Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    Russian Winter: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Russian Winter: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Russian Winter: A Novel
    Ebook543 pages9 hours

    Russian Winter: A Novel

    By Daphne Kalotay

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    Listen to the audiobook instead

    About this ebook

    “A soaring debut novel. An elegant, compelling puzzle of family, memory and solitude that brings to life modern-day Boston and postwar Russia through a profound love story. Graceful, moving, and unexpected.” —Matthew Pearl, New York Times bestselling author of The Dante Club 

    In Russian Winter, a famed ballerina’s jewelry auction in Boston reveals long-held secrets of love and family, friendship and rivalry, harkening back to Stalinist Russia. Called “tender, passionate, and moving” by Jenna Blum, the New York Times bestselling author of Those Who Save Us, Russian Winter is a perfect choice for fans of the novels of Ann Patchett (Bel Canto), and Ian McEwan (Atonement).

    When Nina Revskaya puts her remarkable jewelry collection up for auction, the former Bolshoi Ballet star finds herself overwhelmed by memories of her homeland, and of the events, both glorious and heartbreaking, that changed her life half a century earlier. It was in Russia that she discovered the magic of dance and fell in love, and where, faced with Stalinist aggression, a terrible discovery incited a deadly act of betrayal—and an ingenious escape to the West.

    Nina has kept her secrets for half a lifetime. But now Drew Brooks, an inquisitive associate at a Boston auction house, and Grigori Solodin, a professor who believes Nina's jewels hold the key to unlocking his past, begin to unravel her story—setting in motion a series of revelations that will have life-altering consequences for them all.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateSep 7, 2010
    ISBN9780062010650
    Author

    Daphne Kalotay

    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.

    Read more from Daphne Kalotay

    Related to Russian Winter

    Related ebooks

    Historical Mystery For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Dawn Of A dynasty

      Aug 11, 2023

      Dawn Of A dynasty
      5 min read

    • Article

      A Year in Reading: Stephen Dodson

      Dec 3, 2018

      I’ve read a lot of Russian literature and a lot about it, several general histories (starting with D.S. Mirsky’s classic) and a bunch of more specialized ones. Frankly, I didn’t think any book could add much to my understanding. But the massive new A

      4 min read

    • Article

      Richard The Radical

      Nov 26, 2020

      Richard The Radical
      10 min read

    • Article

      In Summary

      Jul 1, 2021

      There’s some good writing here. This short extract has covered a lot of ground and established that Edwina is a recently widowed woman thanks to the sinking of the Titanic. Her interior voice is skilfully rendered and there are some subtle touches su

      1 min read

    • Article

      Lily King

      Apr 25, 2020

      Award-winning and bestselling author Lily King’s latest book, Writers & Lovers, is set in the Boston area during the 1990s. This cleverly written novel features a compelling protagonist, a struggling 31-year-old writer named Casey. Readers follow Cas

      2 min read

    • Article

      ‘The Paris Bookseller’ Honors The American Woman Who Published ‘Ulysses’

      Jan 11, 2022

      Not long after the end of World War I, American Sylvia Beach opened an English-language bookstore and lending library in Paris. “The Paris Bookseller,” Kerri Maher’s historical novel based on Beach’s remarkable life, imagines her impromptu speech to

      3 min read

    • Article

      Jack of Knives

      Jun 3, 2021

      WINNER £100 Jennifer is the author of four middle grade children’s novels published by Maverick (writing as Jenny Moore). Her latest book, The Misadventures of Nicholas Nabb, is set during the same period as her winning story and also includes a scen

      6 min read

    • Article

      We Are Here

      Apr 29, 2019

      We Are Here
      16 min read

    • Article

      The channel OF LOVE

      Aug 17, 2022

      The channel OF LOVE
      8 min read

    • Article

      Nancy Mitford, Queen of the Adriatic

      Mar 6, 2024

      In 1957, Gill Johnson, 25, left London for a Venetian palazzo to teach English to the children of the Brandolini family. One day, at the Venice Lido, she spotted a familiar figure… She seemed unattached and sitting in pointed isolation, as if the tid

      8 min read

    • Article

      Three Poems

      May 1, 2019

      It’s something I’m not supposed to say, so I’ll say it: I have some of Sylvia Plath’s hair. In 2009, when I was doing research in the Plath archive at the Lilly Library at Indiana University, I met K., a local scholar. We became friendly. K. had been

      4 min read

    • Article

      The Grand Canal, Venice, 1970

      Mar 1, 2024

      The Grand Canal, Venice, 1970
      8 min read

    • Article

      Midsummer’s Night

      Sep 10, 2023

      Niki thought she could sense it on all their minds, hovering between the four of them as they threw cushions and sandals into the boat, lowered the wine bottles in, and collected the long pole, but it wasn’t until they were out of the city that they

      14 min read

    • Article

      The Nanny

      Dec 15, 2019

      There isn’t much in the house,” Mary said. “I’m sorry.” Kayla looked around, shrugged. “I’m not even that hungry.” Mary set the table, bright Fiestaware on place mats alongside fringed cloth napkins. They ate microwave pizzas. “Gotta have something a

      21 min read

    • Article

      Splash

      Feb 9, 2018

      Splash
      6 min read

    • Article

      A Temporary Arrangement

      Oct 2, 2023

      A Temporary Arrangement
      19 min read

    • Article

      The Scarlet PEBBLE

      Feb 28, 2024

      The Scarlet PEBBLE
      9 min read

    • Article

      Estella’s Fate

      May 17, 2023

      Estella’s Fate
      7 min read

    • Article

      Estella’s Fate

      May 17, 2023

      Estella’s Fate
      7 min read

    • Article

      J. Jezewska Stevens

      Dec 15, 2017

      The party was a failure. I can’t even tell you what a failure it was. There are no words. Only a great pain in my chest when I wake up. On the veranda. It’s better when I sit in the chair. Oh, but then I can see around. The gauzy curtains, pushed by

      15 min read

    Reviews for Russian Winter

    3.5/5

    253 ratings38 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      I did enjoy reading about the ballet training but while I was reading this in the hospital. I kept having unpleasant memories of my Russian (retired) ballerina who was exactly in what she expected of our class for our grade and yet she shipped coming to class for all but the first class. Not all Russian ballerinas are not alike because not all human are. But as I was reading this book, my bad memories came storming back to interrupt the book. I thought that the book was very slow paced at the beginning and no matter how I tried, I could not interested in her life. It is a shame, I remember going to that Russian building in the New Word' s fair and buying a book about the Bolshoi Ballet and reading it and re-reading it. I still have the book. I have always been interested in Russian ballet.Drew Brooks was getting older and like the main character of this book, Nina Revakaya loved her privacy and wanted to just shut out the world and enjoy being alone. But she wanted to solve the mysteries behind Nina's collection of jewelry. I will not tell you the story but I do hope that if you decide to read it, you do not have any bad Russian ballerina memories to disturb you throughout the book!
    • 5/5
      What a fantastic, interesting read!! This story by Daphne Kalotay was full of intrigue, drama and misunderstandings that wound up shaping peoples lives in an instant. This story takes place split between present day in Boston and post WWII Russia. The story is linked together by a ballerina named Nina and the people whose lives she touches. I had such a hard time putting this book down. This would make a great book club selection. I predict that this will be a very popular book.
    • 3/5
      Going in to the reading, I was almost giddy with anticipation - I have a 'thing' for jewelry, and I thought this was going to be a lovely exploration of ballet and jewels and ballerinas in Russia-once-upon-a-time. That was not exactly what I got. However, I was not devastated - this ended up being a good read (and there are pages before every chapter that feature a piece from Nina's collection that is up for auction featuring descriptions like would appear in an auction catalogue).While it took me a little bit to figure out the way Kalotay was telling the stories involved, once I figured out the 'trick' to reading, I was quickly engrossed. There are four story lines unfurling simultaneously: Nina's present, as she is struggling against Time & Age; Drew's journey to self-discovery, aided by her work with Nina's auction collection; Grigori's battle against memory and fight for identity; and Nina's past - which started everything. I was fascinated by the accounts of Communist Russia, and the lives of the artists as represented by Nina and her friends. That time is so foreign to me, so unexplored, I felt like I was truly getting a glimpse into a different world. As everything in the individual story lines grows and develops, eventually tying together in a stunning ending.So while Russian Winter was not exactly what I expected, I'm glad I read it - there are details and ideas of life in Russia that made me think, and there are threads of humanity explored and discussed that are universal. The characters' discoveries can apply to any and all of us. That, I think, is part of what makes a book a keeper: the ability to create characters that are human. These characters are flawed and imperfect, but they are real. Their stories feel real. And there's just enough jewelry-talk to make me feel like I got what I wanted.
    • 4/5
      Surprisingly well-constructed historical novel set in Stalinist Russia, with the added evocative setting of the Bolshoi Ballet. Either the structure (letting slip the slightest clues at exactly the right times) was really smart, or I'm a really dumb reader.
    • 4/5
      This is a great first novel, well-written, highly addictive, with interesting characters and an involving plot. I found one of the relationships to be rather predictable and there were a couple issues with the plotting – the ending was rushed and some revelations could have been handled better – but overall this is a good read. I enjoyed reading about ballet in the Soviet times but hoped for more specific details though this is probably because I recently read a history of ballet. Nina Revskaya, a former star dancer for the Soviet Union, lives in Boston in the mid-2000’s and mysteriously decides to sell off her jewels. In the present, her life collides with Drew Brooks, a dedicated woman who works for the auction house, and Grigori Solodin, a professor who studies the work of Nina’s husband, the poet Viktor Elsin, who works with Drew to uncover the history of the jewels. Nina recalls her past – her work at the Bolshoi, her meeting and marriage with Viktor, professional friendships and rivalries, and the uneasy and repressive atmosphere of Moscow just before the death of Stalin.The novel is structured as many others – with a past section and present section. The author did a good job of developing the modern-day part as many books that utilize this structure have a dull present section. In fact, initially it was more compelling as Kalotay explores Nina’s routine but not unhappy life and the careers and lives of Drew and Grigori. Nina’s past life starts with her meeting Viktor and at first I was concerned that Nina would be defined only by her relationship but the pair quickly marries and Nina faces a new set of issues - communal living with her condescending, formerly wealthy mother-in-law, a new distance with her own mother, rivalries with an old friend Vera, also a ballerina, and the demands of life as a dancer. Nina and Viktor have some happy times with Vera and Viktor’s friend, the irreverent Jewish composer Gersh, but eventually several members of their circle find themselves targeted by bureaucrats and the secret police. Nina’s rise through the ranks of dancers and individual performances are given a lot of space as well. However, I was hoping to read more about Soviet ‘tractor ballets’ or pro-Communist productions of classics. The ballets that are described are the standard French-Russian 19th c. classics – Giselle, Swan Lake, Coppelia. A couple popular Soviet ballets are briefly mentioned but there are no descriptions given. Many of the characters face persecution but the issues are not specifically related to Soviet control of the ballet which I thought would have been interesting to read about. Nina’s work-life conflict, the pressure to inform on others and the restrictions on the ballerinas to avoid Western influence could be issues found in any sort of job at the time. The competition and awkwardness that Nina faces after she becomes a prima ballerina could easily be part of any ballet story. Many actual defectors felt stifled in their art but Nina defects mostly for personal reasons. I won’t fault the book for not covering these topics though I was a bit disappointed.The present-day story was engaging as well. I got involved in the lives of Grigori and Drew though there’s an extremely obvious romance as a plot point. Grigori is a widower who has difficulty moving on from his wife’s death and finds his job as a professor becoming irrelevant. Drew is passionate about her job but realizes that her success has not measured up to what her family and friends think she should have – she’s divorced and avoiding a relationship. The quirks and side characters, as well as the interesting look into the history of the jewels and Drew’s family, are appealing though I didn’t like the impression that the author seemed to give about how undateable Drew was. Even the seemingly unsympathetic characters are given motivations and are shown from different angles. There’s a secret that’s teased from the opening pages and is revealed halfway through but it was pretty obvious. The important part is how is develops in the past so I thought the author should have just come out and said what it was instead of playing coy. For the most part, though, these issues don’t detract from the reading. The book is a good size but I finished it in just a few sittings.
    • 4/5
      Why is the pendant worn backwards…and which woman wears it?The cover of Russian Winter beguiled me, but did not answer the many questions that hammered at my brain as Nina’s story unfolded. I paid diligent attention to the carefully spun-out clues in the novel and was spellbound until the end. Sometimes we savor a book—read a bit, then put it away until tomorrow so that it may be pondered. Not so with Russian Winter. I was swept away and contentedly disconnected from the rest of my life for the hours I spent within its pages.I reveled in author Daphne Kalotay’s use of language. She juxtaposes present day Boston with post WW II Soviet Union where artists struggle with their private turmoil and fears behind the iron curtain. Her flashbacks are expertly cast in the present tense. So much of what is beautiful in this world—ballet, poetry, music, love, creative expression, hope—is intertwined with betrayal, fear, loss, poor health. Detailed descriptions of the jewelry to be auctioned are uniquely placed between chapter headings. Kalotay has a way of bringing simple images to life with phrases like “a squadron of hairpins.”“Dancers must remember everything.” Retired ballerina Nina Rebskaya, who has defected to the United States and seeks to sell her jewel collection to benefit the Boston ballet, suffers such a fate. Nina, who visualized the optimum performance of the next step in her choreography as she felt the floor beneath her feet, becomes the retired benefactress, body rigid and wheelchair-bound, tracing the lines of the past in her memories.The career of a ballerina is ephemeral but the value of a gemstone endures. Intrigue seduces. Art is transforming. Ponder all of this in the captivating novel, Russian Winter.Reviewed by Holly Weiss, author of Crestmont
    • 4/5
      “Probably that sliver of doubt was always with her, lodged inside her, as it was inside everyone, about everybody else”One-time prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Ballet Nina Revskaya, now wheelchair-bound in Boston, decides to sell her impressive jewellery collection for the benefit of the Boston Ballet Foundation. As she looks at the treasures of her past, she recalls her life on the other side of the Iron Curtain. Drew Brooks, in charge of the auction, pries deep into Nina’s life with the help of the obsessive Professor Solodin to try to add some historical colour to Nina’s precious jewels.I write this review having just finished the book this morning and mostly read it solidly, straight through. I’m left with a feeling of enduring, beautiful sadness. Kalotay has crafted a mystery of sorts (why did Nina leave? Why is the professor so convinced that he has a connection to her? Why is she selling the jewellery?) and maintains it with the suspense of the threat of arrest for political dissent in Stalinist Russia. Yet it is the personal tragedies that are most haunting: the tragedy of Nina’s friend Vera, her parents shipped off to who knows where. Of Viktor, forced to compromise his artistic ideals in order to survive. Of Gersh, forced to the same, but refusing. Of Zoya and her unrequited love. The ending packs the biggest punch, as the true tragedy of Nina’s escape from Russia is revealed, both to Nina herself and to the reader.I was surprised to see that Kalotay does not have a background in ballet; she has clearly done her research well and has some good contacts. Similarly, her research on gemstones and auctions is clearly displayed but fortunately not in depth, or the story could quickly get bogged down. I was also rather pleased that the connection between Grigori and Nina has a serious twist in it – for it to be what the reader easily assumes during the main part of the book would have been saccharine.Nina is an excellent lead character; one empathises and acknowledges her struggles, but her flaws are also clear. Her pride and stubbornness are occasionally frustrating when the reader knows what is going to happen anyway, but she is a well-crafted and consistent protagonist. Solodin’s story had a few too many loose threads, or rather, Kalotay tries a little too hard to make him interesting. Recently deceased wife, potential for a scandalous love affair, unclear parentage, evidently interesting up-bringing; it feels like the novel was supposed to be more balanced towards Solodin and the editorial red pen was uneven in its application, leaving the Solodin storyline rather bare and Nina’s over-developed by comparison.This was a highly enjoyable debut novel, “intelligent chick lit”, and I look forward to reading more of Kalotay’s work.
    • 4/5
      Or you escaped, like Zoltan. Lived to tell the truth. It was one of the reasons Zoltan’s work mattered so greatly, each poem a message that had jumped a wall, burrowed a tunnel out of prison, survived to tell the rest of the world its news. So many others – other people, other poets – never made it.Nina Revskaya, a ballerina with the Bolshoi Ballet, having reached old age in the US after her defection from Russia, has decided to auction her jewels to benefit the Boston Ballet. Her life story, and that of her husband, the poet Viktor Elsin, is slowly unveiled. There is a professor in Boston whose specialty is Elsin’s work; he has also become interested in Nina and the story behind her jewels. The woman into whose hands the work of the auction is placed also tries to piece together their history in order to enhance the sale. This was a learning experience for me as I know nothing about ballet. The behind the scenes look at the life of a ballerina, and life in Stalinist Russia was fascinating. I don’t feel myself equal to discussing the merits of mystery books, as I’m only a recent convert to the genre. But I really did enjoy this one.
    • 4/5
      Russian Winter was an excellent and engrossing read. A former ballerina's decision to auction her extensive jewelry collection causes a walk down memory lane and a search for identity and love for three interconnected characters. The glimpses of Soviet life under Stalin are particular haunting, as are the consequences of Soviet persecution. A good read.
    • 4/5
      If you like historical fiction I would recommend this book. It has some intrique, a love story, and some history about life in Russia after WWII.
    • 3/5
      Russian Winter is an engrossing fiction novel from Daphne Kalotay that combines personal history with notorious events in human history. Flashbacks from Stalin-era Russia combine with the modern life of a Russian defector, Nina Revskaya, once famous as a Bolshoi ballerina. As she enters her final years, she decides to have a Sotheby's-style auction house sell her gems...purportedly to donate the funds to the Arts. However, it soon becomes clear that she has more personal reasons to divest of the jewelry-some of the pieces harbor memories that are too painful to hold on to. In the meantime, Drew, the auction house assistant, is charged with the task of determining the provenance of the pieces. A mystery arises as a new pendant is anonymously donated...one that would appear to be linked with Nina's set. The significance is clear: there's more to the story than Nina is willing to reveal. And it is the verification of the jewels history that becomes a story of assumptions and lies, and the betrayals that come as a result from them.The story was well paced, and plot twists developed that kept the mystery going. I also found the in-depth portrayal of the auction house's job of verifying historical jewelry fascinating. However, I had a few issues with the substance of the novel overall. One, I got the impression almost that a formula was being followed...'reveal this much detail at a time, then hold back, move on, and sprinkle foreshadowing liberally'. It worked, but once completed, the novel felt a bit manipulated. Another thing was I think the author wanted to show two powerful, independent women in action; and yet, both women (Drew and Nina) lacked warmth and were really kind of boring. The men in the story-Grigori and Viktor-were far more interesting and vibrant to read about. The women seemed passive in comparison.The flashbacks of Russia were of the most basic historical components: poets, vodka, intellectual suppression, mysterious arrests, the ballet, corruption, and poverty. In other words, there was nothing new added that dipped beneath a mere surface knowledge of "Russia 101." I would have loved if the book could have added historical details that would have revealed more complexity to the characters, in the way Vasily Grossman's Everything Flows uncovered a pain that explained its character's actions with more humanity. And yet, to someone unfamiliar with Russian history, they might find it a good introduction to the unique events of the region's history.
    • 4/5
      ***Full disclosure: This book was provided for free by Harper Collins at their Book Buzz session part of ALA Annual Conference ***Nina Revskaya star of the Bolshoi Ballet decides to auction off her jewelry that was given to her by her husband, poet Viktor Elsin. She met him after a performance one night and they shared an immediate connection. Nina meets him again a few weeks later and they start to date. She meets his best friend Gersh - a composer - "fighting" against the government ideals. Nina is surprised one evening when her best friend from childhood - Vera - appears at the dressing room for soloists. Vera left the Krakow Ballet to come to the Bolshoi. Vera meets Gersh shortly after that and they fall in love. Nina ends up getting pregnant twice, but decides to end the pregnancies because of her career. Vera ends up pregnant with Gersh's baby - Grigori. Grigori grows up to be a Russian professor. He believed all his life that Vikor & Nina are his parents. He translates Vikor's poems to English. He also tries to reach out to Nina with a picture of a necklace and documents he thinks are linked to her. Drew Brooks from the auction house is intrigued by Nina's history. She asks her to provide stories about the jewels to help create the supplementary book for the auction. This book goes back and forth between post WWII Moscow and present day Boston. As Drew explores the origin of Grigori's necklace, they find out together that his parents are not who he thinks they are.Both intensely romantic, but historically fascinating and scrupulous, Russian Winter is a love story and an adventure which is completely riveting from the first page.
    • 4/5
      RUSSIAN WINTER by Daphne Kalotay is an interesting historical set in present day Boston and 1950 Russia. It is well written with depth,details, twists and turns. It has mystery, tragedy, heart break, secrets, terror of war, mystery of Russia, ballerinas, a touch of romance, history, and the pain and trials of an aging woman. It interwines the past with the present in detail. The characters are rich, determined, and the plot flows easily. It shows the transformation of a yound hopeful Nina into the frustrated and resigned elder Nina. If you enjoy a hint of mystery, a hint of romance, and a lot of drams this is the book for you. This book was received from Good Reads for review and details can be found at Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers and My Book Addiction and More.
    • 3/5
      A historical romance set during Stalinist Russia. The author is able to reveal a lot about this oppressive period without being too heavy handed. This makes for an interesting light intro into life in that time.

      The story is a bit predictable but somehow satisfying for this genre.

    • 4/5
      A lovely book with a wonderful combination of mystery, russian history, and romance set up on the stage of sovet Russia and the Bolshoi ballet. It is written in a time travel going back to WW11 and then to present day and it is a testamount for me when I like reading during either of the dates of time. Uusally I prefer either the past parts of a book or the present parts. I was drawn in to the mystery of the amber jewlery and captivated with Nina Revskaya.
    • 2/5
      I was 125 pgs in and cut my losses. Didn't captivate me. Too much detail about academia that was not of interest to me.
    • 5/5
      Daphne Kalotay's 'Russian Winter' is set around the framework of an aged Russian prima ballerina reflecting on her past. Nina Revskaya is offering her fabled jewel collection at auction for the benefit of the Boston ballet. And with each jewel comes a memory or two. We have not only Nina's personal history, but also the story of Russia under Stalin and the effect of the intentional mistrust engendered by the State on its citizens.Skillfully interwoven with Nina's story is that of contemporary language professor Grigori Solodin, translator of poems written by Nina's late husband and possessor of a valuable amber necklace that may belong to a suite of amber owned by Nina.Kalotay creates characters of great depth and emotional intensity. And the reader is caught up not only in the mystery of Nina’s past and Girgori’s present, but also in larger themes of trust and love, mistakes and redemption. It is to her credit that kalotay's story can be read as riveting mystery and as a compelling exploration of the human heart.
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed Russian Winter, the first published novel by Daphne Kalotay. Kalotay is a skillful writer. She blends the past with the present so well.Nina Revskaya is a Russian ballerina who escaped from Stalin’s Soviet Union in the early 1950’s. Now in her 80’s and living in Boston, Revskaya is auctioning off her extraordinary jewelry collection for the benefit of the Boston Ballet.Each chapter is highlighted by the auction house description of a piece of jewelry; some worth hundreds of dollars, some tens of thousands. Through flashbacks and scenes in the present, we learn how Revskaya obtained each piece of jewelry. Intertwined with her story is that of Grigori Solodin, a professor of Russian who owns a companion piece to Revskaya’s set of amber jewelry. Solodin anonymously donates his piece to the auction in hopes of getting Revskaya’s attention. He had previously tried to contact her, since he believes they have a familial connection. Solodin is adopted and knows nothing of his birth parents.Holding the novel together is Drew Brooks, an associate at the auction house. She is interested in Solodin’s piece of jewelry, and how it fits into the set and how Solodin obtained it. Drew has no better luck than Solodin in questioning Revskaya about the piece but, with Solodin’s help, is able to research and reach some conclusions.I highly recommend Russian Winter.
    • 5/5
      An absorbing novel set in post World War II Soviet Union in which Nina rises to become the star of the Bolshoi and the circumstances around her eventual defection to the west. each chapter is framed by a piece of her jewelry which is Described from the auction catalog which in her old age she is donating to the Boston Ballet. the competing story line of Grigori, and his attempt to get close to Nina is also intriguing.
    • 4/5
      First Line: The afternoon was so cold, so relentlessly gray, few pedestrians passed the long island of trees dividing Commonwealth Avenue, and even little dogs, shunted along impatiently, wore thermal coats and offended expressions.Nina Revskaya, prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Ballet in Stalinist Russia, is spending her remaining years in Boston. Crippled by arthritis and feeling that her body has betrayed her, Nina has become a bitter, secretive old woman. When a man shows up on her doorstep with a piece of jewelry and questions, Nina puts her entire jewelry collection on the auction block rather than part with the answers to his questions. Little does Nina know, but protecting her secrets won't be that easy. Drew Brooks, an associate at the Boston auction house, is researching the history of Nina's jewels, and Grigori Solodin, the man on her doorstep, will not take no for an answer.When you get right down to it, there's not all that much that's new in the plot of Russian Winter. Girl dances. Girl falls in love. Girl suffers heartbreak and betrayal. Girl runs away and begins a new life. But it's what Kalotay weaves into this plot that makes this novel special.In many ways, Kalotay's book was right up my alley. I enjoy reading about ballet, and jewelry collections and their histories can fascinate me. Both of these things were very satisfying in Russian Winter, but the best piece of all was showing life in the Russia of Stalin-- where a prima ballerina lives in a communal apartment shared with her husband, mother-in-law and thirty-three other people. Each family has one room. There is one telephone for all. There is one toilet and one washroom for all. There is one kitchen with three stoves and six tables. It is a world where secrets can kill you, so you learn to lock away pieces of your soul until the lock rusts and the key no longer works.Once characters like Nina are seen in the setting in which they became adults, they change right before your eyes and become multi-dimensional. It doesn't matter that the basic plot has been used before. This may be Kalotay's first novel, but I hope it isn't her last.
    • 5/5
      Have you ever started a review thinking that there is no possibly way to describe such a fantastic book? I have been thinking about this book for days, trying to put my reading experience into words. Russian Winter is one of those novels you simply savor up to and beyond the last words on the page. I found myself utterly captivated by Nina's story and unable to put it down until I had discovered all of her secrets.

      In Russian Winter, Daphne Kalotay has done a beautiful job of creating vivid and fascinating characters and a story full of mystery and of love and loss. The writing is elegant in its simplicity and manages to completely overwhelm and entertain the reader. Russian Winter is one of the best books I've read in 2010. Read it - you won't be disappointed.
    • 5/5
      I LOVED this book - the ballet, the auction world, the complex and believable characters. Highly recommend!
    • 2/5
      2.5 stars

      Former ballerina Nina Revskaya has decided to auction off her jewelry collection. Once a prima ballerina for the Bolshoi Ballet now she is confined to a wheelchair.Growing up in Soviet Russia under Stalin, she has learned to keep her secret and thought to herself and doesn’t like to speak of her past.

      Then an anonymous donor gives the auction an Amber necklace, a piece that seems to match Nina’s jewelry. The donor is Grigori Solodin who got the necklace from his adoptive parents. He thinks Nina is the key for solving who his parents is, but Nina isn’t cooperating and refuses speaking to him. Drew Brooks is the representative from the auction house and she’s trying to learn more of Russia because her grandfather came from there. Drew and Grigori tries to find out where the necklace came from and getting to know each other.

      I had so much trouble writing this review and I’m still not quite sure what to think of the book.

      I liked it when I first started it, then I didn’t like it, then it was better again and then not so good. It just kept changing. There was few times I thought of giving up and the only reason I didn’t was because this was for review. And I can’t really point what the problem was. Maybe because besides Nina I just didn’t connect with the characters.

      I liked Nina and the best parts was the scenes in the past with her. It would have been pretty scary living in Stalin’s Russia! But I didn’t find Grigori and Drew interesting enough and present day Nina was just mean. And the switches of povs got on my nerves pretty soon. It changed multiple times in one chapter - between characters and between times. Just made my head hurt and annoyed.

      Didn’t like the ending either; it just ended suddenly and I felt like “Is this it?” And so many things were left unanswering.

      Can’t help but feel disappointed and I really wanted to like this. It had very interesting topic but it just couldn’t carry it through. I was going between giving this 2 or 3 but since I thought of giving up I’m going with 2. But because I liked the past times I’ll give extra half points.
    • 4/5
      Honestly this wasn't a 4 star until the end. For about halfway through, I was super annoyed by the breaks into the present, I was far more interested in Nina's life in Soviet Russia. The ballet scenes were beautifully written. I love everything about the scenes taking place in Russia, in fact, for the first half or three quarters I was pretty convinced it would have been a better novel altogether had it been merely telling the story of Nina and her escape from Russia rather than using the sell of her jewels as a framing device of her past. I'm not entirely convinced that it wouldn't have been a 5-star book had it done so. I think I would have been more pleased altogether.But towards the end the present starts having a little more relevance, and I got more absorbed. It really does deserve the 4-star rating. It's beautifully written, the scenes in Russia are stunning and engaging. I just wish there had been more of that and less of Nina in America.
    • 5/5
      Russian Winter was an all-round wonderful read!Nina Revskaya was the best part of the book, in both her younger and older guises. She had such a strong, vibrant personality, and I loved seeing how the one grew into the other.The historical sections of the book gave me a glimpse I'd never seen into post WWII Russia, and what life was like there.The modern parts presented a wonderful puzzle, based on jewelry from that long lost era.Throughout all of this are an array of fantastic characters that really came to life, whether they had a major roles or minor ones. Certainly, Nina; her husband Victor Elsin, a well known but not quite famous poet; Grigori Solodin, the translator who has dedicated his career to Elsin for not quit objective reasons; and Drew, who stumbles into the questions that Nina's jewels bring to the surface, and pursues the answers (personal and professional) that she needs; these major characters are memorable. So are those of Victor's mother, a displaced aristocrat; Vera, Nina's childhood friend; and more.The book was emotionally satisfying and intellectually stimulating. The writing was beautiful, adding up to a wonderful book.
    • 5/5
      This book was riveting. I loved it. It had all a great story needs; mystery, love, oppression, and the need to understand the past. At any time while reading this book, I had two to three theories about how all these stories connect. Kalotay leaves nothing out, while keeping the mystery alive. This is a wonderful book and if you get the chance, read it. You won't be disappointed.
    • 4/5
      "Artfully interweaving past and present, Moscow and New England, the behind the scenes tumult of theatre life and the transformative power of art, Kalotay's luminous debut novel captures joy, uncertainty ad terror of lives powerless to withstand the forces of history, while affirming that even in the presence of evil, suspicion and fear the human spirit reaches for transcendence and love."It's a love story (actually several love stories) wound around the auction of a former Bolshoi ballerina's gem/jewelry collection in current Boston. Easy, and captivating.
    • 3/5
      I found the story in this book very engaging. The different storylines, about Nina living and being a prima-ballerina in Russian, and then what ultimately led to her decision to leave; and the other storyline about the auction and the amber necklace. But as much as I was engaged with the storyline, I found the characters a little lacking. Ultimately, I wanted to know what was going to happen because I was curious about the story, not because I felt for the characters.
    • 3/5
      I liked the story, the continual twists in plot and the different points of view - a good read
    • 4/5
      Russian Winter by Daphne Kalotay was a very absorbing book, and it is just the kind of book that I like. The book alternates between the present and the past. It starts in the present with an older Nina who is in a wheelchair. She was a prominent Russian Ballerina and she is living in Boston. She wants to auction off her jewelry and the proceeds are to go to the Boston Ballet Company. Aging Nina is not a very happy woman. She reflects back on her life in Russia from when she was a young girl. Every chapter (and they are longer than I normally like) starts off with an auction lot number with a description of the piece of jewelry being auctioned and the auction price. Each piece of jewelry holds a memory for Nina, and the story unfolds through these memories.