This is my second book taking place in Russia in as many months. It’s also another look at a well-known historical figure through the eyes of his wife. Alexander Pushkin is the name I have heard but I’m not familiar with this works. Sometimes when this happens I find myself going back and reading what has been previously been published, such is the case with Pushkin.

This book begins with a prologue, Pushkin has been involved in a duel defending the honour of his wife Natayla. As she reflects on what has happened she goes back in time and tells her story of how they got to this point, it is told from her point of view. What I found interesting right off the bat was she concern about her reputation rather than her husband, making my first impression of her less favourable. Though it did peek my curiosity as to the events leading up to this duel.

Jumping back to when she is only 16 she tells her story. Of course this is fictionalized but based on real events that took place. The author created the right environment to get a picture of the setting and feeling. This was a character driven story where everything revolves around Natayla, for some of the time I couldn’t help but feel sympathy for her and all she endured, however there were times I wanted to reach in there and give her a shake and ask what’s was she thinking, in regards to various situations.

A look at high society life in Russia while having to deal with advances from the Czar himself as well as dealing with family members was a lot for this young girl to handle. The author has painted a vivid picture of the times. This is my first time reading this author and I will definitely be adding her 2 previous novels to my Tbr list.

Thanks to HFVBT to be part of this tour in which I received a copy of this book in my change for honest review.

I was drawn to this book because it discussed the marriage of Alexander Pushkin (one of Russia's greatest poets) and his young, beautiful wife, Natalya. Pushkin died tragically young in a duel defending his wife's honor, thus robbing Russia and the world of his written word. Natalya was often villianized for her role in her husband's death in other writings of their story. This story is a fictional account; however, inspiration was drawn from new research that has been done, in order to tell the story from Natalya's perspective. The author does a great job of capturing the court lifestyle of St. Petersburg and what life under the Tsar really was like. The expectations placed on the wives, the behaviors, etc. It is a fascinating time period and deeply interesting historical figures...and with a contemporary lense, it leaves you questioning the treatment of Natalya. I really enjoyed this story and would highly recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about Pushkin or just likes to read about Tsarist Russia.

I received a copy of this title from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

The Lost Season of Love and Snow tells the story of the Natalya, the wife of Russia’s most famous poet Alexander Pushkin. Courted by Pushkin at the young age of sixteen, the beautiful Natalya falls head over heels for him and becomes Madame Pushkina. Like most writers, Alexander struggles to make ends meet, and even though fame attends him, finances suffer. Natalya tries to assist her husband by transcribing his writing into clean manuscripts, and even though the newlyweds are poor (by rich people standards), they are happy.

After a few years go by and a few children enter the picture, Alexander goes away for a writing retreat of sorts. He urges his wife to enjoy society in his absence and flirt with all her admirers as is the fashion. Natalya gets a taste for court parties and balls, impressing the lecherous tsar with her daring decolletage and coquetting her way around St. Petersburg. When Alexander returns, he becomes increasingly disturbed that he is the Vulcan to her Venus (the ugly misshapen blacksmith married to the goddess of love). Matters come to a head when Natalya is unable to successfully end a flirtation with the tall, blond Georges d’Anthes, and Alexander’s jealousy leads him to the end we knew must come.

I really enjoyed the way the author used Natalya’s weak eyesight and need for glasses as a symbol for her life. In the beginning, her mother forbade her to wear her eyeglasses in public since beauty was more important than the ability to see across the room. Later, we see Natalya imposing that same restriction on herself, caring more about appearance than perspective. And in the end it is her lack of perspective, her lack of understanding of how society would perceive her actions that contributes to the great tragedy of her life.

History has blamed Natalya’s flighty and foolish actions for her husband Pushkin’s early demise. This book tries to “tell Natalya’s side of the story.” Written in first person, we can see the author’s conjecture for how Natalya was motivated as she navigated the perilous world of the Russian court.

It seemed like the author felt obliged by historical fact to state Natalya’s words and actions as documented by source material, and then to create internal excuses to try to redeem her in the readers’ eyes–

-She was flustered when she said that–it just didn’t come out right…
-She was flirting, but hasn’t everybody at some point?…
-She actually had the best intentions when she did that, but circumstances were against her…
-She was lusting after someone not her husband, but she really loved Alexander the whole time…
-And it is a truth universally acknowledged that the world is rigged against women!

Frankly, a lot of Natalya’s self-justifying narration seemed pretty weak. I wondered if perhaps the author was trying to make us see Natalya as self-deluded in the matter (which would have been an interesting narrative approach!), although when I reached the Author’s Note, I saw that was not the case.

One great thing about the novel is that it raised a lot of questions for me about the real Natalya: did she actually write poetry herself and never show it to her husband? Is there any evidence of a feminist perspective on her part, or is that a modern notion imposed by the author on the story? What was the relationship between Pushkin and Tolstoy? And the biggest question of all: what does the title of the book actually refer to?

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This book will keep you up at night and distracted all day. It’s impossbile to put down and when you do (because of something like having to go to work), all you think about is Alexander and Natalya.

I knew nothing about Alexander Pushkin other than that he was a famous poet, I knew nothing about his wife or that he died in a duel defending her honor, so of course once I saw the blurb for The Lost Season of Love and Snow, I had to read it. What a subject for a novel!

Despite being bound by the constraints of historical fact, this is very much a character-driven story. In the prologue, I was a bit put off by Natalya. Her husband has literally just breathed his last breath and all she can think about is how she is going to repair her reputation. But I told myself that I did not yet know what had happened to make this her first reaction, and as her past unfolds, the way her light is dimmed by the expectations of marriage and society, the way she bears the blame for the transgressions of others, the way she is robbed of her own destiny, witnessing her despair and regret, I could not help but feel for her.

We first meet young Natalya as an idealistic sixteen-year-old whose love for romantic novels shapes her expectations of love and courtship. A celebrated yet humble beauty with writing aspirations of her own, she catches the eye of Russia's favorite poet shortly after her introduction into society and quickly weaves grand dreams around a life with him. Eventually she will get that life, and though it will bring her passion and love, it will also bring her disappointment and heartbreak. The pressure of being Russia's greatest poet often takes a toll on Alexander, and Natalya often finds herself putting her husband's needs above her own. Never achieving the success she hoped for with her own attempts at writing, she begins to indulge in what she thinks are innocent pleasures where she can find them, mainly amidst the glittering and "courtly love" atmosphere of St. Petersburg society, where she has become the belle of the ball. But she unwittingly sets in motion a chain of events that will forever alter not only her own life, but the landscape of Russian literature.

"You have only known the sorrows of a beautiful and clever woman. You did nothing wrong."

At times I was tempted to dismiss Natalya for being vain and foolish, but I can see how relishing her status as a great beauty and a woman oft admired and desired was the only real option left to her to feel some self-worth in the shadow of her husband's talent and fame. Upon presentation at court, she is immediately dismissed as being beneath her husband's intellect simply by way of her beauty, and her husband is not supportive of her own attempts at writing. She does find joy in being a wife and a mother, but still she yearns for that something more, and I think we can all identify with that.

Sometimes the beauty of a book is knowing at the beginning how it's going to end and then building the tension and suspense to the point that the reader, though knowing what's coming, can't wait to see how it all shakes out, and that's exactly what happens here. Aside from the prologue, I thought the first third of the book to be rather slow-moving, and I confess I grew a bit bored during Natalya and Alexander's lengthy and often long-distance courtship, but once they married, the narrative became much more compelling. I could not turn the pages fast enough as the fateful hour drew near, and I shed a tear during the very tender and moving final scene between husband and wife. And I lamented that even in the immediate aftermath of Alexander's death, Natalya was not allowed the freedom to express her grief, still subject to the expectations of how someone else thought she should behave.

Not having read anything of Pushkin's beforehand, I was disappointed and a bit surprised that so few lines of his work were presented in the story. We get to see his inspiration and his methods, but not the actual results, and I can't help but feel that a few selected excerpts in apt moments would have enriched the story. But I still found The Lost Season of Love and Snow to be a poignant and satisfying examination of a woman unfairly vilified for her role in the beloved poet's death, by people who never seemed to consider that she was grieving him more than they were. And though she loses the love of her life, she achieves the ultimate triumph by managing to make her own peace, in the process finding happiness again, and ensuring that her husband's works were never forgotten.

This is my first book review of 2018 and I couldn’t have picked a better book to kick things off with. Though I read this in 2017, I am ringing in the new year with love and snow!

There is something about Jennifer Laam’s writing that I find so lovely and elegant. It’s hard to describe but her books are consistently good and well written which made me all the more anxious to read this one!

At the age of sixteen, Natalya Goncharova is stunningly beautiful and intellectually curious. But while she finds joy in French translations and a history of Russian poetry, her family is more concerned with her marriage prospects.

It is only fitting that during the Christmas of 1828 at her first public ball in her hometown of Moscow she attracts the romantic attention of Russia’s most lauded rebel poet: Alexander Pushkin.

Enchanted at first sight, Natalya is already a devoted reader of Alexander’s serialized novel in verse, Evgeny Onegin. The most recently published chapter ends in a duel, and she is dying to learn what happens next. Finding herself deeply attracted to Alexander’s intensity and joie de vivre, Natalya hopes to see him again as soon as possible.


What follows is a courtship and later marriage full of equal parts passion and domestic bliss but also destructive jealousies. When vicious court gossip leads to Alexander dying from injuries earned defending his honor as well as Natalya’s in a duel, Natalya finds herself reviled for her alleged role in his death.

With beautiful writing and understanding, Jennifer Laam, and her compelling new novel, The Lost Season of Love and Snow, help Natalya tell her side of the story—the story of her greatest love and her inner struggle to create a fulfilling life despite the dangerous intrigues of a glamorous imperial Court (summary from Goodreads).

Laam clearly has an interest in Russia, as most of her novels are based on Russian history which is refreshing and unique in a sea of books set in Tudor England (the first time period that comes to mind when someone says ‘historical fiction’). Her novels are always well researched and authentic feeling. This book was no different, though slightly shorter than her other novels (about 350 pages, while her others are around 360), it still was packed full of historical details.

This book had a distinct holiday feel to it, as Natalya met Alexander during a Christmas ball. I felt like the setting and especially reading it at the holiday time, made it all the more cozy and fun to read. I loved the tension between the characters and the romance that developed and even the heart break was fitting and had the right amount of tragedy.

Some people complained that the novel was too short to develop in-depth characters or story, however I felt differently. Could the character development have gone deeper—yes. But this novel wasn’t meant to be an ‘epic’. Could it have been an epic—-yes. But for me I thought the length was perfect for a broad audience. It offers a balanced amount of character development, history, and romance without being overly long which might alienate some readers making them lose interest. This book has a much broader appeal to readers. There is enough to make the reader feel connected and invested in the characters as well as enough history to satisfy fans of historical fiction, but it’s not so long that readers find themselves wondering when they can start their next book.

I personally loved how balanced the story was and how easy it was to read and connect with Natalya and Alexander. The romance was well written and as usual, there is an elegance about Laam’s writing that is her signature style.

If you are looking for something unique and elegant, give Laam’s novels a try. She has never disappointed me in her novels!

Book: The Lost Season of Love and Snow by Jennifer Laam

Paperback, 352 pages
Expected publication: January 2nd 2018 by St. Martin’s Griffin
ISBN 1250121884 (ISBN13: 9781250121882)
Review copy provided by: Author/Publisher in exchange for an honest review.
This book counts toward: NA

Hosted by: NA
Books for Challenge Completed: NA
Recommendation: 4 out of 5

Genre: Historical fiction, Romance, Russia

Memorable lines/quotes:

This story focuses on the 'romantic' relationship between the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin and his young beautiful wife Natalya. Knowing that her mother wanted her to marry well, she did so in 1831 at the age of 18. He was was everything to her and he worshipped her, yet their marriage was difficult at best. Beset with de'bt, jealousies on both sides, interference from the Tsar, perhaps it was doomed from the beginning. Noticed at court as a young girl of 16, the Tsar made it his business to recognize her straight away as many other men had, as she was pronounced as a beauty in her day. With family responsibilities in terms of getting her sisters eligible husbands, and her own husband whose writing faced censorship from the Tsar, life was not as wonderful as she had once thought. Their romance was never straight forward. as Alexander has his dalliances and Natalya is relentlessly pursued by a man who could definitely ruin the Pushkin family with one flick of his finger: that of the Tsar.

This book is well researched and well written. Interesting to note that Russia, even at that time, was at the mercy of censorship and little freedom, even among the upper crust. Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Natalya, the wife of Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, was a beautiful woman in a challenging time in history. Dealing with the creative life of her poet and the unwanted attentions of men, including Tsar Nicholas I, meant that Natalya had to step carefully through a minefield of emotion and desire. Well written historical fiction, giving a window into a time of history previously unread by myself. Romantic and sensitive, an enjoyable read.

This was the story of Alexander Pushkin's life s told by his wife Natayla. This story was captivating and held me from the minute I opened the book. This is not the genre I usually read but I was interested by the blurb I received. I felt that Natalya had it rough while living with her family and again by being married to Pushkin. She had to make many decisions to keep her head above water. Even though she never stepped over the line she was judged harshly by tThis was the story of Alexander Pushkin's life s told by his wife Natayla. This story was captivating and held me from the minute I opened the book. This is not the genre I usually read but I was interested by the blurb I received. I felt that Natalya had it rough while living with her family and again by being married to Pushkin. She had to make many decisions to keep her head above water. Even though she never stepped over the line she was judged harshly by those around her. Somehow through it all she maintained her dignity.


** I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review**hose around her. Somehow through it all she maintained her dignity.


** I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review**

I received an invitation from the publisher to read this book and accepted based on the fact that I liked the cover and because, well, I just don't say no to books. Once I started reading the book it sounded like it was based on a historical figure. A quick Google search confirmed that Alexander Pushkin was indeed a real person. This didn't really deter me from wanting to read the book although I don't really get whipped into a frenzy over Russian poets.

I found the beginning of the story interesting and enjoyed the flirtation and romance between Natalya and Alexander. I also liked reading about the relationship between Natalya and her sisters. There was enough conflict between the sisters and also between Natalya and her mother to keep the story interesting and not overly romantic.

Halfway through the story, I began to get a bit bored. Now, it's not the author's fault that the marriage of Natalya and Alexander seemed doomed from the beginning but I got tired of reading the same thing over and over. Alexander had the personality of a creative type and seemed a bit fragile. I didn't find myself liking him all that muchand I found it difficult to like Natalya. I admit I don't know a lot about the ways of the people during this time period but it seemed wrong for her to go flirting with the men like she did. She supposedly loved Alexander but her actions to me told a different story. I found myself having no empathy for her.

I have no problem with the author's writing style but just got tired of trudging through the same details over and over again. This caused the story to stall a bit and I found my thoughts drifting elsewhere. Not to be overly picky but I found the title didn't fit the story. I'm a bit puzzled about how the author came up with the title. If you know, please drop me a line and let me know. I'd much appreciate it.

While this book ended up not really being my cup of tea it was an ok read. It may prove to be an enjoyable read for those who are familiar with these characters or those who like Russian history.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher and was not obligated to write a review. All opinions are mine.

I was generously sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review from the publishers.

This is a fictional retelling of Natalia Nikolaevna Goncharova, the last wife of the famous Russian poet Alexander Pushkin and their love story in the 1830s during the reign of Tsar Nicholas told from the perspective of Natalia herself. A woman who was rumored to be a flirt, may have had affairs with several prominent men and is believed to have selfishly caused the death of her husband.

It has often been said that there are two sides to every story and I believe this is true which is one of the reasons why this book was so fascinating. It was a pleasure to be immersed in Russia during a time when Russia was known for its fashion, parties and nobility just as much if not more than the English.

Natalia knew shortly after her marriage to Pushkin that she was a bit in over her head when it came to trying to be among the social Imperial court, a loving wife and dutiful daughter with a husband who was known to be one of the greatest poets of his time but also known as a rebel though luckily he was able to keep his head so to speak and was loved by many.

Their first year together was mostly full of wonderful times spent together but alas it was not meant to last and sometimes even the best intentions to not work out though it's obvious they loved each other. Alas it is easy to get caught up in the daily struggles of life, the stress of finances and the downside of what can come from being famous.

Be prepared to be caught up in the daily life of the Russian upper class, the struggles of trying to be a proper woman according to society and learning how sometimes passion can lead to a heartbreaking end.

I don't know a lot about the real events that led to the demise of Pushkin but this book has sparked my curiosity to learn about these two unlikely people who fell in love, had several children and may have had a long life together had a duel not gotten into the way.

For those who enjoy mid 19th Century Russia, Pushkin and life in Tsar Nicholas's court, this is the kind of book that you just might want to check out and if you're not into those kinds of things, you just may still enjoy this different take on the Pushkins. I highly recommend this book and I'm glad that I was given a chance to read it!

Historical fiction is often a hit-and-miss genre for me, so I was interested in this novel but not sure how I would like it.

It was beautiful. From the first chapter, I was drawn into Natalya's search for love and her developing relationship with Alexander. I enjoyed reading about her experiences as a young wife and how that may have altered the events that led to Alexander's death. Her desire to remain a part of the court and to stay in the limelight was very reminiscent of someone at 18, and I could empathize with Natalya's struggles to stay true to her husband but to still have the life she wants.

This book kept me turning pages, waiting to see how the story played out and how Natalya's life would turn out. I definitely recommend this book.

I did not finish this book as it didn't appeal to me. Thank you for the opportunity to review a galley.

a famous poet in Russia. Alexander is a charming, smart and very gifted. He is attracted to Natalya Nikolaevna, who is lovely and a writer herself, eventually they get married. He loves his wife very much but rumors and malcious gossip cause them problems. Towards the middle of the book it slows down a bit and I have to struggle to keep reading, but it does pick up. There are some interesting twists to the tale. You could feel the tension build up and see the characters change. I found the book a little melacholy especially towards the end. It takes you thru a wide range of feelings and emotions, and if you tend to cry, have plenty of tissues.
I received this ARC free and voluntarily reviewed it.

Pros:

+ The history was very interesting, where concerned the Pushkins
+ For a historical novel, it reads very easily but isn’t too short either
+ As far as I’m aware, the characters were accurate and their real letters were studied for this novel
+ The end was very bittersweet but I liked it

Cons:

- The feminism was just...... basic at best
- It’s kind of like the movies from the 90s trying to appeal to the radfem demographic? Like “My life would be better if I were A MAN” “My brothers are SO LUCKY AND UNGRATEFUL” because they get to be assigned careers they hate? and care for your aging mother financially? It brings nothing new to the table
- Also on the score of the feminism, Natalya is allowed to be unsatisfied with her life, BUT she compares herself to a serf. NO. That’s absolute madness and the height of ignorance to say. I have to give leeway, as this is based on real people, and the author isn’t responsible for what they do or say, but I feel that it’s clearly meant to be The Natalya Show and that the feminism is only meant for her. She has NO positive female relationships, except maybe with her aunt who later tells her to commit adultery, thus vilifying her, and Natalya never acknowledges that she maybe isn’t the only woman in the world who has problems that matter, except with her mother at the end, after we’ve long been forced to believe that she is a horrible witch

What a tawdry tale.
That’s all I’m really left with to say, because at the end of the day, that’s all this really was. Love and romance and drama and foolishness.

The Lost Season of Love and Snow (please, will these titles go out of style yet? it takes forever to type) is a historical novel featuring the hated wife of one of Russia's most famous and revered poets, Alexander Pushkin. Natalya Pushkina, née Goncharova, was just sixteen when she met the already-beloved poet, and they promptly fell in love and married. Everything should've been roses and happiness, but alas, it was not meant to be.

We open with the death of Alexander--which is, by Natalya's own admission, practically by her own hand. It is the cause of her husband's death that makes her so reviled by the people, but what TLSoLaS strives to say is that it was just as much Alexander's fault if anything, and that history is quick to vilify women without giving the situation any proper care or attention. Do I think it succeeded in telling Natalya's story? Yes. Do I wonder how true to life it was? Yes. Do I think it was interesting all the same? Kind of.

The question is really, how did I enjoy it? Well, as an avid reader of Russian history, I was interested to read about an individual instead of an era, and in a time period I don't usually focus on. That’s what I was here for. I thought the actual Russianness of the story was a little under-explored--at this point in history, there was much European influence, but this book just didn't feel Russian. It could have been set anywhere, honestly, and I wouldn't have been any the wiser. Using patronymics and featuring the tsar just does not a Russian book make, and a Russian book is what I, perhaps naively, hoped for.

It is, however, a relatively quick read (I read it in an afternoon and I'm a notoriously slow reader) and does its job. Natalya's side of the story is told in fairly interesting fashion. Alexander is shown to be a bloody passionate fool (not unexpected, no offense). Their love story was a little bit ... gross? at times? Which is mostly my own opinion, from the fact that their age gap was pretty wide and much of their love consisted of sex and sexism from Alexander, then later playing games, cheating, and basically being possessive and crazy enough to get yourself shot over it.

I'm not blaming the book for some of this. Clearly, the Pushkins were slightly batshit, but I didn't feel deeply enough connected to the characters to find their batshittery endearing rather than just trying to the patience.

Not to mention, Natalya has this monologuing tendency to lament over being a woman. Women had it bad. I know. In Russia especially, as they're revoltingly sexist even today, BUT, I know that already. I'm a woman, I know that sexism exists. The job of the author is to not tell me all about how being born a woman sucks a lot, because YAWN. There are a million better ways to write a narrative about a woman facing discrimination better than that brand of laziness--AND you fail entirely to make me feel for privileged Natalya's plight when she likens herself to a serf. Um. Serf women existed in this time period, right under Natalya's nose, and, UM, as people who were bought and sold like cattle, Natalya has the cushiest of all cushy lives by comparison.

Clearly, I found her narration lacking. The tackling of the subject of sexism basic at best, offensively ignorant of the world at that time at worst. Now I'm willing to understand that, in all likelihood, Natalya Pushkina herself was ignorant and uncaring of the peasants around her. Not surprising, most of the bourgeoisie was. But the author has already shown two things: she wanted to write a feminist narrative, and she didn’t care about shoving modern perspective into it. So I find it hard to get behind in that respect.

On less outraged notes, I will say that the writing flows easily and isn't too hard to stomach for a historical book. If you like scandal and skulduggery, with the pomp and frills of courtly couples, you might enjoy this. If you like dramatics and poets, I'm sure you'll like this. If you like your history light and your romance heavy, it's a done deal.

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for honest, unbiased review. Thank you!

3.5 Stars

Natalya Goncharova Pushkina, reputed to be the most beautiful Russian woman in her day, has historically received a great deal of blame for the death of her husband Alexander Pushkin, Russia's most famous poet, in a duel fought over her reputation and his honor. The degree to which Natalya was responsible for the duel has long been debated by Pushkin historians. I agree with author Jennifer Laam that, since history has largely been written by men, misbehaving women, or more accurately, women not conforming to their cultural and societal roles are treated badly in historical accounts.

I have to admit that I found this book tough going in passages. The first person narrative choice (Natalya's voice) just did not seem to be the best fit, in my opinion. I am sure the choice was made to try to invest the readers in the heroine's viewpoint and her world, but for me, it didn't work. What I struggled with in this book is the fact that the first person narrator often seemed to be reflecting on observations more suited to an older, omniscient third-person narrator, stripping the voice of authenticity from a character who, though very bright, is only sixteen years old at the start of the book. (Admittedly, often counted as a young adult in that age.) The reader definitely cares about the lives of Natalia and Alexander but I felt that a deeper exploration of the relationship and its obvious downfalls (the societal "burden" of her beauty and vivacity, his reactions to it) might have been better explored in third-person narration. Nevertheless, here we are.

This book seeks to tell Natalya's side of history and that it does. Laam has definitely sought to exculpate Natalya from direct responsibility for Pushkin's death and makes a good case for societal views of women being responsible for Natalya's loss and Pushkin's death. While expected to be vivacious when young and unmarried, the more sober role of married women with children in this historical period often pushed even women in the upper classes to keep their sparkle and light under a proverbial bushel. Natalya attracted much attention, and not just from her devoted husband. An insult at the hands of her besotted brother-in-law results in a duel defending her reputation and her husband's honor. The duel, as all who know of Pushkin's history, cut short his life at the young age of 37. The agonizing last two days of Pushkin's life are given searing spotlight here. As a famous beauty who tried to revel in the expectations of women of her era, even as they chafed, Natalya has been called vain, cold, selfish and many, many worse things. Since Larisa Cherkashina's 2012 biography Natalya Goncharova, which portrays another side to her character thanks in part drawing on her letters and writings, has still not made its way into English translation, this book, though a novel, stands as one of the few English language defenses of Natalya's character. Laam, who has written other novels dealing with Russian history clearly loves her subjects. I just wish editorial guidance had steered this to a different narrative angle.

Check out the blog post for images of the beautiful Natalya.

A neat entry into the genre of fiction examining the lives (imagined and otherwise) of the women associated with more famous men. You must always remember how women were treated in the 18th century, whether in Russia or elsewhere. Natalya is lucky in so many ways given the time and her circumstances. If you haven't read Pushkin, hopefully this will prompt you to do so. Take it for what it is- a love story. Yes, the Tsar is rotten and read this if you think the Court was a wonderful place. Laam has written a very good novel of a woman who has generally been diss-ed by historians and critics. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This is for fans of historical fiction.

Pushkin's prose and poetry is beloved the world over. It speaks to us through the ages. His poetry becomes even more beautiful when we learn of his tragic love story. This book, sadly, does the tale no justice.
The Lost Season of Love and Snow, promised to tell the tale of the romance which inspired Pushkin to write epic tales like The Bronze Horseman, quickly denigrated into a whiny teenage "feminist" novel. The author, Jennifer Laam, says it all herself, "Empty-headed. Frivolous. Selfish. Slut." Those are exactly the words that I would use to describe Natalya Pushkina after reading this book. Unfortunately, while the author obviously meant to style Natalya Pushkina as a feminist ahead of her time, she merely emphasized her vacuous self-involved nature.
The defining moment of this story is not a conversation with the beloved genius that this nobody from nowhere was lucky enough to land. No, it was a conversation with a dream version of Catherine the Great in which Empress Catherine tells Natalya that men are useless idiots and women must fend for themselves. Natalya uses this vision as an excuse to drag her family into debt and to act in a manner guaranteed to attract the wrong kind of attention.
The author tried to paint Natalya Pushkina as a feminist hero, a victim of sexual harassment and men's jealous natures, not culpable in her husband's tragic end. Instead, she paints a portrait of a insensitive girl, too taken up with costumes, who has no respect for the genius that she married, whose actions deprived the world of a beautiful voice.

The Lost Season of Love and Snow tells of the courtship, romance and marriage of Alexander Pushkin, Russia's premier poet, and his wife Natalya Goncharova in the early 1800s. While her words can be quite descriptive of the Russian settings, I know I am swimming upstream when I say that the characters appeared stilted and wooden to me, and the book was all too easy for me to put down.

This "unforgettable love story" is not as advertised in my humble opinion.

My apologies to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press who were so gracious as to provide me an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.