Petrograd, 1916. As Russia is swept up in the maelstrom of war, Oswald Rayner, a bookish Oxford graduate, is sent by British Intelligence to Petrograd. His mission is to curb Rasputin’s influence and eliminate the man himself if needed. But Oswald soon realizes that his remit goes against his morals. Will he shirk his duty or be forever haunted by the blood on his hands and the burden of secrecy?
Murder in Petrograd re-imagines the web of forces surrounding Rasputin’s murder in a gripping saga of obsession, politics, loyalty, friendship, love, and fate. Taking the reader from Russia in 1905 to Oxford and California fifty-five years later, the novel delves into the emotional lives of a wide cast of real historical figures to explore the central questions of power, complicity, morality, and destiny. Murder in Petrograd asks whether it is ever morally right to take the life of a human being, however repugnant and dangerous he might be. Blending archival research, immersive period detail, and vivid narrative reconstruction, it bridges scholarship and storytelling with cinematic scope.
Oswald made a few unsure steps towards the square of light. There, on the other side of the window pane, stood the cause of his rude awakening: a large seagull in a cocky pose, with his head tilted as he stared with curiosity through the window-glass as if Oswald were a fat fish in an aquarium. Oswald stepped toward the window and pulled the draperies. The seagull, offended by the sudden fall of the curtain signifying the end of the play, screeched one last time and flew away.
Asya Pereltsvaig is a native of Saint Petersburg, Russia. After earning a BA in English and History and a doctorate in Linguistics and teaching at Cornell and Stanford, she turned to doing what she loves most: teaching Russian history in lifelong education and writing historical fiction.
Her debut historical fiction novel, centered on the assassination of Rasputin, is a sweeping saga of murder, love and fate. Her upcoming historical mystery series, Detective Rosen Mysteries, explores social tensions, political instability and the world of crime in the early 20th-century Saint Petersburg.
When she is not writing, Asya is an intrepid traveler, avid reader, and dedicated ballroom dancer.
Thank you for hosting my book!
ReplyDelete