The Russian Concubine

Download or read book The Russian Concubine written by Kate Furnivall and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2007-06-27 with total page 529 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A sweeping novel set in war-torn 1928 China, with a star-crossed love story at its center. In a city full of thieves and Communists, danger and death, spirited young Lydia Ivanova has lived a hard life. Always looking over her shoulder, the sixteen-year-old must steal to feed herself and her mother, Valentina, who numbered among the Russian elite until Bolsheviks murdered most of them, including her husband. As exiles, Lydia and Valentina have learned to survive in a foreign land. Often, Lydia steals away to meet with the handsome young freedom fighter Chang An Lo. But they face danger: Chiang Kai Shek's troops are headed toward Junchow to kill Reds like Chang, who has in his possession the jewels of a tsarina, meant as a gift for the despot's wife. The young pair's all-consuming love can only bring shame and peril upon them, from both sides. Those in power will do anything to quell it. But Lydia and Chang are powerless to end it.

Download or read book The Russian Concubine written by Kate Furnivall and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2009-09-03 with total page 461 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *** THE Sunday Times TOP TEN BESTSELLING AUTHOR *** 'Wonderful . . . hugely ambitious and atmospheric' Kate Mosse Discover a brilliant story of love, danger, courage and betrayal, from the internationally bestselling author of The Betrayal. ***** Junchow, China, 1928. Lydia Ivanova was among the Russian elite until the Bolsheviks revolutions forced her to flee to China with her mother. But survival is hard. Lydia has a fierce spirit. Nothing can dim it, not even the foul waters of the Peiho River. Into the river's grime bodies are tossed - those of thieves and Communists alike. A reminder that every time Lydia steals from someone to feed herself and her mother, she takes her life into her own hands. Even though mother and daughter live in the Whites-only settlement, no walls can keep Lydia in as she escapes to meet her lover, Chang An Lo. But Chang has enemies who are hunting him down, and their all-consuming love can only mean danger for them both . . . The Concubine's Secret and The Jewel of St Petersburg are also available to buy NOW in paperback and ebook. Further praise for Kate Furnivall: 'Superb storytelling' Dinah Jefferies 'A thrilling plot ... Fast-paced with a sinister edge' Times 'A thrilling, compelling read. Wonderful!' Lesley Pearse 'Gripping . . . poignant, beautifully written ...will capture the reader to the last' Sun 'Truly captivating' Elle 'Perfect escapist reading' Marie Claire 'An achingly beautiful epic' New Woman 'A rollicking good read' Daily Telegraph

Download or read book The Concubine's Secret written by Kate Furnivall and published by Russian Concubine. This book was released on 2009 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For years Lydia Ivanova believed her father was killed by the Bolsheviks and when she learns he is captive in Stalin's Russia goes searching for him with her half-brother Alexei. When Alexei disappears, Lydia is stranded in Russia but he lover Chang An Lo races to protect her as she risks the consequences to discover the truth.

Download or read book Shadows on the Nile written by Kate Furnivall and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2013-10-01 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 1912 London. Jessie Kenton hears her young brother, Georgie, scream in the middle of the night and wakes up the next morning to find him gone. Her parents never speak of him again. 1932. Twenty years later, Jessie is haunted by the same nightmare. Her other brother, Timothy, has inexplicably vanished from her parents’ home. Wracked by guilt because of her failure to ever find Georgie, and convinced that the two events must be related, she sets out on a quest to find Timothy. She plunges into a mysterious world of séances and mystics, nebulous clues and Egyptian artifacts. With the help of a dashing and impoverished aristocrat, Sir Montague Chamford, Jessie follows the trail into the alien, swirling sands of the Egyptian desert. Amid the ancient intrigue and blistering heat, a powerful romance sparks between Jessie and Monty. But they must first confront the demons of Jessie’s past—and reveal the dark secrets that threaten not only Timothy’s life but theirs as well.

Download or read book The Betrayal written by Kate Furnivall and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2017-11-02 with total page 377 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'A real page-turner which puts you in France on the cusp of war from the very first page. Gripping. Tense. Mysterious. Kate Furnivall has a talent for creating places and characters who stay with you long after you’ve read the final word' JANE CORRY, bestselling author of Blood Sisters and My Husband's Wife 'Superb storytelling, brilliant narrative, engaging characters – a simply breath-taking exploration of two sisters on opposing sides who are both attempting to keep a lid on a past that won’t be silenced, while hiding the truth of the present. This intricate web of secrets and lies kept me guessing until the very end' DINAH JEFFERIES, bestselling author of The Tea Planter's Wife Discover a brilliant story of love, danger, courage and betrayal, from the internationally bestselling author of The Liberation. Could you kill someone? Someone you love? Paris, 1938. Twin sisters are divided by fierce loyalties and by a terrible secret. The drums of war are beating and France is poised, ready to fall. One sister is an aviatrix, the other is a socialite and they both have something to prove and something to hide. The Betrayal is an unforgettably powerful, epic story of love, loss and the long shadow of war, perfect for readers of Santa Montefiore and Victoria Hislop. Further praise for Kate Furnivall: ‘Wonderful . . . hugely ambitious and atmospheric’ Kate Mosse ‘A thrilling plot … Fast-paced with a sinister edge’ Times ‘Gripping . . . poignant, beautifully written …will capture the reader to the last’ Sun ‘Truly captivating’ Elle ‘Perfect escapist reading’ Marie Claire ‘An achingly beautiful epic’ New Woman ‘A rollicking good read’ Daily Telegraph

Download or read book Empress of the East written by Leslie Peirce and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2017-09-19 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The "fascinating . . . lively" story of the Russian slave girl Roxelana, who rose from concubine to become the only queen of the Ottoman empire (New York Times). In Empress of the East, historian Leslie Peirce tells the remarkable story of a Christian slave girl, Roxelana, who was abducted by slave traders from her Ruthenian homeland and brought to the harem of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent in Istanbul. Suleyman became besotted with her and foreswore all other concubines. Then, in an unprecedented step, he freed her and married her. The bold and canny Roxelana soon became a shrewd diplomat and philanthropist, who helped Suleyman keep pace with a changing world in which women, from Isabella of Hungary to Catherine de Medici, increasingly held the reins of power. Until now Roxelana has been seen as a seductress who brought ruin to the empire, but in Empress of the East, Peirce reveals the true history of an elusive figure who transformed the Ottoman harem into an institution of imperial rule.

Download or read book Wild Swans written by Jung Chang and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2008-06-20 with total page 592 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of three generations in twentieth-century China that blends the intimacy of memoir and the panoramic sweep of eyewitness history—a bestselling classic in thirty languages with more than ten million copies sold around the world, now with a new introduction from the author. An engrossing record of Mao’s impact on China, an unusual window on the female experience in the modern world, and an inspiring tale of courage and love, Jung Chang describes the extraordinary lives and experiences of her family members: her grandmother, a warlord’s concubine; her mother’s struggles as a young idealistic Communist; and her parents’ experience as members of the Communist elite and their ordeal during the Cultural Revolution. Chang was a Red Guard briefly at the age of fourteen, then worked as a peasant, a “barefoot doctor,” a steelworker, and an electrician. As the story of each generation unfolds, Chang captures in gripping, moving—and ultimately uplifting—detail the cycles of violent drama visited on her own family and millions of others caught in the whirlwind of history.