Review:

A mysterious jewel holds the key to a life-changing secret, in this breathtaking tale of love and art, betrayal and redemption.

When she decides to auction her remarkable jewelry collection, Nina Revskaya, once a great star of the Bolshoi Ballet, believes she has finally drawn a curtain on her past. Instead, the former ballerina finds herself overwhelmed by memories of her homeland and of the events, both glorious and heartbreaking, that changed the course of her life half a century ago.

It was in Russia that she discovered the magic of the theater; that she fell in love with the poet Viktor Elsin; that she and her dearest companions—Gersh, a brilliant composer, and the exquisite Vera, Nina’s closest friend—became victims of Stalinist aggression. And it was in Russia that a terrible discovery incited a deadly act of betrayal—and an ingenious escape that led Nina to the West and eventually to Boston.

Nina has kept her secrets for half a lifetime. But two people will not let the past rest: Drew Brooks, an inquisitive young associate at a Boston auction house, and Grigori Solodin, a professor of Russian who believes that a unique set of jewels may hold the key to his own ambiguous past. Together these unlikely partners begin to unravel a mystery surrounding a love letter, a poem, and a necklace of unknown provenance, setting in motion a series of revelations that will have life-altering consequences for them all.


About this author:

Daphne Kalotay grew up in New Jersey, where her parents had relocated from Ontario; her mother is Canadian, while her father came from Hungary to Canada as a teen. Daphne attended Vassar College, majoring in psychology, before moving to Boston to attend Boston University's graduate program in fiction writing. She stayed on at BU to study with Saul Bellow as part of the University Professors program, where she earned a PhD in Modern and Contemporary literature, writing her dissertation on one of her favorite writers, Mavis Gallant. Her interview with Mavis Gallant can be found in the Paris Review's Writers-at-work series.

At Boston University, Daphne's stories won the school's Florence Engell Randall Fiction Prize and a Henfield Foundation Award. Her first book, the fiction collection Calamity and Other Stories, includes work first published in Agni, Good Housekeeping, The Literary Review, Missouri Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, and Prairie Schooner, and was short-listed for the Story Prize.

Daphne has taught literature and creative writing at Boston University, Skidmore College, and Middlebury College. She lives in the Boston area.

This Book is one from your wishlist, hope you enjoy this Book.

Best regards from Berlin Germany

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Liebe/r Finder/in,

bitte mache einen Journaleintrag um mich wissen zu lassen, dass dieses Buch gefunden und das es bei dir ein gutes neues Zuhause gefunden hat. Solltest Du neu bei BookCrossing sein, und Du Lust hast dich hier anzumelden, würde ich mich freuen, wenn Du bei Empfehlungs-Mitglied Physalis74 einträgst (Du kannst natürlich auch ohne dich anzumelden, ganz anomym einen Eintrag über Deinen Fund machen). Ich hoffe Du findest gefallen an dem Buch. Du kannst einen weiteren Eintrag machen, wie es Dir gefallen hat sobald Du es gelesen hast.

Dann, wann immer Du Du bereit bist es weiter zu geben, mache bitte einen Journaleintrag ob Du dieses Buch an eine Dir bekannte Person weitergegeben oder gesendet hast, oder mache ein Freilasseintrag wenn Du es für Jedermann in die „Wildnis“ freigelassen hast. Verfolge die Weitere reise. Du bekommst eine Emailnachricht, wenn dieses Buch wieder gefunden wird und jemand einen Eintrag macht. Alles ist absolut vertraulich (Du bist nur unter deinem Screenname zu sehen, Deine angegebene Emailadresse ist zu keinem Zeitpunkt für andere sichtbar), alles ist kostenlos und absolut Spamfrei!

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This book arrived safely in Kathmandu and I picked it up from the post office yesterday - thank you so much for sending it so far. Also, thank you for the great English/Nepali bookplates that you sent - they are so cool and creative! Looking forward to reading this book.

Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, I could not get into this one. It felt so cliched, so contrived, and was a chore to read, so I never got very far. It felt like a book written by someone who wanted to write a book and so planned it all out. Not by a writer. Like literally I’d rather read a Regency Romance. Which can actually be quite well written! I tried more than I usually would, as it was sent to me by another BCer and I hate to abandon those, but I've finally decided to let it go in the hopes that someone else will connect with it in a way I couldn't.

Left on Sunday on the Kathmandu Guest House. book swap shelves They are at the back, though the garden, in a space that also seems to double as an art area/shop--a bit tucked away but staff are happy to point you in the right direction!

Happy travels, little book! I hope you find the perfect reader