Russian Winter: A Great Historical Novel about Betrayal
Russian Winter by Daphne Kalotay
This historical fiction takes you behind the curtain to post-war Soviet society and into the lives of the intellectual and literary elite. You’ll see forced labor, learn about well-known ballet and poetry, feel the strife between political and societal classes, and learn the influence of art on modern-day Russia. You also get a first-hand look at life under Stalin’s rule and Stalin himself, as well as anti-soviet arrests and Stalin fandom — the mentality of those who viewed him as a god to be worshiped.
Russian Winter is a character-driven novel that weaves through Nina Revskaya’s life, a famous ballerina who escaped Russia and fled to the United States under the height of Soviet power. The experience feels as if you’re viewing snapshots of her life story, and circling back to the bitter old woman she’s become. From the beginning, the story has a central focus on the investigation of her expensive jewelry that’s up for auction. Grigory, a widowed college professor, tries to find love and meaning in his life, his work, and his relationships throughout the novel. He develops feelings for a young woman who is investigating Nina’s jewelry for the auction. He also has a connection with Nina that is not revealed until the very end.
Through most of the book, it’s hard to understand the importance or connection of these characters to each other and especially the jewelry. The story switches rapidly from the present to the past, often without giving a year, place, or indication of why we are being tossed into the historical scene. This was frustrating. I will admit I didn’t care a whole lot about the characters, the jewelry, or the investigation……until about chapter fifteen when it all started to come together, and I wanted to kick myself for not paying more attention throughout the entire book.
In chapter 15 the book rapidly took off in a suspenseful and satisfying culmination of clues that glued together the pieces I was previously bored with. All of a sudden I cared so much that I wanted to go back and read about each piece of jewelry, read about Nina’s character, and read more about the other characters she knew in her life. The drama of this book comes as a surprise, with several twists I was not expecting. Mostly linked with feelings of betrayal and hate towards the morality of humans which can be so evil, this book was complex in its character development.
An intriguing aspect of the story is the small example the author gives of this morality. At one point a nurse steals something very valuable from someone without feeling an ounce of guilt. Then she turns around and feels bad because she didn’t want to ruin the moment for another person by asking for a tip for her services. This forced me to think about the morality of the other characters, and how people can be both bad and good at the same time; doing terrible things, but then turning around and being completely rational and compassionate people.
What I liked most about Russian Winter was the writer’s ability to surprise me. By far the most surprising was her ability to profoundly change my opinion about a character. This made me examine myself and my judgments. The character I’m referring to is Nina, who’s so easy to hate. Throughout the book, I simply did not like her, but in the end, with the events that ensued and how she responded, I sympathized with her and completely adored her. Another strange surprise was the moment I realized I wasn’t actually sure who was on the cover of this book — which then made me think more about why the author showed her back, and why the necklace is worn backward. This book does constantly make you think!
The reason I’m giving this book three stars and not four or five is that for the first 14 chapters I was completely bored with the lack of plot development. I enjoyed Daphne’s writing style which is rich and atmospheric, which is the reason I did finish. I was getting so impatient, however, with how long it was taking to get to the “point” of all these snapshots, that I was having a hard time focusing. I think this book would have been much better without the added narrative about Grigory and Drew. Grigory’s love interest and self-esteem issues were excessive and, although this could have been a separate book that might have been interesting, detracted from the rest of this story. I feel like his personal life and romance could have been cut out and I would have enjoyed this book much more. I do not regret reading this book, however, and am so glad I finished it.
I recommend this book for anyone wanting to know more about Russian history and culture, as the author draws upon and references historical documents in the making of this novel. This novel also heavily focuses on art including the influence of poetry and ballet on modern society as well as its historical influence. I do not recommend this book for anyone who likes a clear plot development, as it can get frustrating when the story jumps around without building much momentum until the end. The end is worth the time put into this book, however, and almost makes all the effort put into it even more satisfying than the redemption itself.
