Lost Roses

February 18, 2019
How Caroline Ferriday, the real-life character featured in Kelly’s Lilac Girls, was inspired to become an advocate for Polish refugees who survived WWII comes to light in this lively, well-researched prequel in which she appears as a child. Here the story focuses on her mother, Eliza, who set an example for her daughter by being a champion for Russian nobility brutalized during WWI. Just as the author focussed on three strong women surviving a war in her previous novel, she does the same here: in addition to Eliza, there is her aristocrat friend Sofya Streshnayva (cousin to the tsar) and a Russian peasant girl, Varinka. The author follows the trajectory of their lives from 1914 through WWI and then the Russian Revolution and its aftermath with page-tuning brio. Interweaving three story lines (Varinka ends up working for the Streshnayva household) where all three are emotionally and physically put to the test, the author depicts Eliza’s upper-class life in America and how, despite personal loss, she throws herself into helping Russian emigres; Sofya’s tragic circumstances when a rowdy, dangerous mob takes over the family’s country home; and Varinka’s struggles as a peasant girl at the mercy of a man who is both abusive and protective toward her. Some story lines strain credibility (coincidences and melodramatic cliffhangers abound) or are questionable (the prurient element involved with Varinka’s protector/abuser falls flat). Nevertheless, Kelly memorably portrays three indomitable women who triumph over hardships and successfully brings a complex and turbulent time in history to life.

Each of the narrators delivers this story of love and friendship from an individual character's perspective. The novel involves the Russian Revolution of 1914-1917 and the upper classes of New York during that period. Tavia Gilbert adopts a passionate, sometimes strident, voice for Eliza Ferriday, New York socialite and protector of White Russian emigr�s. Kathleen Gati uses a soft, sophisticated tone to portray Sofya Streshnayva, cousin to the czar, while her younger sister, Luba, depicted by Catherine Taber, has a young, hopeful voice. In contrast, Russian peasant Varinka is portrayed in harsh consonants and vowels by Karissa Vacker. Flawless, passionate narrations sweep listeners into the turmoil of war, revolution, and dislocation. M.B.K. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award � AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine