Original Author: Misty Severi. North Korea fires 'unidentified projectile' in third suspected test of the year. Load Error. Replay Video. Skip Ad. This is a book about choices made for the sake of survival, about lies and reinvention, and about calculated risks.
Ultimately, this is a book I enjoyed raeding. Wow, I was not disappointed! The story revolves around Nadia, the daughter of a Russian Aristocratic family.
She is a young teenager when the revolution begins and her world is upended and she quickly has to learn how to survive in the new Soviet Russia. Or is it? Who can she trust? Who is following her? Along the way she meets Lee, a British socialist with whom she has an affair. But is he spying on her too? And then the story gets good!
No kidding, the plot twists just kept going. Perfect for the beach or a lazy Sunday. Red Mistress by Elizabeth Blackwell is an enjoyable historical fiction that encompasses the rise the rise and events of the Russian Revolution, and the immediate years thereafter. Many were arrested and executed. A few were able to flee to other countries, where their lives were drastically altered and became impoverished. Others were lucky enough to find family, friends, or trades that a Red Mistress by Elizabeth Blackwell is an enjoyable historical fiction that encompasses the rise the rise and events of the Russian Revolution, and the immediate years thereafter.
Others were lucky enough to find family, friends, or trades that allowed them to survive. Nadia was able to marry and involve herself with the Bolsheviks and then later became a spy of sorts in France.
It is the moving story of Nadia, a former aristocrat-turned Bolshevik spy, who has to survive in a dangerous world where nothing is as it seems, nothing is as it should be, and everything is at stake, including her heart. I really loved Nadia, she is intelligent and likable. She is also such a sympathetic character, with emotional and physical wounds that simply made my heart ache, especially knowing that there were so many like her who suffered at the hands of the new Soviet regime just because they were born noble.
The storyline is super engaging, with a relentless pace that left me breathless, the historical background of the Russian Revolution and its aftermath filled with chaotic change, social and personal turbulence, and fear above all else.
I would have loved this book to be longer, with more about Nadia and her husband, as well as more in-depth development of scenes that were told in exposition—simply because the novel was so fascinating I wanted more. As a Russian myself, I also wanted more on Russia, the setting, all those little cultural details that for me are so familiar and dear.
I would love to come along for another breathless ride. Aug 14, Sally Stanton rated it really liked it. This was a great listen as the narrator was terrific. I enjoyed every minute as it moved along nicely and was a little different twist on historical fiction starting with the Russian Revolution which I find really interesting.
Nadia the red mistress was very engaging and I liked hearing the story through her POV. I realized at the end that I had expected lots of intrigue, suspense and other great spy stuff which didn't materialize.
I was really looking for more heart beating excitement but ins This was a great listen as the narrator was terrific. I was really looking for more heart beating excitement but instead got some nice romance. I still would say this is an above average novel and would recommend to anyone who loves historical novels with a touch of romance. It started out well, really pulling the reader into the life of Nadia Shulkina and her family. The strains and changes of the coming revolution also imprint themselves on Nadia, for hers is a large burden.
The rest of the story is good, though perhaps not great. This novel could have been fantastic. It has all the elements. The problem is that the writer got too much in the head of the main character and her actions allowing all emotions, events, and important pi 3.
The problem is that the writer got too much in the head of the main character and her actions allowing all emotions, events, and important pieces of the story to go undeveloped. The relationship between Nadia and Lee Cooper the handsome journalist was as ingesting as a yawn and as exciting as watching paint dry.
The reason is because Lee has no discernible personality. I felt nothing about their romance or interactions. Even Nadias relationship w Alec, her cruel husband whom she married to save her beloved brother was underdeveloped. The entire story was Nadia and what went on on Nadias head. The nuance of real people living real lives with real feelings was never part of the story. It felt like the writer has an outline and felt her goal was to get her main character from a to b to c.
In a novel a story has to be mind for emotion and reason, for inner turmoil and philosophy and psychology of the mind. This could have been so much more. This could have been a touching, moving, exceptionally well written cat and mouse game abounding with Soviet agents, French Agents, Emigres, Spurs, evil Bolsheviks, and wonderful characters of the time.
It could have been a story of the love of two people who need each other more than they know. That love could have been explored, it should have been. Even with Alec we know very little. Nadias time in jail was skipped through in a few sentences.
All emotion, truth, grit, suffering, inner turmoil, and even the charm that goes into the dance of a love story was left by the wayside. Everything here felt flat. Rushed over. Here was a great book that was waiting to be written and was ultimately printed as a shell. I thought the story was nothing special, but Nadia and her family were a wonderfully good place to start.
A family in which to show the horrors and the escapes, the suffering and the sorrows of the Russian Revolution upon the minor aristocrats.
The writer missed the forest for the trees, sadly. I liked the story well enough. I liked Nadia. I never got to know the people in her life. That made her story very one dimensional. Too much left on the table. A little lovely watercolor had the potential to be a magnificent oil paint artwork. The artist forgot the light, the heart, the nuances, and the magic that makes great art. I hope the writers next book does more exploring of humanity and less explaining it. Now that would be something to read!
View all 4 comments. Nadia and her family lived well before the Russian Revolution but then everything came tumbling down for her. Grinding poverty and being a non-person reduces her to a shadow of herself but her uncle Sergey is there as more or less of a safety net for both Nadia and her brother Vasily. Unfortunately, so is Alek, who before things went bad, flirted with her mother. Nadia marries Alek, becomes a translator, thanks to the English she learned from her governess, as well as her French, and then finds Nadia and her family lived well before the Russian Revolution but then everything came tumbling down for her.
Nadia marries Alek, becomes a translator, thanks to the English she learned from her governess, as well as her French, and then finds herself on a mission to uncover traitors to the USSR who are resident in Paris. Certainly she wasn't committed to the cause, not one bit. The argument could be made that she was worried about Sergey and Vasily but that wasn't raised. Certainly she wanted to be close to Lee but really, I don't understand why she followed through with any of the "espionage.
I know I sound sour but know that this is a well written novel that will appeal to fans of historical fiction. Over the past few years, I've become a fan of historical fiction and while most books seem to focus on WW1 or WW2, Red Mistress takes us on a journey through the Russian Revolution. My ancestors are Russian, which made this story all the more poignant. Through a series of events during the Bolshevik Revolution, Nadia is forced to make a life-altering decision to save herself and her family and in turn, finds a way to reinven Over the past few years, I've become a fan of historical fiction and while most books seem to focus on WW1 or WW2, Red Mistress takes us on a journey through the Russian Revolution.
Through a series of events during the Bolshevik Revolution, Nadia is forced to make a life-altering decision to save herself and her family and in turn, finds a way to reinvent herself. Red Mistress is well-written with fully developed characters and storytelling that creates excellent visuals of Russia, Paris, and England.
Oct 27, Sydney Young rated it it was amazing Shelves: favorites , mystery-suspense , fiction , historical , in-my-kindle , cold-war. Relentless voice, driving our heroine to the disaster made of her life by the red revolution. Then the surprises come in angsty twists as you wonder how it will all end. Great escape, highly enjoyable. Jul 31, Joann rated it liked it Shelves: fiction , thriller , political , books-i-won , drama , my-ipad , family-drama , historical , kindle , e-books-i-won.
Firstly, I want to thank Goodreads as I won this Kindle in a giveaway for an honest review. I read some reviews on this book and it didn't thrill me as some others have heralded it.
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