Lost roses : a novel

by Martha Hall Kelly

Paper Book, 2019

Status

Available

Series

Lilac Girls (2)

Genres

Publication

New York : Ballantine Books, [2019]

Description

"It is 1914 and the world has been on the brink of war so many times, many New Yorkers treat the subject with only passing interest. Eliza Ferriday is thrilled to be traveling to St. Petersburg with Sofya Streshnayva, a cousin of the Romanovs. The two met years ago one summer in Paris and became close confidantes. Now Eliza embarks on the trip of a lifetime, home with Sofya to see the splendors of Russia. But when Austria declares war on Serbia and Russia's Imperial dynasty begins to fall, Eliza escapes back to America, while Sofya and her family flee to their country estate. In need of domestic help, they hire the local fortuneteller's daughter, Varinka, unknowingly bringing intense danger into their household. On the other side of the Atlantic, Eliza is doing her part to help the White Russian families find safety as they escape the revolution. But when Sofya's letters suddenly stop coming she fears the worst for her best friend. From the turbulent streets of St. Petersburg to the avenues of Paris and the society of fallen Russian émigrés who live there, the lives of Eliza, Sofya, and Varinka will intersect in profound ways, taking readers on a breathtaking ride through a momentous time in history"--… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member sleahey

This historical fiction tells the intertwining stories of three strong women caught up in the turbulent times leading up to World War I and after. American Eliza and Russian Sofya are close friends and love traveling together. When WWI breaks out, Eliza retreats to her home in New York, while Sofya

returns to her estate in rural Russia. Both women are very wealthy, so the character Varinka and her lifestyle are quite a contrast. Varinka is hired to care for Sofya's young child and establishes a close bond with him. As cousins to the Romanovs, Sofya and her family are put under house arrest and worse, while Eliza is in New York trying to assist white Russian refugees. Varinka basically kidnaps Sofya's son, and Paris becomes the place where they all end up after much hardship. This novel is based on the true story of Eliza and her family, and paints a vivid, suspenseful portrait of lives that are both opposite and parallel. As a prequel to The Lilac Girls, Lost Roses stands alone very well.

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LibraryThing member lbswiener

The book dealt with Russian history during WWI from the point of view of an aristocrat and a peasant. Although none of the characters are particularly likable, it was nice that there was a pleasant conclusion to the book. A note by the author at the end of the book was interesting and informative

as to how the characters came about.

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LibraryThing member teachlz

Lindas Book Obsession Reviews “Lost Roses” by Martha Hall Kelly

Martha Hall Kelly, Author of “Lost Roses” has written an eloquent, poignant, intriguing, intense and captivating novel. In this prequel to
“Lilac Girls” where we met the heroine Carolyn Ferriday, we step back in time to be

introduced to her mother Eliza. “Lost Roses” follows some of the characters from St, Petersburg to Paris and New York, around World War One. The timeline for this story is around 1914 and goes to the past and future when it pertains to the events or characters in the story. The Genre for this story is Historical Fiction. The author describes her colorful cast of characters as resourceful, complex and complicated.

Eliza Ferreday gets the opportunity to travel to St. Petersburg with a good friend Sofya Steshnayva, a cousin of the Romonavs. The two women met in Paris years ago, and have become good friends. Sophia is hoping to show Eliza all the glorious sights of Russia.
When World War One breaks out, and there is revolution in Russia for power, Eliza goes back home to New York, and Sofya and her family go to the family estate. Sofya’s family hires a seamstress/ fortune-teller’s daughter Varinka as domestic help. Varinka has some deep dark secrets, and brings danger with her.

Eliza Ferreday, Sofya Steshnayva and Varinka are three strong willed determined women, especially during this time in history.

Eliza Ferreday helps the Russian women, some once royalty as they escape to America. They are known as the “White Russian Families.”They now are in poverty, having lost everything. Eliza becomes troubled when letters stop coming from Sofya. Varinka sees certain opportunity as devastation and troubling times set upon them.

I appreciate the author’s diligent research into this time period. I highly recommend this amazing and intriguing novel to those readers who appreciate Historical Fiction. I received an ARC from NetGalley for my honest review.

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LibraryThing member tamidale

I was so pleased to read some historical fiction that had me learning more about WWI and the hardships of the Russian people. It seems the first World War is often overshadowed by the second World War, so it was interesting to read some history that I am not that enlightened about.

The story begins

just prior to the start of the war and the fall of Russia’s Imperial dynasty. Readers follow the lives of three women and their unique experiences throughout the war.

Eliza Ferriday, a New Yorker who has become close friends with Sofya Streshnayva, becomes alarmed when she no receives any letters from her. Sofya, being a cousin to the Romanov family is in danger because of the political fallout. Through Eliza’s search to find Sofya, she begins to help other Russian women who have managed to escape to the United States.

In the meantime, Sofya has hired a young peasant girl to help watch after her child. Varinka, who worked in the family household, had some dangerous connections and also stood to benefit from the fall of the Imperial dynasty.

From New York, to St. Petersburg, to France, readers will follow the lives of these women as they struggle to survive the fallout of the war.

This is a very interesting story and I just may have enjoyed it more than Martha Hall Kelly’s first novel. I was pleased to learn that she is at work on a third novel that will cover the Civil War era. I’ll look forward to the opportunity to read that one as well.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for allowing me to read an advance copy and give my honest review.

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LibraryThing member Darcia

I absolutely loved Lilac Girls, and I was excited to receive an advance copy of Lost Roses. This is being marketed as a prequel of sorts to Lilac Girls, but the thread between the two is minor and it's not necessary to read one in order to enjoy the other.

Admittedly, my expectations for this one

were pretty high. I wish I could say I loved it as much as Lilac Girls, but I didn't.

The story is told via three women's viewpoints. We have Eliza, who is a wealthy American; Sophya, who is a wealthy Russian aristocrat; and Varinka, who is a young Russian peasant. While I immediately felt for Varinka and found her part compelling, I had trouble finding that same empathy with Sophya and Eliza. Both are pampered, wealthy ladies who whine about what the war might do to their social standing. In fact, Sophya and Eliza are largely interchangeable as far as their personalities. It took me some time to distinguish the two.

The pace of the story is quite slow. There are beautiful descriptions of the cities and clothing and such, but only small bursts of action within what amounts to a lot of drama. The last quarter of the book contains the bulk of the action and emotion.

Overall, Lost Roses is well written and well researched, but I just didn't connect with it.

*I received an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.*

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LibraryThing member fredreeca

Eliza is visiting Sophya’s family in Russia. Then the imperial dyansty starts to crumble. Eliza makes it home but Sophya and her family are trapped. They make it to their country estate. This does not offer the safety they expect.

Sofya’s life during the revolution was almost too dreadful to

take. I don’t want to give anything away…so you must read this to find out. Then there is Varinka. She has her own calamity. And you don’t realize how deep her trauma is until the end of the book. She is a tragedy walking. And Eliza. She is the savior in this story. She and Sofya are friends and Eliza is determined to find her.

Give me a book about the Russian revolution and I am riveted. This one did not disappoint. However, I did feel it is a little too long. It also has a good many characters to keep up with. However, each character has their own story. I just couldn’t help my heart breaking over what these people went through. No author can take you to the depths of your feelings like Martha Hall Kelly.

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LibraryThing member JanaRose1

This is a prequel to Lilac Girls. The book follows Eliza, a U.S. socialite, Sofya, a cousin to the Russian Tsar, and Varinka, a Russian peasant. The Russia revolution threatens Sofya's way of life, as red soldiers overrun their home and hold them prisoner. Varinka, once a nanny for Sofya, steals

the baby, claiming it as her own. Back home, Eliza does everything she can to help the white Russian's who have fled to the United States, all the while searching for news of Sofya.

This was a well written, well paced and engaging book. I thought it was fascinating to read about the fall of Russia from both the red and white perspective. I haven't read many books, outside of those focusing on the Tsar and his family, about how the revolution impacted the noble class. Overall, well worth picking up.

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LibraryThing member Alphawoman

Devoured this book.

Funny how things connect. Reading the Louise Bryant book several weeks ago about the Russian revolution and embracing of communism. How it was all so romantic and thrilling and how America could use a healthy dose of comrade-ism.

The treatment of the upper class, deserved or not,

was horrendous.

And some of the story was a trifle far fetched yet I was enthralled. She is a magnificent story teller!

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LibraryThing member susan0316

This fantastic new book is a prequel to The Lilac Girls. It features Caroline's mother, Eliza during the time period of WWI and the Russian revolution. As with the Lilac Girls, this book features strong women who are working and sacrificing to make the world a better place during a difficult time

in world history. (Note - you don't need to read The Lilac Girls before you read Lost Roses. However, Lilac Girls is such a fantastic book that you need to make sure that you read it soon.)

Eliza is a happily married very wealthy woman who lives with her husband Henry and her daughter in Caroline in New York. She loves to travel and as the book begins is planning a trip to St. Petersburg to accompany her best friend Sofya home from her visit to the US. The year is 1914 and when WWI escalates and the Romanov empire in Russia is beginning to collapse, Eliza returns safely home. Sofya and her family think that they will remain safe in Russia because they are cousins of the Romanov's but the uprising of the poor in Russia also includes the end of the rich upper class - no matter who they are. When Eiza quits getting mail from Sofya, she fears the worst for her friend.

These two women started their lives as very rich and pampered people but still have empathy for what is going on in the world. Both of them are put into difficult situations and change their lives to work for those who have less than they do. At a time in history that is very difficult, they both show their strength in the decisions they make and the battles they fight. I loved and admired both of these strong women and highly recommend this novel.

Thanks to net galley for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own

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LibraryThing member wagner.sarah35

I enjoyed this novel, which moves between America, Russia, and Paris over the course of World War I and the Russian Revolution. Eliza, a wealthy American socialite (and mother of Caroline of Lilac Girls), befriends a Russian aristocratic family visiting the United States before the war. After they

return home, her continued correspondence with them leaves her concerned about the worsening situation in Russia. Eliza's friend Sofya and her family are taken prisoner in their own home and Sofya is separated from her young son. As war and revolution make life dangerous, both Sofya and Eliza slowly make their way to Paris, where many refugees gather and they can hope to be reunited. Overall, a good book, but I think I may have had too high of expectations from Lilac Girls, which I think was a stronger story.

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LibraryThing member nancyadair

Lost Roses by Martha Hall Kelly is the prequel to her first novel The Lilac Girls. The Lilac Girls tells the story of Polish girls sent to Ravensbruck where the Nazis perform disfiguring operations on their legs. After the war, American socialite Caroline Ferriday takes up their cause and brings

them to New York City for corrective surgery.

In this new book, Kelly turns her attention to Caroline's mother Eliza who was friends with Russian aristocrats, cousins of the Romanovs. Like others of their class, they lead a decadent and luxurious life. Kelly draws the daughters and their father to be sympathetic, their stepmother less so. With the toppling of the Tsar and the uprising against the aristocrats, the family finds themselves at the mercy of the Reds. The brutality of the Reds is depicted through two former prisoners who hold the family hostage.

Any 'White Russians' who could fled Russia. Meeting some of these refugee women, Eliza had compassion and organized to find them homes and employment.

The focus is on one of the daughter's search for her son who was both rescued and separated from her during the uprising and the peasant girl who keeps him. It allows us to see two sides of the revolution while engaging our sympathy.

Kelly fell in love with the Ferriday family while researching her first book. She is writing a second prequel about the family set during the Civil War. This book adds to the Ferriday family's history.

The novel is the May Barnes and Noble Book Club selection. I purchased a copy

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LibraryThing member kheders

Very interesting book related to WWI and relationship developed between american and russian families. Easy to read, kept my attention.

LibraryThing member bookwyrmm

Interesting story during an interesting time, but unfortunately, I only cared about the characters in very specific settings and situations.

LibraryThing member mplantenga11

A good prequel to Lilac Girls. I really enjoy having the three different POVs (Eliza, Sofya, and Varinka) because it shows three unique views of the same situation. I liked Lilac Girls a little better than this one, but I think it's mostly because I enjoy WW2-era books more than WW1. I did enjoy

learning more about the Russian Revolution and thought it gave good insight to the things that happened during that time. I look forward to reading Martha Hall Kelly's next story that will look at the life of the Woolsey women during the Civil War.

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LibraryThing member LoriKBoyd

Lilac Girls is one of my favorite books. I was hoping that Lost Roses would not let me down, and for me, it did not!

This story is a Prequel to Lilac Girls and follows Caroline Ferriday’s (a main character in LG) mother Eliza and her close friend Sofya, a niece of the Romanov family) and a

Russian peasant, Varinka as they navigate the Russian revolution.

Story is told in all three voices....setting the tone of strong women, all needing to do what they must to survive. Eliza, who learned from her Mother that being an aristocrat means using your money and name to help those less fortunate, says goodbye to her friend, Sofya in Russia only to arrive home and lose all contact with her. She helps organize the American Central Committee for Russian Relief. Sofya, who is Russian nobility, loses everything to the Bolsheviks. Varinka, who is the daughter of a peasant fortune teller, has a completely different story to tell.

I devoured this story, I loved it .... even devouring the Author’s Note and acknowledgements. I CANNOT wait for the prequel to Lost Roses, to be set during the Civil War!

Thanks to the Author, Ballantine Books and NetGalley for this ARC. Opinion is mine alone.

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LibraryThing member gypsysmom

I read and very much enjoyed The Lilac Girls by this author. So when I heard that she had written another historical novel which featured the mother of one of the characters in The Lilac Girls I was excited to read it. And it did not disappoint. Martha Hall Kelly has deftly woven the story of

American heiress Eliza with that of Sofya a White Russian related to the Tsar and of Varenka a peasant who goes to work for Sofya before the Russian Revolution. Although the latter two are fictional characters Kelly has based them on what is known about the White Russian émigré experience and the life of peasants in Russia under the Tsar.
Eliza Faraday travelled the world with her husband and she met Sofya in Paris which many aristocratic Russians treated as a second home. Sofya and her husband came to visit the Faradays in New York and Sofya gave birth to her son Max there. When they returned home Eliza travelled with them and spent some time with the couple and her parents and her sister on their country estate near St. Petersburg. Eliza could see how unsettled the country was and she asked Sofya to come back to America with her but the Stepanoviches did not think there was any danger. When World War I started Sofya’s husband joined his military unit to fight and his wife and young son remained on the estate. Varenka lived with her widowed mother and her father’s assistant in a small house near the estate. Varenka’s mother had a reputation as a fortune teller so one night Sofya’s stepmother came for a reading. Varenka’s mother foresaw something horrible in the cards and would not reveal it but she did ask if Varenka could have a job on the estate. Somewhat against the stepmother’s wishes Varenka became Max’s nursemaid and she was in the nursery with him when the local rabble rousers came to take over the estate. They threw all the grownups into a small shed but Varenka took Max back to her mother’s cabin. As time went on she grew to care for Max as if he was her own child. Her father’s former apprentice became an important man in the Bolshevik government and he took Varenka and Max and her mother to Paris when he was posted there. Sofya managed to escape but the rest of her family had been tortured and killed. Sofya went to Paris to reclaim Max. Meanwhile Eliza was frantic with worry about Sofya and after the war finished she went to Paris. All three women end up in Paris in 1919. The situation for the White Russian émigrés was desperate even after they left Russia as the Bolshevik government was trying to bring them back to Russia to stand trial and some of them were just killed outright. Against this backdrop Sofya tries to earn money and find her son and just survive.
I have a few quibbles with the book. Despite a significant portion of the book taking place during 1919 there is never one mention of anyone being sick or dying of the Spanish flu. Perhaps the author felt that would have led to a longer story but it just feels wrong to me that nothing was said about it. Another problem I have with it is that Sofya’s survival seems to be just too good to be true. And not only did she survive but she managed to preserve a rose that had come from Eliza’s home to Russia and then back to Paris. I am just a bit incredulous that a woman on the run for months would be able to preserve it. But then what would the book have been called if she hadn’t?

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LibraryThing member bell7

The year is 1914, and for Eliza Ferriday the war hits home while she worries about her friend, Sofya Streshnayva, a Russian woman who is cousin to the tsar and whose family is in danger because of the unrest. Varinka, a young peasant girl, lives with her mother and a young caretaker named Taras,

struggling with events out of her control and longing for escape from her situation.

The narrative switches from Eliza, Sofya, and Varinka through most of the story, with a few appearances by Sofya's sister, Luba, much like Kelly had done to very good effect in Lilac Girls. Here it felt a little more forced, and I got annoyed when chapters ended on a cliffhanger and I had to go back to remember what was going on in that narrative when events started abruptly again three chapters later. The historical element fell to the background while the focus of the narrative was on Sofya's attempt to escape and be reunited with friends and family. I was frustrated by this, finding Varinka's choices inexplicable at times and only serving to prolong the narrative, while at the same time chance encounters brought characters together suddenly to keep things moving. It ended up falling in that uncomfortable middle ground where I was enjoying it enough to continue reading and wanting to know what happened, but nitpicking all the while.

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LibraryThing member RobertaLea

interesting historical fiction based on real people and events .

Fewer