Guys, I have no idea what MIDNIGHT IN ST. PETERSBURG by Vanora Bennett is trying to be. If it wants to be a romance, it falls drastically short. There is no spark there, as it were, and I was just so bored.
I was really excited to read this after a recent trip to St. Petersburg. I realized that, as an American who grew up in the 80s and 90s, I know so little of Russian culture and history. A love of the animated "Anastasia" movie nonwithstanding, I know I need to learn more. So I happily signed up to review this and then... slogged through it.
I think there's a good book in here, it just needs a bit more direction. I appreciated the prose and the clear attention to detail and the grasp of history. I just could not connect with the characters and could find little reason to keep turning the page.
I think folks who already know a bit about this period in Russian history may find more to grab onto and may enjoy MIDNIGHT IN ST. PETERSBURG more than myself.
St. Petersburg, 1911: Inna Feldman has fled the pogroms of the south to take refuge with distant relatives in Russia's capital city. Welcomed by the flamboyant Leman family, she is apprenticed into their violin-making workshop. She feels instantly at home in their bohemian circle, but revolution is in the air, and as society begins to fracture, she is forced to choose between her heart and her head. She loves her brooding cousin, Yasha, but he is wild, destructive and devoted to revolution; Horace Wallick, an Englishman who makes precious Faberge creations, is older and promises security and respectability. And, like many others, she is drawn to the mysterious, charismatic figure beginning to make a name for himself in the city: Rasputin.
As the rebellion descends into anarchy and bloodshed, a commission to repair a priceless Stradivarius violin offers Inna a means of escape. But which man will she choose to take with her? And is it already too late? A magical and passionate story steeped in history and intrigue, Vanora Bennett's Midnight in St. Petersburg is an extraordinary novel of music, politics, and the toll that revolution exacts on the human heart.
No excerpt available.
© 2003-2026