One of the best things about working in publishing is the people with whom I get to work. I never really understood the importance of working alongside people who also enjoy art and literature. I remember my father bemoaning the lack of this dialogue in his career selling computer hardware while I was growing up, but I didn't really understand it until I entered the work world myself. It was then that I realized that your work family is hugely important - that you'll spend more hours with them than with your own family. And I realized, that if if I couldn't talk about tv, theater, movies and books with the people I worked with, than my day-to-day life would indeed be pretty dull. So I feel very lucky to work where I do and with my interesting, curious and cultured colleagues. This is all a bit of a digression to introduce my colleague Nicole Reardon, who works in the Harper hardcover imprint and who is very passionate about the release of Daphne Kalotay's new novel, Russian Winter, which is on sale today. I remember Nicole telling me about how much she loved this novel this past winter and then I was able to meet Daphne briefly at this summer's ALA. Read on to hear about Nicole's experience falling into Russian Winter.
When I was a little girl, books became my world. I remember reading novels and thrillers, carrying them wherever I went, reading as I walked. I wouldn’t put the books down for anything -- so I proceeded with my daily routine while reading. I would read while I ate my meals, read while I did my chores, read while my friends gossiped. I became so engrossed in the lives of the characters, that I didn’t want to leave.
Over the years, I stopped this obsessive reading. That is, until I read Daphne Kalotay’s Russian Winter. I’m a newlywed, and spent my first “married” New Year’s Eve reading the manuscript. I kept telling my husband that I’d be ready to bust out the champagne to celebrate “as soon as I’m finished this chapter.” I think I said that ten times that night. My advice to you: squirrel away some time to immerse yourself in Russian Winter, because you won’t be able to put it down once you start!
In this breathtaking tale of love and art, betrayal and redemption, a mysterious jewel holds the key to a life-changing secret,
Artfully interweaving past and present, Stalinist Russia and modern day New England, the behind-the-scenes tumult of theatre life and the transformative power of art, Daphne Kalotay’s luminous debut novel, an ingeniously plotted page turner of the highest literary order, captures the joy, uncertainty, and terror of lives powerless to withstand the forces of history, while affirming that even in the presence of evil, suspicion, and fear the human spirit reaches for transcendence and love.
Browse inside Russian Winter, check out the discussion guide and look for Daphne Kalotay on tour near you. Be sure to read Bookin' with Bingo's interview with Daphne on Monday and you can also catch Daphne on the next stop in her blog tour at Booking Mama on Thursday.
