'Compassionate and compelling, this is not a political story but a quest for love in the heart of darkness' Simon Sebag Montefiore
'A biography on an epic scale, with a combination of tragedy and history worthy of a Russian novel' Independent
'Superbly well told' Sunday Times
Who was Svetlana Alliluyeva?
A little girl, her father's only daughter, his "little sparrow"; instructed to bury her secrets in her heart by her mother, who shot herself soon after.
An observer as her relatives were mercilessly killed and her first love exiled.
A woman who tore through relationships with men, joined and abandoned various religions, and became the most famous defector to the United States.
The victim of an inescapable truth: "You are Stalin's daughter. . . . You can't live your own life. You can't live any life. You exist only in reference to a name."
The narrative of Svetlana Alliluyeva's life, as told by Rosemary Sullivan, is a top-tier exploration of a woman's struggle to find herself amidst the shadows of her father's legacy. It is a story that showcases the best and worst of human nature, and the indomitable spirit of a woman caught in the crossfire of history.
For fans of Anne Frank (The Diary of a Young Girl), Alison Leslie Gold (Found and Lost), Antony Beevor (Russia), Joop Van Wijk (The Last Secret of the Secret Annex), and Alison Weir (Against Our Better Judgment).