Svetlana's Reads and Views

Name of Book: The Romanov Empress Author: C.W. Gortner ISBN:  B076GQKBCD Publisher: Ballantine Books Year it was published: 2018 Summary: For readers of Philippa Gregory and Alison Weir comes a dramatic novel of the beloved Empress Maria, the Danish girl who became the mother of the last Russian tsar. Even from behind the throne, a woman can rule. Narrated by the mother of Russia’s last tsar, this vivid, historically authentic novel brings to life the courageous story of Maria Feodorovna, one of Imperial Russia’s most compelling women, who witnessed the splendor and tragic downfall of the Romanovs as she fought to save her dynasty in its final years. Barely nineteen, Minnie knows that her station in life as a Danish princess is to leave her family and enter into a royal marriage—as her older sister Alix has done, moving to England to wed Queen Victoria’s eldest son. The winds of fortune bring Minnie to Russia, where she marries the Romanov heir, Alexander, an...

Name of Book: Marlene Author: C.W. Gortner ISBN: 978-0-06-240606-4 Publisher: William Morrow Type of book: 1914-1946, Marlene Dietrich, WWI, WWII, Hollywood, defiance, Nazism, California, USA, movie star, jobs, Great Depression, movies, unconventional, Berlin, unconventional life and lifestyle Year it was published: 2016 Summary: A lush, dramatic biographical novel of one of the most glamorous and alluring legends of Hollywood’s golden age, Marlene Dietrich, from the gender-bending cabarets of Weimar Berlin to the lush film studios of Hollywood—a sweeping story of passion, glamour, ambition, art, and war from the author of Mademoiselle Chanel. Raised in genteel poverty after the first World War, Maria Magdalena Dietrich dreams of a life on the stage. When a budding career as a violinist is cut short, the willful teenager vows to become a singer, trading her family’s proper, middle class society for the free-spirited, louche world of Weimar Berlin’s cabarets and ...

Name of Book: Mademoiselle Chanel Author: C.W. Gortner ISBN: 978-0-06-235640-6 Publisher: William Morrow Type of book: Belle Epoque, France, Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, Chanel No 5, WWI, WWII, Great depression, friendship, romantic elements, hats, fashion, 1895-1945, family, anti-Jewish, powerful, wealth, elegance, 1920s, 1930s, Year it was published: 2015 Summary: For readers of The Paris Wife and Z comes a vivid novel full of drama, passion, tragedy, and beauty that stunningly imagines the life of iconic fashion designer Coco Chanel—the ambitious, gifted laundrywoman’s daughter who revolutionized fashion, built an international empire, and become one of the most influential and controversial figures of the twentieth century Born into rural poverty, Gabrielle Chanel and her siblings are sent to orphanage after their mother’s death. The sisters nurture Gabrielle’s exceptional sewing skills, a talent that will propel the willful young woman into a life far r...