but the lives of those around her forever... Publishers Weekly Beginning in the lead-up to the Bolshevik uprising, Furnivall's sure-to-please prequel to her successful The Russian Concubine centers on Valentina Ivanova, the daughter of a minister in Tsar Nicholas's crumbling regime. When revolutionaries bomb her father's home, leaving her sister crippled and her world uncertain, Valentina must search for her path in life: should she submit to the unloving arranged marriage her controlling father wants, or should she pursue her scandalous (for noble ladies) dream of becoming a nurse? To complicate matters, Valentina falls for Jens Friis, a Danish engineer who is politically moderate, intensely passionate, and completely off limits. Furnivall skillfully intertwines historical fact with a heartfelt love story and ends where Russian Concubine picks up. This will be a delight for Furnivall's fans, and equally a joy for those new to her work. (Aug.) Een jonge Russische pianiste valt begin 20e eeuw in de smaak bij een aantrekkelijke Deen, terwijl haar ouders willen dat zij een verstandshuwelijk met een aristocraat sluit. NL-ZmNBD