And I can wholeheartedly recommend this one.

It did start off a little slowly, and the changes between time periods were a little confusing at first because there was no indication it was happening. One paragraph would be in modern-day Boston, and the next one in Stalinist Russia. I don't know whether this was just how it is in the ebook, with the print version being a bit clearer, but I got used to it pretty quickly. 

But those are minor niggles. I loved the story, the settings, and the people. And the look into the life of a prima ballerina was fascinating. As were the descriptions of what it must have been like living in Russia under the Stalinist regime. I studied Russian history at school and couldn't imagine (and still can't) what it must have been like. 

Part love story, part mystery, and part history lesson. I would definitely read something else by Daphne Kalotay.

Natalia Makarova

The author has done a great job of describing the bitterly cold winters in Boston, St Petersburg and Moscow. Such a great job, that I almost forgot I was lying on a beach on Marthas Vineyard in 80 degree temperatures, and was in fact trudging through the snow in Red Square.  

Luckily, I have proof that I was on the beach.

From the blurb

"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."

Russia and Boston. That's a win-win in my book.

I love checking up Amazon's Kindle Daily Deals and today I found two books that looked interesting! 1.99 per book (well 2.49 for me with VAT)...