Red Mistress: A Novel

Description

In the wake of the Russian Revolution, a determined young woman breaks with her past to become a spy in 1920s Paris, where shadowy intrigues and a dangerous romance put her loyalty to the test. In the spring of 1914, Nadia Shulkina, the daughter of Russian aristocrats, looks toward a bright future. She has no premonitions of war, let alone the revolution that is about to destroy her comfortable world. Her once-noble family is stripped of every possession, and more terrible losses soon follow. To save what's left of her family and future, Nadia marries a zealous Bolshevik in an act of calculated reinvention. It won't be her last. When she agrees to work undercover for the Soviets in 1920s Paris, Nadia is drawn into a beautiful yet treacherous world of secrets and deceit. Beset by conflicting loyalties and tested by a forbidden love affair, she becomes embroiled in a conspiracy that ends with a shocking murder. What chances will she take to determine her own fate?

Elizabeth Blackwell is the author of On a Cold Dark Sea, In The Shadow of Lakecrest, and While Beauty Slept. A graduate of Northwestern University and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, she lives outside Chicago with her family and piles of books she is absolutely, positively going to read someday. For more information about the author, visit www.elizabethblackwellbooks.com.

"A gem of a historical novel...I found myself wishing the story didn't have to end...recommended for fans of early 20th-century history, and for those who wonder what followed the fall of the Romanovs." -Historical Novel Society "Elizabeth Blackwell's fascinating Red Mistress is the story of Nadia Shulkina, who must reinvent herself in the wake of the Russian Revolution when her family loses everything. With breathtaking historical detail and vividly drawn characters, Red Mistress is a compelling tale, a perfect blend of daring, intrigue, and romance. I loved this story!" -Jane Healey, author of The Beantown Girls and The Saturday Evening Girls Club "This story of loss and survival, romance and danger, is absolutely captivating." -Megan Chance, author of A Drop of Ink and Inamorata