Svetlana's Reads and Views

Name of Book: The White Pearl Author: Kate Furnivall ISBN: 978-0-425-24100-4 Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group Type of book: 1941-1942, World War II, Malaysia, boats, twins, affair, murders, revenge, secrets, Japan Year it was published: 2012 Summary: Malaya, 1941. Connie Thornton [her last name in the novel is Hadley]. plays her role as a dutiful wife and mother without complaint. She is among the fortunate after all-the British rubber plantation owners reaping the benefits of the colonial life. But Connie feels as though she is oppressed, crippled by boredom, sweltering heat, a loveless marriage. . . Then, in December, the Japanese invade. Connie and her family flee, sailing south on their yacht toward Singapore, where the British are certain to stand firm against the Japanese. En route, in the company of friends, they learn that Singapore is already under siege. Tensions mount, tempers flare, and the yacht's inhabitants are driven by fear. Increasingly de...

Name of Book: The Girl from Junchow Author: Kate Furnivall ISBN: 978-0-425-22764-0 Publisher: Berkley Part of a Series: Lydia Saga; The Jewel of St. Petersburg, The Russian Concubine prequels Type of book: Russia, China, communism, 1929-1930, relationships, interracial relationship, Asian male/white female, protection Year it was published: 2009 Summary: China, 1929. For years Lydia Ivanova believed her father was killed by the Bolsheviks. But when she learns he is imprisoned in Stalin-controlled Russia, the fiery girl is willing ot leave everything behind-even her Chinese lover, Chang An Lo. With her half brother, Alexei, Lydia sets out on a dangerous journey. Tension grows between the two as Alexei's search for his past threatens Lydia's quest to find her father and forge a new future for herself. But when Alexei abruptly disappears, Lydia is left alone, penniless in soviet Russia. As she continues her search for information, Lydia finds herself caught i...

Name of book: The Russian Concubine Author Name: Kate Furnivall ISBN: 978-0-425-21558-6 Publisher: Berkley Books Part of a Series: Russian Saga; Jewel of St Petersburg before, The Girl from Junchow after Type of book: Adult, China, Russia, Communism, 1917, 1928-1930?, Interracial relationship Asian Male/White Female Year it was published: 2007 Summary: A sweeping epic and stunning debut, this novel brings to life the war-torn CHina of the 1920s. On opposite sides of a political and social divide, an exiled Russian girl and a Chinese Communist boy find love; a mother must face what she would rather forget; and an idealist realizes his greatest enemies might be his own kind... Junchow, China, 1928. Perhaps it's her red hair, or her hard life. Whatever the reason, Lydia Ivanova has a fierce spirit. Nothing can dim it, not even the foul waters of the Peiho River. Into the river's grime bodies are tossed, those of thieves and Communists alike. So every time...

Name of book: The Jewel of St. Petersburg Author Name: Kate Furnivall ISBN: 978-0425234235 Publisher: Berkley Trade Type of book: Adult, historical, russia, 1910-1917 Year it was published: 2010 Summary: In this prequel to her debut novel, The Russian Concubine (2007), about White Russian Lydia Ivanova, Furnivall focuses on Lydia’s mother, Valentina, during the years leading up to and including the Russian Revolution of 1917. When Bolsheviks bomb her family’s country estate in 1910, crippling her younger sister, Katya, 17-year-old title character Valentina is left with guilt and resolve. With a slim frame but steely character, she defies both convention and her father, who is the czar’s minister of finance, first by training and working as a nurse and then by refusing to marry for money (in order to solve the family’s financial problems). Instead, she chooses the man she loves passionately, Dane Jens Friis, the czar’s engineer. Through the years, her hatred grows for...