The Jewel of St Petersburg by Kate Furnivall

This is a prequel to excellent The Russian Concubine and if you haven't read it or its follow on The Concubines Secret please do. Oh and while you're at it read Under A Blood Red Sky as well, no Lydia or Valentina but still good.

It has been quite a few years since I had read either of the Concubine books yet Lydia had stayed with me over the years and I was looking forward to reading about how her mother and father got together.

I really enjoyed the book and found it gripping from the get go. What I loved the most about Concubine were the characters and I was delighted to find old faces pop up in this book, it felt like I was meeting old friends. I don't want to spoil things by giving too much away but the book was tinged with sadness for me. Having said that I did find it tense even though I knew whether certain characters were alive or not by the time Concubine starts. I loved the description of Russia and its descent into chaos, the love story, the villans and the description of Valentinas work at the hospital.

I'm not sure in which order I would recommend you read Jewel and Concubine. There was enough in this book to not make me regret reading it last but I could understand how you would perhaps get more out of it reading them the other way round.

In any event I found it a real page turner, easy to read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I haven't read any other Kate Furnivall books and have just had a spy on her website to check out her back catalogue as if her other books are half as good as these ones you're on to a winner. I'm fancying The White Pearl, has anyone read it?

Also let me know whether you are team Lydia or team Valentina. For me Lydia will always have a place in my heart.

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