Russian Winter

Enjoyed this book immensely. The author, Daphne Kalotay, masterfully told the story of Nina, a Russian ballerina, during Stalin's reign in Russia. I was taken behind the scenes of the ballet company and into the lives of those who mattered to Nina then and later in her life, when she had escaped the stranglehold of that regime to live in Boston.

The novel begins with Nina in a wheelchair ready to sell her jewels at an auction. These jewels bring together the auction house representative and a university prof. who has some relationship to Nina in an unexpected way. As well, Nina discovers her past was not what she thought it was. Highly recommend this story for a glimpse of what it meant to be an artist under the communist system, as dictated by Stalin. Romance, mystery and history.