Russian Winter

When Nina Revskaya, the once-great star of the Bolshoi Ballet, decides to auction her remarkable jewelry collection, her act begins the unraveling of a mystery involving events that changed her life a half-century ago. Kathleen Gati does a terrific job helping listeners follow Kalotay's complex plot, which transitions between the past and the present and involves many characters, both Russian and American. Listeners will enjoy the vocal versatility that allows Gati to create authentic-sounding Russian voices and a diversity of believable characters, from the very young to the elderly. Gati's narration of this captivating story will keep listeners engrossed as long-held secrets of family and friendship, love and betrayal are revealed. J.C.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

July 5, 2010
Kalotay makes a powerful debut with a novel about a Soviet-era prima ballerina, now retired and living in Boston, who confronts her past as she puts up for auction the jewelry she took with her when she left her husband and defected. Nina "The Butterfly" Revskaya, 79, reveals little about the past to curious auction house representative Drew Brooks as he peruses her cache of exquisite jewelry. Nina likewise rebuffs inquiries from foreign language professor Grigori Solodin, who has translated the works of Nina's poet husband and who offers an additional item for auction: the amber necklace he inherited from the parents he never knew. In extended flashbacks, Nina recalls intimate moments and misunderstandings with her husband, happy and disturbing times with his Jewish composer best friend, and encounters with her own childhood friend. Meanwhile, Drew and Grigori delve into the jewelry's provenance, hoping to learn as much about the jewels as their own pasts. While the Soviet-era romance can lean too much on melodrama, Kalotay turns out a mostly entrancing story thanks to a skillful depiction of artistic life behind the Iron Curtain and intriguing glimpses into auction house operations.