First published 2008
Grand Duchess Elisavyeta lives in the opulent Romanov court, married to the brutal Grand Duke Sergei who controls Moscow and his wife with equal cruelty. Meanwhile, Pavel and his new bride crowd into a Sankt Petersburg cellar with other families, barely scraping together money for bread. The young couple left their village with hope, the first in their family to escape serfdom for city opportunities. Ella endures her husband's harsh rule while maintaining her reputation for kindness and beauty. Pavel struggles against poverty but dreams of something better. When peaceful protesters clash with tsarist soldiers in an explosive confrontation, both Ella and Pavel face dramatic changes that send their lives in opposite directions. As Nicholas and Aleksandra's Russia hurtles toward disaster, the growing revolutionary fervor creates an unexpected connection between the German princess turned Russian grand duchess and the ambitious peasant. Their separate worlds collide as the empire crumbles around them.
Genres: romance, historical-fiction, 20th-century, 19th-century
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: class-divide, enemies-to-lovers
Setting: Moscow, Sankt Petersburg
Period: Russian Revolution
306 pages · Hardcover · Viking
Content warnings: abuse, violence