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RUSSIANUK: BOOKS


Princess Olga – A Wild and Barefoot Romanov by HH Princess Olga Romanoff Due for Publication October 2017


No, this certainly isn’t just another erudite book about the Romanovs.


Princess Olga – A Wild and Barefoot Romanov is very much a human interest story, told with humour by a down to earth woman struggling to make ends meet in the 21st century. The upkeep of her historical childhood home Provender House, in the depth of the English countryside, is indeed a con- stant daily battle for this modern-day princess. The feisty owner of the house, Princess Olga Romanoff, is the daughter of the eldest nephew of Tsar Nicholas II, exe- cuted with his family by the Bolsheviks in 1918, the tragedy that put an end to 300 years of Romanov dynasty. She is the fourth and youngest child of the late Prince Andrei Alexandrovich of Russia, born in the Winter Palace in St Petersburg in 1897, and the only child by his second wife Nadine Sylvia McDougall, from the distinguished Scottish family that founded the famous McDougall Flour.


The rambling 30 room Provender House, now open to the public, has indeed been witness to some extraor- dinary tales - many of them hitherto untold - handed down by Princess Olga’s Romanov father, who’d changed the spelling of the family name, as did most of the family in exile, to escape Stalin’s henchmen. ‘Pa’ fled turbulent Russia in 1918 together with his first wife, his mother Grand Duchess Xenia, sister of the tsar, and his grandmother Her Imperial Highness Maria Fyodorovna. The fabled Romanov jewels that they were able to smuggle out had to be sold and the exiled family lived for some time at various grace-and-favour


homes at Windsor and Hampton Court. The book is peppered with amusing anecdotes relating to the Romanov cousins, members of the British Royal Family. The reader will also have a glimpse of the Princess’s cosseted childhood. She was looked after by a number of nannies and then privately educated at home for fear of mixing with ordinary local chil- dren. “My mother was a frightful snob” says Princess Olga, who rebelled, and who still laughs about one of her moth- er’s ambitions which was to marry her off to Prince Charles. It was indeed an unusual upbringing with a snobbish and strict mother of Scottish and Scandinavian background, and a more relaxed and indulgent Romanov father whose occupation was stated as Prince of Russia on Olga’s birth certificate. Provender House is crammed full of fascinating Romanov memorabilia - there for visitors to see. www.provenderhouse.co.uk www.shepheard-walwyn.co.uk


Mia Sawan thinks her time with The Firm is behind her. She now spends her days selling art to a very wealthy clientele. But when a Christian banker in Beirut is crucified and a 10-year-old girl in Azerbaijan is kid- napped, Mia finds herself once again at the head of a dangerous investiga- tion. What is the connection between the two? And will she be able to find the missing girl before it’s too late? Racing against the clock and unsure of her real enemy, Mia must rely on her own incredible instincts, a trust- ed mentor and a notorious warlord, until she ultimately uncovers a con- spiracy far larger and darker than she could have ever imagined. Devil’s Playground is a chilling, explosive and often heartrending tale of human trafficking, violent cartels, the dark side of religion and the power of redemption.


Devil’s Playground By Dylan Kidson A fast-paced Middle Eastern thriller, ripped from today’s headlines, with a kick-ass female investigator unlike any you’ve ever encountered


Dylan Kidson is an advertising copy- writer living in Dubai. Originally from Cape Town he has also lived in London and Oxford and travels extensively.


www.dylankidson.com 54 RUSSIANUK 020 8445 6465 WWW.RUSSIANUK.COM


The Soviet Mind. Russian Culture under Communism by Isaiah Berlin


Edited by Henry Hardy Foreword by Strobe Talbott


George Kennan, the architect of US policy toward the Soviet Union, called Isaiah Berlin “the patron saint among the commentators on the Russian scene.” In The Soviet Mind, Berlin proves himself fully worthy of that accolade. Although the essays in this book were originally written to explore the tensions between Soviet communism and Russian culture, the think- ing about the Russian mind that emerges is as relevant today under Putin’s post-com- munist Russia as it was when this book first appeared more than a decade ago. This Brookings Classic brings together Berlin’s writings about the Soviet Union. Among the highlights are accounts of Berlin’s meetings with the Russian writers in the aftermath of the war; a cele- brated memorandum he wrote for the British Foreign Office in 1945 about the state of the arts under Stalin; Berlin’s account of Stalin’s manipula- tive “artificial dialectic”; por- traits of Pasternak and poet Osip Mandelshtam; Berlin’s survey of Russian culture based on a visit in 1956; and a postscript reflecting on the fall of the Berlin Wall and other events in 1989. Isaiah Berlin (1909–97) was a Russian-born British philoso- pher, educator and intellectual historian, famed for his intel-


Contact: Christine Swedowsky, 212-782-8567, cswed


lectual brilliance but also for his ability to explain complex ideas in a remarkably accessi- ble style. He taught philosophy and social and political theory for most of his life at Oxford University, where he was the founding president of Wolfson College.


Penguin Random House Announces Lucky Bo 2017 One World, One B


A heart-wrenching novel that gives voice to two mothers: a and an Indian-American wife whose love for one lucky boy w


Readers of Meg Wolitzer, Junot Diaz, Chimamanda Ngozi Adi the most important and moving book of 2017. Penguin Rando this book as the lead title of Spring 2017, both for its emotion button issues of immigration.


Henry Hardy is a fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford University. He is one of Isaiah Berlin’s literary trustees and has edited a number of other collec- tions of Berlin’s essays. Strobe Talbott is president of the Brookings Institution. Talbott, whose career spans jour- nalism, government service, and academe, is an expert on U.S. foreign policy, with specialties on Europe, Russia, South Asia, and nuclear arms control.


This reissue is a Brookings Classic, a series of republished books for readers to revisit or discover previous, notable works by the Brookings Institution Press. www.brookings.edu


Lucky Boy by Shanthi Sekaran


A heart-wrenching novel that gives voice to two mothers: a young undocumented Mexican woman and an Indian-American wife whose love for one lucky boy will bind their fates together. Readers of Meg Wolitzer, Junot Diaz, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, and Jhumpa Lahiri will find Lucky Boy


Emotional Journey Solimar Castro-Valdez is eighteen when the US/Mexican border. Weeks later sh Berkeley, CA, dazed by first love found uncertainty of new motherhood and h you have just one precious possession, motherhood becomes her lifeline, and Kavya Reddy, a mostly contented chef overwhelmed by the unexpected desir she can't get pregnant, her longing for collision course with Soli, when she is d Kavya's care. As Kavya learns to be a m her heart wrapped around someone e


the most important and mov- ing book of 2017. Penguin Random House international team has picked this book as the lead title of Spring 2017, both for its emotional impact and unusual look at the hot button issues of immigration.


True Voices and Deeply Moving Hot-Button Issues Themes of immigration (in the headlines everyday), adoptio are brought to vivid life. Sekaran was inspired by true tales o their children when forced into detention centers or deport detention center) give deep authenticity to Soli's voice. Seka Indian-American mother makes Kavya's sections ring with tr


True Voices and Deeply Moving Hot-Button Issues Themes of immigration (in the headlines everyday), adoption, infertility, mother- hood, and minority life are brought to vivid life. Sekaran was inspired by true tales of undocumented immigrant mothers losing their children when forced into detention centers or deported. Her research (visiting Mexico and a detention center) give deep authenticity to Soli's voice. Sekaran's own experi- ence as a first generation Indian-American mother makes Kavya's sections ring with truth.


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