Sashenka

An epic novel... The suspense lasts until the final pages. There is no let-up. At the end of the book, you really feel that even though Sashenka is a fictional character, she has become one of the thousands of real people who haunt the Moscow archives that Montefiore knows so well

SUNDAY EXPRESS

Gripping from start to finish. The perfect mixture of sweeping history and page-turning storytelling

Intensely moving, with an unforgettable climax that will touch the hardest heart

Furiously readable - it's hard to put Sashenka down. The glory and tragedy of her story remains long after the last page is turned

Intricate, fast moving... by the time I put the book down, long after midnight, I was in tears

THE TIMES

To write a good historical novel you have to recreate that world, both physically and intellectually - and there must be a sense that history is driving the plot forwards. Montefiore succeeds on all counts... The real achievement of this novel is that it describes the profound levels of self-deception required if you wanted to stay alive and be a loyal communist in Stalin's Russia

EVENING STANDARD

A tale rich in conspiracy, seduction, glamour and intrigue that should satisfy all

IMAGE Magazine, Eire

A dramatic, gripping tale of a passionate, beautiful woman living in pre-revolutionary Russia, and subsequently in Stalin's Soviet hell. Her story, set against richly textured backgrounds - some lavish, some grim - make this novel extraordinarily difficult to put down

In Sashenka, Simon Montefiore proves himself a true storyteller. The world of the Russian Revolution and of Stalin's Terror comes vividly to life in this deeply intimate novel, full of Russian atmosphere and color. I felt as if I'd lived through an epic movie

A compelling and affecting saga that resonates long after the reading. Montefiore's depiction of the epoch is superb. The language is precise and evocative without getting in the way of the storyline. Its evocation of 20th Century Russia is so intoxicating it made want to buy a plane ticket and find out more for myself. I can't remember being as moved by the fate of a character in a novel for some time

SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, Australia

This epic tale spans almost 100 years of tumultuous Russian history in the mould of Dr Zhivago; its themes of love, lust, treachery, sacrifice and family values dominate the book

THE COURIER-MAIL, New Zealand

A must read! Montefiore polishes all the facets of a good story - secrets, lies, betrayal, love and death - and places them in Russia's grand setting

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH, New Zealand

An absolutely rollicking tale which also manages to convey an authentic period atmosphere. Very colourful, very evocative, very readable, and very very real

Agile plotting, vivid characterisation and the exuberant spectacle of a well-informed author enjoying a flourish of serious frivolity - convoluted plot twists, astonishing coincidences, tear-jerking family separations and all - combine to make Sashenka an addictive page-turner with an elegant, steely edge of verisimilitude

SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Gripping... moves you to tears

DAILY EXPRESS

This completely addictive story offers an authoratative insight into Stalin's USSR and, in its huge characters and epic ambition, carries echoes of Tolstoy himself

DAILY MAIL

A heartbreaking tale of passion, betrayal and an unthinkable decision

IN STYLE

A compelling novel of passions and secrets, politics and lies, love and betrayal, savagery and survival

SAGA

Sweeping historical epic about a daring young woman forced to make a hard choice in Stalinist Russia

OBSERVER TOP FIVE SUMMER READS OF 2008

Excellent... the historical detail is strong. The characterisation is superb, with Sashenka being especially well drawn. With her unwanted beauty and charisma, her gentle nobility that transcends class or wealth and her earnest ideals which eventually cost her so much. Sashenka commands out total sympathy, and when she is forced apart from her children, the sadness is profound and hard to dispel. A powerful novel... with a heroine who lingers in the mind when the story is finished

SPECTATOR

Sashenka is grand in scale, rich in historical research, and yet never loses the flow of an addictive, racy, well-wrought plot. It combines a moving, satisfyingly just-neat-enough finale with a warning - that history has an awful habit of repeating itself

THE SCOTSMAN

If you’re fascinated by twentieth-century Russian history, you’ll be intrigued by the tale of Sashenka, a loyal Communist wife married to a powerful party member, whose life starts to unravel when she embarks upon an affair…The author is a noted historian, and this novel is full of fascinating, meticulously researched detail about Russian life.

Daisy Buchanan