The Winter Palace: A Novel of Catherine the Great

Fiction. Literature. Historical Fiction. HTML:From award-winning author Eva Stachniak comes this passionate novel that tells the epic story of Catherine the Great�s improbable rise to power�as seen through the ever-watchful eyes of an all-but-invisible servant close to the throne.   Her name is Barbara�in Russian, Varvara. Nimble-witted and attentive, she�s allowed into the employ of the Empress Elizabeth, amid the glitter and cruelty of the world�s most eminent court. Under the tutelage of Count Bestuzhev, Chancellor and spymaster, Varvara will be educated in skills from lock picking to lovemaking, learning above all else to listen�and to wait for opportunity. That opportunity arrives in a slender young princess from Zerbst named Sophie, a playful teenager destined to become the indomitable Catherine the Great. Sophie�s destiny at court is to marry the Empress�s nephew, but she has loftier, more dangerous ambitions. What Sophie needs is an insider at court, a loyal pair of eyes and ears who knows the traps, the conspiracies, and the treacheries that surround her. Varvara will become Sophie�s confidante�and together the two young women will rise to the pinnacle of absolute power.   �A majestic and splendidly written tale of pride, passion, intrigue, and deceit that is brought alive from the first page to the last.��Rosalind Laker �At the same time baroque and intimate, worldly and domestic, wildly strange and soulfully familiar, The Winter Palace offers a flickering glimpse of history through the gauze of deft entertainment.��The Washington Post   �A thrilling point of view . . . Readers are treated to a firsthand account of the young princess�s slow ascent to the throne, a path deliciously strewn with discarded lovers and sanguine court intrigues.��Minneapolis Star-Tribune   �[A] brilliant, bold historical novel . . . This superb biographical epic proves the Tudors don�t have a monopoly on marital scandal, royal intrigue, or feminine triumph.��Booklist (starred review).… (more)