I found the novel a bit slow to get going on, but once I connected I thoroughly enjoyed it. The story starts in the current time when Rosie, a college student, who longs to return to Russia, is given the opportunity when she answers an ad from an academic. Rosie was from taken from Russia as a small child in the aftermath of a family tragedy which forms the structure for the story. The opportunity was dropped in her lap and I had an inkling that it was too easy, but that too was part of the bones of the plot.

The story then takes parallel lines beginning with a star crossed lovers theme of two opposites falling into a dangerous love affair in the 1900s Russia. I found this riveting. The Bolshevik revolution was played out in all its tragic consequences brought down to how it affects people caught up in it. The two stories converge and the paths taken by the characters unfolds. The mystery of the deaths of Rosie’s father and sister are revealed as one of those consequences. I found at times difficulty deciphering who was being spoken about because of unclear pronouns- I had to do some re-reading to get the thread but it was a lovely love story, engaging history, a story of missed opportunities, uniting, and enduring love.