The ladies

Alright, back to the book. I’m in the final stages of the story, maybe another 60 pages or so and I must admit it’s not a bad book at all. It took me so long to comprehend but the book is well written. There is a certain element of mystery present with Grigori trying to find out his real parents are and that Nina is hiding something. Remember I said the other day I know who his parents are? Yeah, I was wrong but I have another guess and this time I am very sure I’m right.

That brings me to Nina – ballerina. She comes from very humble beginnings and is introduced to ballet by her mother. So from a very young age she and her best friend Vera both ballerina wannabes do everything to reach the zenith. At this juncture in the story, Nina is the prime ballerina. Without going into too much detail about Vera and her life, let me just say she is one of the prime characters in the book, along with Nina’s husband Viktor, the dapper poet. The best part about the way the story is written is the shuffling between the past and the present (one chapter in Stalin-era Russia), one in present-time Boston. So the Stalin-era Russia portrays Nina’s life, her difficult existence in those hard political times and her sway to the top. Her love for Viktor is passionate and her hatred for her mother-in-law (whom she has to call Madame) immense. So, at some point she deflects from Russia (again, I’ll spare most details) and goes to Europe – Paris, London – and finally Boston. On the way, she’s constantly building her collection of the most amazing jewels; amber, diamonds, emeralds, you name it. Brooches, combs, pins, earrings, necklaces, pendants, rings all feature in her priceless collection that is to be auctioned off.

Now Nina has secrets that she doesn’t want to let out, from her days in Russia – she knows something but she won’t talk about it, doesn’t want to think about it and chooses to be rude to everyone who brings her remotely close to those memories. Oh btw, she is now very old and in a wheel chair which kind of explains why she is so miserable. Grigori wants to talk to her, but she doesn’t. He has memorabilia he wants to share with her so she would tell him something but so far he hasn’t had any luck.

Drew Brooks is just fascinated with Russia and she loves her job (yeah, she is one of those). She senses Nina is hiding something too and wants to get to the bottom along with Grigori. So now, they’ve both teamed up to pressure the old woman to give up her secrets. We’ll see what happens.

The jewelry descriptions from the auction catalogue scattered at chapter beginnings lend a nice flavor to the book.

LOT 7

Diamond Earstuds. Each 4-prong-set with a round brilliant-cut diamond weighing approx. 1.64 and 1.61 cts., color and clarity H/VS2, 18kt white gold mounts, Russian hallmarks. $20,000-22,000.