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Jane Marlow (1)

Autore di Who Is to Blame?: A Russian Riddle

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2 opere 25 membri 6 recensioni

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It’s the mid 1800s in Russia when Tsar Nocholas I is on his throne. The vast countryside is living on agriculture and kettles. During those times, the nobility was owning all the land, and the serfs that were living on their property would cultivate grain and other crop for the nobleman and for their families as well. The serfs would belong to the noble family and in turn the noble family would be responsible for their prosperity and good health. The serfs were peasants with hardly enough education to go by. The whole family would work the land and animals if any and they would live by the preaching of the Church.

Two serfs, Elizaveta and Feodor are friends since childhood. The one’s parents are the godparents of the other, which in the eyes of the Church makes them siblings. So, falling in love with each other a a bog sin, but this is what happens and they cannot control it. They are not allowed to celebrate their love though, because it is forbidden. So they are separated, but they never forget each other. Elizaveta, as a woman, has so little freedom to rule her life. She must obey her husband, provide him with children, never refuse his bed, work the land, have no possessions and no opinion. She is the main voice of the book, so we get to see first handed what all the above really mean. Life doesn’t do justice to her, as it didn’t do for many other women of her era and many other serfs as well. She is forced into an unwanted married, never really being asked for her concession to what would be the rest of her life. Her husband is a man that feels he has to reform her when she does something he doesn’t agree with. He is always right and according to the rules of the time, he has every right to do it.

The other voice of the book is that of Count Maximov, the nobleman of the estate. He has a big family but he feels lonely. His wife, Sophia was not been herself after the loss of a child. He just wants his wife back, but he only get’s glimpses of her. These are the worst, because he is reminded of the old times, and their relationship in the past and that is then taken from him so abruptly when Sophia returns to her new self. His other big issue is with his son Anton, who has a weird relationship with his mother. And as he grows up he becomes more of a pain for his father, as he is not even the slightest of responsible person as his brother is. He always creates problems and difficult situations and he is often in a need of help and support. The last of Count Maximov’s problems is the emancipation of the serfs that comes in when Tsar Alexander takes the reins of the country. This becomes a problem for both the Count and the serfs.

The story is a wonderful depiction of the country at those years. It gives a very clear picture of the struggles people would have at the time, as well as how every day life was. This is how most of the countries in Europe where during those times and Russia was only following Europe’s example when freeing the serfs. However, the perspective the people had in the 19th century was very much in accordance to the preaching of the Church and social standards.

Overall, this was a wonderful story and I so blame myself for not having read it earlier!

I received a complimentary ecopy from the publisher via NetGalley. The views expressed are my personal and honest opinion.
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GeorgiaKo | 5 altre recensioni | Dec 1, 2020 |
The author gets a real feel for the times. This era of history, 1860s rural Russia, is a complete mystery to me so exploring its diametrically opposed lifestyles was a shock to me. The reader senses how bleak it was as a peasant in serfdom-era Russia and how plush it was as an aristocrat. Serving as small kingdom tyrants in essence, landowners could even dictate things as personal as marriages for their people.

Yet, given the era this book takes place in, we get a sense of the balance of power shifting. As the tsar contemplates freeing the serfs from land bondage, the aristocrats start to feel the pinch of their fortunes slipping away. The peasants also start to feel their bargaining power as they contemplate a future of choice and uncertainty. As they’re freed from the continuing cycle of farming and the seasons, they start to wonder what will happen to them and what their choices are.

In amongst all that, we get an intimate view into these two worlds as well. Stepan’s world of wealth and landowner responsibility contrasts sharply with Elizaveta’s miserable world. We do get a sense of how much Stepan feels that responsibility as it contrasts sharply with his son, Anton, whom shows no interest in manor management nor anything else but vodka, easy money, peasant girl molestation, and gambling.

In the later half, we do show some growth for Anton. He feels his age as the years go on, shows some responsibility towards an illegitimate daughter, and vague interest in land management later in life. Anton’s journey is actually probably one of my favorite parts of the book. I started out really hating him, especially after that first molestation scene. Yet, towards the end, I could see a maturity and sense of wanting to right past wrongs in him. I started to like him as the book closed.

Elizaveta’s journey was just the opposite. She started out young and full of hope, in love with a childhood friend and certain their future together could be arranged despite religious and societal strictures against it. However, in steps Stepan and his dictates which throws Elizaveta’s dreams and life down the drain. Once her downward spiral starts, there’s no end in sight.

Once Elizaveta's life takes that dark turn, it stays dark all the way to the end. While she does get some resolution and victory over one odious antagonist, there's still no HAE here. So bear that in mind when reading her story, as there will be light at the end of the tunnel. Only a bitter satisfaction over one minor dark victory with a lifetime still ahead full of hardship and mistrust.

So ultimately, the author shows her true skills in these two individual's journeys. We get a look into their minds and hearts as they grow and change with the times. While happiness and life goal achievements aren't in the cards, the reader is still taken on an incredible journey of character change and growth with the advancement of time.

The one area of this book that didn't flow as well as the pacing. I felt like the author was trying to force too many years into too few pages. Within less than 300 pages, 25 years of events and complex Russian history is crammed along with examinations on how they affect the various characters involved. Add that to exploring three different character story arcs and you've got too much information squeezed into too little a space. I felt like there were times I didn't get to know Stepan, Anton, and Elizaveta as much as I wanted to.

With that in mind, though, I still feel this is a book worth checking out. Exploring a historical time period not often played in and great character arcs make this a historical fiction tale worth the read. The author isn't afraid to explore the bleakness that came with difficult life circumstances, giving the reader a real sense of the harshness of life at times. Not every author would be brave enough to do this, so kudos for that. I would definitely recommend this tale to lovers of historical fiction, especially for those who enjoy the more obscure of history.

Note: Book received for free from author in exchange for an honest review.
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Sarah_Gruwell | 5 altre recensioni | Aug 5, 2018 |
Questa recensione è stata scritta per gli Omaggi dei Membri di LibraryThing .
I really enjoyed reading this historical fiction book. Russian life in the 1800's was extremely interesting. I found the riddles preceding each chapter fun, thought-provoking and downright indecent at times! During this time in history, superstitions and old wives tale's ran rampant and was evidenced throughout the story. It was definitely weird what people believed in back then. It's obvious that Jane Marlow put a lot of time, research and thought into this story. This book was 300 pages, spanning 25 years, but I could have easily read 800 pages to gain more information and detail into each characters' life and background. I definitely wanted more!

I'm so happy that I won this book through LibraryThing's Member Reviewer's Giveaway.
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PrettyTarantula | 5 altre recensioni | Apr 19, 2017 |
The book is set in the 1800s before the emancipation of the serfs and follows Count Stepan Maximov and Elizaveta who is a peasant.

Elizaveta loves her childhood friend but they can’t marry because marrying your godparents’ child can’t happen. Instead, she has to marry a man she knows is a violent one and the marriage isn’t a happy one. But it seems like abusiveness kinda runs in Ermak’s family and Elizaveta’s sister-in-laws aren’t having any more luck in their lives.

Maximov’s lost their child and Stepan’s wife never got over her grief and it starts to affect their marriage too. Stepan struggles to run the estate, to find new ways to grow and develop it but new things takes time. In the latter part, we see more of Anton, the eldest Maximov son who spends most of his time drinking and playing cards.

I don’t really know what to say about this. I loved the book and was pleasantly surprised how good it was. It’s always hardest to write about a book you like… I just wanted to keep reading and wanting to know what happens next!

You can see that the author has done her research and there are lots of little details but it’s well written in the story.

We get to see how disconnected the nobility and the peasants were and had so little contact with each other. Nobility thought that the peasants should be thankful because they are being taken care of…. By working them to death yet they were seen as just lazy…

I wanted to slap Anton so many times that I’m not surprised that Stepan was so frustrated with him. He did change his ways a bit in the end but I would like to know if he manages to really change. But I think there is next book coming so I’m hoping we’ll see that.
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Elysianfield | 5 altre recensioni | Nov 29, 2016 |

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Opere
2
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Voto
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6
ISBN
4