Promotional Information

The epic, sensuous story of Catherine the Great's ruthless rise to power, through the eyes of a young girl groomed as the Empress's spy in 18th Century Russia.

About the Author

Eva Stachniak was born in Wroclaw, Poland, and now lives in Canada, where she has been a radio broadcaster and college English and humanities lecturer. Her debut novel, Necessary Lies, won the Amazon.com/Books in Canada First Novel Award, and her second novel, Dancing with Kings, has been translated into seven languages. She lives in Toronto,where she is working on her second novel about Catherine the Great, also to be published by Doubleday

Reviews

Riveting... Stachniak has uncovered a treasure trove of rich material... The real core of Stachniak's tale is that [Catherine and Elizabeth] are women... Casts light over recent Russian history too, which is exactly what historical fiction should do
*Globe and Mail*

A wonderful novel, riven with intrigue and startling details, the sort to savour on a long winter evening
*Daily Telegraph*

The kind of big busty read that sends you back to the history books
*The Sunday Times*

Extraordinarily absorbing... will have you on the edge of your seat
*Daily Mail*

A wonderful tale of the Imperial Russia court in all its glittering glory. Eva Stachniak vividly brings to life the early years of the meek young bride who would become the terrifying, fascinating Catherine the Great
*Kate Williams, author of England's Mistress and Becoming Queen*

Fantastic, bold, colourful, assured and wonderful writing - and what a story! An outstanding book, magical, beautiful with writing as crisp and fine and breathtaking as a Russian winter
*Manda Scott, author of the Boudica trilogy*

Luxuriant... baroque and intimate, worldly and domestic, wildly strange and soulfully familiar
*Washington Post*

A whirlwind saga of intrigue, shifting allegiances and illicit liaisons, this engrossing story really captures the imagination
*Choice Magazine*

A wonderfully majestic and evocative tale of 18th century Russia at a key moment in history
*Candis Magazine*

An intensely written, intensely felt saga of the early years that shaped the 18th century's famous czarina, Catherine the Great. Her survival in the treachery of the Russian court was an amazing feat, and Eva Stachniak captures the fluidity and steeliness that propelled Catherine from a lowly German duchess to one of the towering figures of the century
*Karleen Koen, author of Through a Glass Darkly*