The Last Russian Doll

I have been looking forward to the publication of this novel for several weeks. It is an epic story about three generations of Russian women, from the 1917 Communist Revolution to the final days of the Soviet Union.  The Last Russian Doll is a mesmerizing story that is going to stick with me for a long time.

The publisher's summary:

In a faraway kingdom, in a long-ago land...
 
...a young girl lived happily in Moscow with her family: a sister, a father, and an eccentric mother who liked to tell fairy tales and collect porcelain dolls. 
 
One summer night, everything changed, and all that remained of that family were the girl and her mother.
 
Now, a decade later and studying at Oxford University, Rosie has an English name, a loving fiancé, and a promising future, but all she wants is to understand--and bury--the past. After her mother dies, Rosie returns to Russia, armed with little more than her mother’s strange folklore--and a single key.
 
What she uncovers is a devastating family history that spans the 1917 Revolution, the siege of Leningrad, Stalin’s purges, and beyond.
 
At the heart of this saga stands a young noblewoman, Tonya, as pretty as a porcelain doll, whose actions—and love for an idealistic man—will set off a sweeping story that reverberates across the century....

OMG! This was such a captivating read. It's going to be in my top ten books of the year; the third book I have read this year that will most likely be on that list. I learned alot about Russian history during the twentieth century and how that history affected common people. The reader gets to see how the economy tumbled after the czar's abdication, during the Russian Revolution, and the end of the Soviet Union. I was surprised at how little people helped out their neighbors and how they instinctively knew to not talk about their families even in the beginning of the Revolution. This begs the question: what happened before the twentieth century that caused the Russians to not trust their neighbors?

As for Rosie and Tonya, their characters were sympathetic enough for me to worry about them as I read. Rosie has memories of her early years living in Russia that frighten her. She remembers a man shooting her sister and father in their home but does not remember much about the rest of the family's flight to England. When an opportunity arises that allows her to travel to Russian as a research assistant, she takes it even though she is given up a promising career and relationship. When she arrives in Russia, she feels like she is at home. The fairy tales that her mother told her seem to be more and more real. Rosie tries to determine what part of these fairy tales are truth and what part is fiction. They confuse her take on reality. Tonya was the wife of a government employee when the Russian Revolution began but her husband bores her. When she sees a man publicly speaking about the need for revolution she is attracted to him and they soon begin a rather risky affair. Theirs is a love affair for the ages, lasting until the end of their lives. However, the reader does not know this because they were separated frequently by the throes of history. Tonya's story is the main storyline of the book.

Each section of the book began with a short fairy tale supposedly written by Tonya. As I was reading I wondered if these were actual Russian fairy tales. The Acknowledgment at the end of the book tells us that the author made them all up for this novel. They were so good that I think author Kristen Loetsch should write a children's book of fairy tales. Interspersed with the fairy tales are the porcelain dolls that several characters collect and which hold the key to the family's history.

The Last Russian Doll is simply magnificent.  It is a must read. 5 out of 5 stars.