When readers first meet Marya, a Russian in 1956, she is a prisoner in a Siberian gulag thanks in part to her sister Vera. Marya's crime? This depends on whose story you believe. Was she a spy or simply guilty of loving a British officer and wanting freedom from Russia's restraints?
THE SOVIET SISTERS by Anika Scott is alternately told by the sisters in the years 1947 and 1956. Impeccably researched, the author brings to readers a perfect blend of intigue, suspense, history, and romance. Excellently plotted and well-paced, the story becomes even more complex as it moves along. Ideology and betrayal play a huge role in the narrative. In this story, there are consequences of sisterhood.
I found THE SOVIET SISTERS by Anika Scott to be intriguing and unique. Highly recommended.
Sisters Vera and Marya were brought up as good Soviets:
obedient despite hardships of poverty and tragedy, committed
to communist ideals, and loyal to Stalin. Several years
after fighting on the Eastern front, both women find
themselves deep in the mire of conflicts shaping a new world
order in 1947 Berlin. When Marya, an interpreter, gets
entangled in Vera’s cryptic web of deceit and
betrayal, she must make desperate choices to
survive—and protect those she loves.
Nine years later, Marya is a prisoner in a Siberian work
camp when Vera, a doyenne of the KGB, has cause to reopen
her case file and investigate the facts behind her sister's
conviction all those years ago in Berlin. As Vera retraces
the steps that brought them both to that pivotal moment in
1947, she unravels unexpected truths and discoveries that
call into question the very history the Soviets were working
hard to cover up.