THE JEWEL OF ST. PETERSBURG

Russia, 1910. The young Valentina Ivanova is the darling of St. Petersburg’s elite aristocracy, charming them with both her classic Russian beauty and her talent for the piano. But it is a scandal when she chooses her love not from their stock, or even from Russian blood. Her romance with Jens Friis, a Danish engineer, brings to her life a passion and intimacy she has never known. Unbending in their opposition, her parents push her into a loveless engagement with a Russian count.

Valentina struggles to claim her own independence. But at the same time she is desperate to protect her injured young sister from the dangerous tumult that is sweeping through the city.

Meanwhile, Russia itself is bound for rebellion. With the tsar and the duma at each other’s throats, and the Bolsheviks drawing their battle lines, the elegance and opulence of tsarist rule are in their last days. And Valentina will be force to make a choice that will change not only her own life, but the lives of those around her, forever.