A signed copy for 1p on Amazon (plus postage)! Sorry, had to get my little boast out of the way. Now that that's done I can talk about the book. I had never heard of Montefiore before although a few of the group had read Jerusalem that by all accounts is quite good.
Book Club fact alert:
Did you know Montefiore is the husband of author Santa Montefiore who is the sister of Tara Palmer Tomkinson? That’s a lot of surnames!
The book was suggested by our Russian literature fan and is loosely based on the 'the Childrens Case' where children from higher ranking families are caught up in a murder in Stalin's Russia.
I really enjoyed reading about how the seemingly untouchable upper class children who really were quite innocent were embroiled in a conspiracy to overthrow the government and how skilled the interrogators were at twisting words and skewering the truth. This is where the group split though as at least 3 of the group couldn’t get past violence inflicted on the children with one skipping to the end and one giving up entirely.
Be warned if you do skip to the end you are missing out as the latter half of the book takes off in a totally different direction. It becomes a love story of two parts one involving the illusive Serafina (again loosely based on a true story), the other involving the Doctor, mother to one of the children arrested. I also really enjoyed this part and thought there were some really poignant parts towards the end (the uniform!)
Perhaps the idea of the fatal romantics and the Game was a little silly but then again that's kids for you. I like how Montefiore captured Stalin, I liked the descriptions concerning the dresses and the ballet, there were twists and turns (Andrei and his secret, Serafina on the train) and there was emotion.
I think where the book fell down slightly was the fact that the story differed so much from the original starting point that in the end the murder(er) gets lost. To Montefiore's credit he took me along. I only realised once the book was all finished that I hadn’t really solved the murder and thought that maybe I had missed a part somewhere. Some in the group thought this was a plus point loving how the book fluidly veered off course and I can see where they are coming from but I did feel slight disappointment when I processed the book post read. Perhaps there should have been two books dealing with both points in more depth?
One member pointed out that the book was really just about love and in many ways it was – a sons love to his mother so much so that he will become an informer to keep them safe, a families love and the ties that bind, passionate all-consuming love, multicultural love, unrequited love, enduring love, love of literature, love of life. They were all in there. As was cruelty, secrecy, violence, fear and suppression, which in a way was the point of the book. Even during Stalin's rule (the long winter) love, in its many forms, survives.
The book scored highly despite, one of us giving up on it and a couple of 5s. It averaged 7 and a bit with a mode and median of 8.
Next book is In The Unlikely Event by Judi Blume
Question of the month - I had a big discussion in the meeting as to whether to keep a book once you have read it or not. I'm of the opinion that if a book is good it stays, with some books that made me cry or left little imprints on my heart being high up on my list of items to pull from a burning house (don’t worry my children are on there somewhere). The lady I was speaking to was of the opinion books should be passed on as they just fill up a load of space. Which camp do you fall into? #sharethelove #supergluetotheshelf
Book Club fact alert:
Did you know Montefiore is the husband of author Santa Montefiore who is the sister of Tara Palmer Tomkinson? That’s a lot of surnames!
The book was suggested by our Russian literature fan and is loosely based on the 'the Childrens Case' where children from higher ranking families are caught up in a murder in Stalin's Russia.
I really enjoyed reading about how the seemingly untouchable upper class children who really were quite innocent were embroiled in a conspiracy to overthrow the government and how skilled the interrogators were at twisting words and skewering the truth. This is where the group split though as at least 3 of the group couldn’t get past violence inflicted on the children with one skipping to the end and one giving up entirely.
Be warned if you do skip to the end you are missing out as the latter half of the book takes off in a totally different direction. It becomes a love story of two parts one involving the illusive Serafina (again loosely based on a true story), the other involving the Doctor, mother to one of the children arrested. I also really enjoyed this part and thought there were some really poignant parts towards the end (the uniform!)
Perhaps the idea of the fatal romantics and the Game was a little silly but then again that's kids for you. I like how Montefiore captured Stalin, I liked the descriptions concerning the dresses and the ballet, there were twists and turns (Andrei and his secret, Serafina on the train) and there was emotion.
I think where the book fell down slightly was the fact that the story differed so much from the original starting point that in the end the murder(er) gets lost. To Montefiore's credit he took me along. I only realised once the book was all finished that I hadn’t really solved the murder and thought that maybe I had missed a part somewhere. Some in the group thought this was a plus point loving how the book fluidly veered off course and I can see where they are coming from but I did feel slight disappointment when I processed the book post read. Perhaps there should have been two books dealing with both points in more depth?
One member pointed out that the book was really just about love and in many ways it was – a sons love to his mother so much so that he will become an informer to keep them safe, a families love and the ties that bind, passionate all-consuming love, multicultural love, unrequited love, enduring love, love of literature, love of life. They were all in there. As was cruelty, secrecy, violence, fear and suppression, which in a way was the point of the book. Even during Stalin's rule (the long winter) love, in its many forms, survives.
The book scored highly despite, one of us giving up on it and a couple of 5s. It averaged 7 and a bit with a mode and median of 8.
Next book is In The Unlikely Event by Judi Blume
Question of the month - I had a big discussion in the meeting as to whether to keep a book once you have read it or not. I'm of the opinion that if a book is good it stays, with some books that made me cry or left little imprints on my heart being high up on my list of items to pull from a burning house (don’t worry my children are on there somewhere). The lady I was speaking to was of the opinion books should be passed on as they just fill up a load of space. Which camp do you fall into? #sharethelove #supergluetotheshelf
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