"There is no enlightenment to be found in the past. No healing. No solace Whatever we are looking for will not be there"
A blend of historical fiction, romance, and mystery. It is a modern-day Dr. Zhivago!
Some of the prose was a bit flowery:
"Tonya smiles along with him, as if she can already taste the succulent sweetness of wild strawberries, can imagine the juice running down their faces like blood."
"She uses the same tea leaves every morning, but the ritual is a remnant of life before the war. She will do it until the leaves are brewed into the air."
"...every day, Valentin looks more and more like the tea leaves, being strained into dust."
You get the picture. Still, very readable. The fairy tales, written by the author, were mesmerizing.
The mystery behind Rosie's family tragedy is never solved. That was disappointing.
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I've always been drawn to Russian literature. I think it's partly because I like cold, wintry settings, but I'm fascinated by the culture and history too, even though Russian stories are often depressing and/or disturbing (not to mention my American brain has a hard time keeping all the names straight). It took me a minute to get into this one (I was slowed down considerably by all the names—at first I thought this book had like 900 characters), but I ended up really liking it. ( )

I haven't read much contemporary literature from Russia, Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy are as far as I've gotten in the country. This is well written and the two timelines weave together effortlessly. I was immediately hooked from the start, and enjoyed following Rosie as she uncovered her past. I don't know that this will stand out from other historical fiction I've read over time, but it is certainly an enjoyable and fascinating read in the moment. ( )

An epic story of Russia during the revolution, up to the 1990s.
Rosie (Raisa) saw her sister and father murdered when she was a child. She and her mother fled Russia after this. Now, studying at Oxford, she is hired by a famous writer, Alexey, to do some research for him in Moscow. She longs to return there, and she takes the job. While there, she starts to research her mother's stories and dolls that fascinated her mother, and uncovers her own history and a love story of nearly 80 years. Rosie also discovers her own love.
This story outlines the harsh times that the Russian people had from 1917 until the Communist USSR was dissolved. The author's note laments the rise of Putin.
Very interesting and different. ( )

OMG! This was such a captivating read. It's going to be in my top ten books of the year; the third book I have read this year that will most likely be on that list. I learned alot about Russian history during the twentieth century and how that history affected common people. The reader gets to see how the economy tumbled after the czar's abdication, during the Russian Revolution, and the end of the Soviet Union. I was surprised at how little people helped out their neighbors and how they instinctively knew to not talk about their families even in the beginning of the Revolution. This begs the question: what happened before the twentieth century that caused the Russians to not trust their neighbors?

As for Rosie and Tonya, their characters were sympathetic enough for me to worry about them as I read. Rosie has memories of her early years living in Russia that frighten her. She remembers a man shooting her sister and father in their home but does not remember much about the rest of the family's flight to England. When an opportunity arises that allows her to travel to Russian as a research assistant, she takes it even though she is given up a promising career and relationship. When she arrives in Russia, she feels like she is at home. The fairy tales that her mother told her seem to be more and more real. Rosie tries to determine what part of these fairy tales are truth and what part is fiction. They confuse her take on reality. Tonya was the wife of a government employee when the Russian Revolution began but her husband bores her. When she sees a man publicly speaking about the need for revolution she is attracted to him and they soon begin a rather risky affair. Theirs is a love affair for the ages, lasting until the end of their lives. However, the reader does not know this because they were separated frequently by the throes of history. Tonya's story is the main storyline of the book.

Each section of the book began with a short fairy tale supposedly written by Tonya. As I was reading I wondered if these were actual Russian fairy tales. The Acknowledgment at the end of the book tells us that the author made them all up for this novel. They were so good that I think author Kristen Loetsch should write a children's book of fairy tales. Interspersed with the fairy tales are the porcelain dolls that several characters collect and which hold the key to the family's history.

The Last Russian Doll is simply magnificent. It is a must read. ( )