'An epic adventure story set against the most awful war in history. Ridiculously good'Dan SnowIf your children were forced to testify against you,what terrible secrets would they revealMoscow 1945. As Stalin and his courtiers celebrate victory over Hitler,shots ring out. On a nearby bridge,a teenage boy and girl lie dead.But this is no ordinary tragedy and these are no ordinary teenagers,but the children of Russia's most important leaders who attend the most exclusive school in Moscow.Is it murder A suicide pact Or a conspiracy against the stateDirected by Stalin himself,an investigation begins as children are arrested and forced to testify against their friends - and their parents. This terrifying witch-hunt soon unveils illicit love affairs and family secrets in a hidden world where the smallest mistakes will be punished with death.
Publisher: CornerstoneISBN: 9780099580331Number of pages: 496Weight: 341 gDimensions: 198 x 129 x 29 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
Gripping and cleverly plotted.Doomed love at the heart of a violent society is the heart of Montefiore's One Night in Winter... depicting the Kafkaesque labyrinth into which the victims stumble.A nail-biting drama...Montefiore writes brilliantly about love,timeless dilemmas,family devotion,teenage romance and the grand passion of adultery. Readers of Sebastian Faulks and Hilary Mantel will lap this up.A master storyteller when writing as a historian,Sebag Montefiore's fiction is just as compelling in this thriller set in Stalin's Moscow.A thrilling work of fiction. Montefiore weaves a tight,satisfying plot,delivering surprises to the last page. Stalin's chilling charisma is brilliantly realised. The novel's theme is Love:family love,youthful romance,adulterous passion. One Night in Winter is full of redemptive love and inner freedom.There were several first-class novels of historical intrigue in 2014; this finely written chronicle of privileged adults and children afraid for their lives in the treacherous upper reaches of Stalin's Russia in 1945 is in a league of its own.What happens when you cross Donna Tartt's The Secret History with one of the scariest times in Russian history You end up with Simon Sebag Montefiore's One Night in Winter ... Based in truth,this novel will keep you biting your nails until the very end.Snuggle up in front of the fire with a glass of red and this captivating story...a dark enigmatic thriller...the way he weaves fiction and history is a true gift.Seriously good fun... the Soviet march on Berlin,nightmarish drinking games at Stalin's countryhouse,the magnificence of the Bolshoi,interrogations,snow,sex and exile... lust adultery and romance. Eminently readable and strangely affecting.Not just a thumpingly good read,but also essentially a story of human fragility and passions,albeit taking place under the intimidating shadow of a massive Stalinist portico.Compulsively involving.Our fear for the children keeps up turning the pages... We follow the passions with sympathy... The knot of events tugs at a wide range of emotions rarely experienced outside an intimate tyranny.
Simon Sebag Montefiore
From warring dynasties to royal rabbits,Simon Sebag Montefiore has many strings to his literary bow. A historian,journalist,presenter,biographer and novelist he is best known for his contributions to history includingCatherine the Great and PotemkinandJerusalem: the Biographyas well as two biographies of Stalin:Stalin: The Court of the Red TsarandYoung Stalin(which won the Costa Biography Award). He is also the author of the acclaimed Moscow Trilogy of novelsSashenka,One Night in Winterand Red Sky at Noon as well asThe Royal Rabbits of Londonin collaboration with his wife,the author Santa Montefiore.
Visit the Simon Sebag Montefiore author page
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