Research was the oxygen in the water of this novel. I thank the eminent Russian historians Alexander Rabinowitch and Arch Getty, social historian Choi Chatterjee, and art historian John Bowlt for their precious help, as well as the H-Russia Listserv, and teacher and translator Natalya Pollack. I thank the USC libraries for the richness of their collection and my access to it, and Reed College, whose 2007 alumni trip under the guidance of Dr. Rosengrant informed so many aspects of this work.
Novelists not only require the world, they also require retreat from the world, and I have found many a kind harbor for myself and my crates of binders and books. Many thanks to those who offered me shelter and the gift of time—Eduardo Santiago and Mark Davis of Idyllwild, California; David Lewis and Liz Sandoval of Portland, Oregon; Brett Hall Jones, Louis Jones, and the Hall family of Squaw Valley, California; Andrew Tonkovich and Lisa Alvarez of Modjeska Canyon, California; Jan Rabson and Cindy Akers of Salt Spring Island, British Columbia; Wendy Goldstein and Sharon Smith of Manitou Springs, Colorado; Sally Wright of Idyllwild, California; and the Helen R. Whiteley Fellowship, University of Washington Friday Harbor Laboratories, San Juan Island, Washington.
Though they live only in my heart now, I would like to thank my father, Vernon Fitch, who long ago put Dostoyevsky into my restless hands, leading me into a lifelong love of Russia, and my mother, Alma Fitch, who taught me that girls can do anything.
Most of all, I want to thank my most generous husband, Andrew John Nicholls, who stuck with me throughout this long labor, read so many drafts, calmed so many storms, cheered me when it looked bad, and encouraged me to celebrate prematurely whenever possible. “If you don’t celebrate prematurely,” he says, “you’ll never taste champagne.” I love you more than I can say.
Discover More from Janet Fitch
For an overview of the books that shaped my understanding of the Revolution and Marina’s world, please visit janetfitchwrites.com.
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About the Author
Janet Fitch’s first novel, White Oleander, a #1 bestseller and Oprah’s Book Club selection, has been translated into twenty-eight languages and was made into a feature film. Her most recent novel, Paint It Black, hit bestseller lists across the country and has also been made into a film. She lives with her husband in Los Angeles. She is currently working on the second part of Marina’s story.
Copyright
THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, institutions, or locales is entirely coincidental and not intended by the author.
Copyright © 2017 by Janet Fitch
Cover design by Faceout Studio
Cover photographs: Russian church © Allister Clark/Arcangel; woman © Miguel Sobreira
Author photograph by Cat Gwynn
Cover copyright © 2017 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
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All poetry from the Russian, including the epigraph selection from Anna Akhmatova’s Northern Elegies and Marina Tsvetaeva’s “We shall not escape Hell,” is translated by Boris Dralyuk, except for the lines from Mikhail Lermontov’s “A Prophecy,” which is translated by Anatoly Lieberman. Used by permission.
ISBN 978-0-316-12577-2
E3-20171005-NF-DA