The Last Russian Doll

The Last Russian Doll is a triumphant addition to the grand Russian novel tradition. Populated with a glittering and complex cast, the saga is propelled by stories nestled within stories, sometimes shared, sometimes concealed, from mothers and daughters, grandmothers and granddaughters.

This dual timeline novel spans the Russian Revolution, the Soviet Era, and the early days of glasnost and Perestroika. In the 1990s timeline, we follow the story of Rosie, a successful Oxford student who fled Moscow as a child with her mother after the horrific murder of her father and sister. Following her mother’s death at the beginning of the novel, Rosie returns to Russia hoping to lay to rest the ghosts of her past and understand the tragedy that marred her childhood. The second timeline starts in 1916 St. Petersburg, where we meet Antonina, wife of a Russian aristocrat who bristles at the confines of the Russian bourgeoisie. Antonina soon falls for the idealistic and charming Bolshevik Valentin Andreyev, sparking a love that endures decades of conflict and loss.

Both propulsive and engaging, I didn’t know whether to speed up to find out what happened next, or slow down and savor the artful prose and deft characterization. By the end, no one is left entirely innocent, and none are unscathed in this sweeping love story riddled with betrayal and the far-reaching consequences of private jealousies in times of public upheaval. I loved this book and suspect you will too!

In a faraway kingdom, in a long-ago land . . .

. . . a young girl lived happily in Moscow with her family: a sister, a father, and an eccentric mother who liked to tell fairy tales and collect porcelain dolls.

One summer night, everything changed, and all that remained of that family were the girl and her mother.

Now, a decade later and studying at Oxford University, Rosie has an English name, a loving fiancé, and a promising future, but all she wants is to understand—and bury—the past. After her mother dies, Rosie returns to Russia, armed with little more than her mother’s strange folklore—and a single key.

What she uncovers is a devastating family history that spans the 1917 Revolution, the siege of Leningrad, Stalin’s purges, and beyond.

At the heart of this saga stands a young noblewoman, Tonya, as pretty as a porcelain doll, whose actions—and love for an idealistic man—will set off a sweeping story that reverberates across the century . . .