A prequel to Lilac Girls, Lost Roses takes us back a generation to the start of WWI, following three different women: Eliza, Sofya, and Varinka.

Eliza Ferriday is excited to visit Russia with her best friend—a cousin of the Romanovs—Sofya Streshnayva. Eliza has always dreamed of visiting Russia from her home in the US, but not long after she arrives, political tensions are high in Russia and she departs back home to her husband and daughter, Caroline. But not long after her return, she becomes a widow and is forced to find something else to occupy her grieving mind. And what better way to occupy herself than help a cause she is passionate about: helping Russian refugee women.

Meanwhile, Sofya and her family leave the city to find a safe shelter in the countryside. Sofya’s husband is enlisting in the Russian army while Sofya takes care of their toddler son, Max. But as WWI breaks out, bandits are overtaking estates of the bourgeois. The Bolsheviks are overthrowing the royalty, putting Sofya and her family in danger.

A Russian peasant, Varinka Kozlov, took a job at Sofya’s estate to care for Max. Varinka needs to the money to care for her sickly mother. But before long Varinka learns that her mother’s live-in apprentice plans to overtake the Streshnayva estate. So Varinka takes Max and doesn’t reveal his true identity, in the hopes to save him from the bandits. If no one knows he is of royal blood, maybe he can remain unharmed.

Although these three women come from different backgrounds, they are all facing the perils of WWI, specifically the revolution in Russia. They’re doing whatever it takes to survive, whatever it takes to protect their families during such a bleak period in Russian history.

Martha Hall Kelly’s Lost Roses has been on my radar for quite a while and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it. Although Lost Roses connects to Lilac Girls, the subject-matter is completely different. A much slower-paced novel, Lost Roses mainly focuses on Russia during WWI. I had a hard time connecting to this story since it was so slow-going. And what’s more, I’m not as familiar with Russian history. I both appreciated getting to learn more about Russian history, while also feeling a slight disconnect to the content. But one thing is for sure: Martha Hall Kelly clearly did her research and it is always evident in her writing how historically accurate it is. Lost Roses is no Lilac Girls, but it was moving and eye-opening nonetheless and by the end, I became attached to these fearless, empowering women. 4/5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Ballantine Books and Martha Hall Kelly for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I may be one of the only women in America who hasn’t read The Lilac Girls yet (I will rectify that soon, I promise), but I really liked The Lost Roses.

The author has obviously done a tremendous amount of research, and it shows in the details. I personally have not read much fiction dealing with the Russian Revolution, and enjoyed this one. Eliza makes an interesting character because due to her being an outsider visiting her friend who is a noblewoman, she is able to see the looming trouble more clearly than those who are living in it.

This is a novel of friendship, of survival, of choices that define us, and of the costs of living the life we feel is right. The characters are complex, nuanced, believable, and each adds something vital to the storyline.

I did have some trouble in the very beginning keeping up with the dates and the characters and trying to calculate ages and relationships. But that quickly becomes easier by the third or fourth chapter.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with a free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. See more at instagram.com/booksandbackroads

I will start my review by saying that I haven’t read The Lilac Girls by this author which had characters that overlapped this book. However, this book stood on its own because it was a different time period. This book takes place from 1912 through 1921 when the Russian tsar loses power and WW1 is fought and ended.

This story is told through four women. Eliza Ferriday, an American heiress who tirelessly helped Russian immigrants displaced by the Bolshevik uprising, Sofya and Luba, relatives of the Russian tsar, and Varinka, a Russian peasant. In the beginning of the book I had a hard time following the story with the different characters and almost gave up reading this book. But, then the story became so alive and suspenseful that I couldn’t put the book down until I read the end.

I would recommend reading this book because the unfolding of the story is worth it. And if you love historical fiction like I do it’s an added bonus!

I was very excited to receive an advanced edition of this book through Netgalley. As someone who loved Lilac Girls it is very hard for me to not compare Kelly's follow-up to it. Unfortunately I didn't feel as connected to these characters or their story. Some of that may be because I know far less about World War I and Russia than I do about World War II and the Holocaust. I did appreciated how three dimensional the female characters were. Varinka and Sofya are not clear-cut, sympathetic characters and while that made it harder to root for them, it also made the story more true to life. This is definitely worth a read and though I didn't feel as passionately about this one as I did about Lilac Girls I am no less excited to read the next in this series of interconnected stories.

So, I haven't read the authors first book, Lilac Girls, but I'd heard a lot about it and was excited to get approved for Lost Roses, which is a prequel to the other. This is the story of three women and their lives during the Russian Revolution and WWI. It was beautifully told. I can't wait to read her other book. The characters are well developed and I found it hard to put down.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book free of charge. This is my honest and unbiased opinion of it.

This is a great prequel to Lilac Girls. In this look at Caroline Ferriday's mother, Eliza, we are transported to the time of WWI and the Bolsheviks in Russia. Hall uses a similar plot structure to Lilac Girls of telling the story through several points of view, primarily three women: Eliza, Sofya, and Varinka. Eliza is a woman I'd like to know. She had little patience for meaningless social rules and has endless energy to try and help refugees, and find her friend Sofya. We can see where Caroline (Lilac Girls) gets it. Eliza Ferriday is old friends with the Streshnayva sisters, Sofya and Luba. Sofya's story is the center of most of the book, with Luba playing a smaller role. Sofya and Luba's father is a cousin of and government official to the Tsar. Sofya's and Luba's stories are ones of survival after the Tsar is overthrown and people of wealth and means are either killed or escape as refugees. We see little of Luba, which is too bad, she is a vibrant girl and very intriguing. Sofya is too long the unsuspecting Russian nobility who did not understand the pain of others or the coming revolution that would end her way of life. I felt impatient with her initially, but was happy to see her rally with strength to survive and overcome. Varinka, the third main woman character, is a peasant and often paired with her Mamka throughout. I felt little sympathy for Varinka, at least until the end. Her situation is clearly dire and she has been placed in a horrific situation. But along most of the way, she ignores the lessons of her Mamka (who was in the role of the elder sage, but truly was painted in a more redeeming light) and I felt Varinka's selfish choices were more clearly drawn than the horror or terror under which she was living. While the historical events of the world clearly direct the narrative, Lost Roses is a story of the women and not really of the history. Lost Roses will appeal to fans of the Lilac Girls and historical fiction readers who are looking for story first in an historical setting.

I read and loved Lilac Girls back in 2017. I remember feeling that even though I've read a lot of historical fiction about WWII and The Holocaust, it was so different and a very important story to tell. In Lilac Girls, Kelly introduced us to Caroline Ferriday who was a real person. Now in Lost Roses, we learn about Caroline's mother and her story. The book travels between the United States, St. Petersburg and Paris, and follows two other women as well, Eliza and Sofya. It's 1914 and Germany is gaining power, and a possible war is looming. Kelly's story telling is just as captivating as it was in Lilac Girls, and this is a must-read! I got lost in the story and didn't want it to end.

I liked Lilac Girls, so it seemed like the next step was Lost Roses. I really liked this one. Much more. I was amazed by the wealth of these people. How they moved from continent to continent like we go visiting down the road. I really didn't know much about the Russian revolution. The opulence of the royal family. The revolt of the peasants being so terrorizing. Varinka's story end was a surprise.
The next prequel should help to answer some other story lines. How does they amass so much wealth? Social standing? Influence? It seemed like Eliza's family knew everyone.

I found Lilac Girls interesting but I was not as ecstatic as others when singing its praises. But what I did appreciate was the research that Kelly did so I was curious to read Lost Roses.

This book follows Eliza Ferriday, Caroline’s mother, as she travels with Sofya Streshnayva, a family friend, to St Petersburg in 1914, just before WWI. Once again, Kelly uses multiple voices to tell the story. This juxtaposition works well, for example, when Eliza is able to see the Russian discontent while the Stresnayvas “adopted a curious denial of the flames rising around them”.

While we all know the story of the Tsar and his family’s captivity, Lost Roses explores the fate of the next tier of aristocracy and how they fared during the revolution. She perfectly captures the anarchy, the treatment of the “former people”. I appreciated Kelly’s ability to weave historical facts into her storytelling.

As with Lilac Girls, the Ferriday story is the weakest of the bunch. Other than covering the bigotry of the upper classes, there wasn’t much tension. Eliza was a true friend to the Russian emigres but her story lacked the drama of what was transpiring in Mother Russia and later in Paris. Sofya and Varinka are both fictional, but it is their characters that interested me most. Varinka, especially, showed the moral dilemmas facing ordinary Russians during the upheaval. Anyone who enjoyed Lilac Girls will definitely appreciate Lost Roses. I will be looking forward to Kelly’s next book, which travels even further back in time to the family during Civil War days.

My thanks to netgalley and Random House for an advance copy of this book.

Turbulent times bring about much upheaval, destroying lives, making people make choices, decisions, that are often life threatening, and ultimately move in directions they never thought possible.

If you have read The Lilac Girls, you already have been introduced to Caroline Ferriday. In this book, Lost Roses, we take a step back in history and meet Caroline's mother, Eliza. The story focuses on three women, Eliza Ferriday, a New York socialite, Sofya Streshnayva, a relation of the Tsar and a close friend of Eliza's, and Varinka Kozlov, a girl hired by the Streshnayva family to help in the household. It is 1914 and the world is teetering on the brink of war. Tensions are high, people are starving, and in Russia, upheaval is on the horizon as the Tsar is about to be overthrown and life for those associated or related to the royals is not only changing dramatically but also many are finding that their lives are ending.

Sofya and Varinka are in peril. Sofya and her family, because of their proximity to royalty and Varinka, daughter of a well known fortune teller, because she and her mother are under the thumb of two evil revolutionaries are in danger. They all find themselves caught up in the turmoil and unrest that threatens their very lives. Meanwhile, in America, Eliza worries and does all she can to secure the safety of Sofya, knowing her friend and family is in a grave situation.

Eliza Ferriday was a true friend. She it is who we come to know not only as a friend but also as a compassionate woman who so understood the plight of her dearest friend, but also that of those who were able to escape and come to America, particularly to Southampton New York. She did all she could to find her friend but she also did all within her power to aid those Russians so fallen from their previous status, to find jobs and new lives here in this country.

The author weaves a story of danger, a story of friendship, of love, done so well that the characters find their way into you heart and mind. She makes them all come alive, giving authenticity to their feelings, their struggles, and their will to live. This is a story of wealth, a story of a fall from that pedestal that many had experienced before the Communists came to power. It is also a brief look into the lives of the peasants living under the Tsar and how their lives were bitter and oppressive. Russia was ripe for revolution, and when it came, no one living there was ever the same.

As always, it is so wonderful to learn of things that are unknown in our history. Ironically, my husband's family owned homes in Southampton not too far away from the places mentioned in this book. It is always so interesting and riveting when one makes that connection to a place they once lived. I high recommend this book to all of those who love history and superior story telling.
Thank you to Martha Hall Kelly, Ballantine Books, and NetGalley for forwarding this exquisite story to me.
This book is due to be published on April 9, 2019

Historical fiction with multiple narrators might be my favorite genre and this book did NOT disappoint. It is a prequel of sorts to Martha Hall Kelly's 'The Lilac Girls' but would stand alone as well and work read out of order (as Lilac Girls was published first).

Eliza Ferriday, Sofya, and Varinka are the three points of views throughout the book. They come from varying backgrounds and locations yet reading the book you see how they intertwine. The juxtaposition of extreme wealth and poverty and the roles the two can play and how they can change especially during war times draws the reader in even more as you ache for the characters even though in fur coats.

I fell in love with the Ferriday women, Caroline the daughter is a big player in 'The Lilac Girls' and her mother Eliza is a big character in 'Lost Roses'. Strong, fierce, and at the same time vulnerable women in the midst of the two World Wars.

I hope Martha Hall Kelly falls in love with more women from the past and writes more books to tell us their stories.

Lost Roses is my first book by this author, but it won't be my last. It told a moving, well written story with engaging characters and a perfectly illustrated setting. Recommended!

I loved The Lilac Girls so was thrilled to hear there was to be a prequel. I have always been fascinated by the Russian revolution and was very interested in this story. This is very much a story of how strong women can be in the time of war and how strong their friendships can be to transcend oceans. Fans of historical fiction will definitely want to add this to their to be read list. A 5 star read for me.

Lost Roses is the much-anticipated prequel to the bestseller, Lilac Girls. This time around the novel is set just before the start of WWI and continues to 1921. This is an epic tale of three women caught up in the catastrophic events of the war and the Russian Revolution. Eliza Ferriday is a New York socialite, her best friend Sofya Streshnayva is a Russian aristocrat and a cousin to the tsar, and Varinka is a Russian peasant girl, hired as a servant by Sofya’s family. Eliza’s visit to Russia is cut short with the outbreak of WWI and she feels “disturbed”, leaving her friend Sofya behind as she returns to her safe home in New York. Meanwhile Sofya and her family move to their house in the countryside hoping to escape the unrest in the city, but soon find themselves caught up in the Bolshevik uprising. They hire Varinka as a servant, but Varinka, keeping her own dangerous secrets, brings further danger to the family.

From New York to Russia to Paris, Kelly’s exquisite novel is painstakingly researched, and the characters are richly drawn. The reader will find themselves riveted by these tragic world events, quickly turning the pages to find out the fate of each of the women. Their remarkable strength and courage shines throughout as their lives are torn apart. A great history lesson in the form of truly compelling work of fiction. Though this book is a prequel to Lilac Girls, the story can be read as a stand alone novel. This will be a great read for book clubs and book lovers alike.

I loved “Lilac Girls” by Martha Hall Kelly, and was so excited when I learned she was releasing a prequel, “The Lost Roses.” Where her first novel focused on the good works done by Caroline Ferriday during World War II, this one revolves around Eliza Woolsey Ferriday, Caroline’s mother, during the years before, during and after World War I, as she fights to help the “White Russians,” emigres forced to flee the Bolsheviks. And though Caroline is featured in “The Lost Roses,” this book can be read as a standalone as well.

Kelly alternates between the points of view of three characters in the novel – we hear from Eliza as well as her best friend, Sofya, who is the cousin of Tsar Nicholas, and from Varinka, a Russian peasant. With action taking place in New York, Paris and St. Petersburg and Malinov, Russia from 1914-1921, “The Lost Roses” follows the women as their lives and worlds change during the upheaval of the Russian Revolution and World War I. Kelly clearly did her research – she makes these locations and the lives of the women come alive through her descriptions. From dazzling Imperial balls and Russian peasant homes to the Hamptons’ society cliques and the resiliency of war-torn Paris, the details she provides about their clothing, what they eat, and their daily lives is really compelling.

All three women have to find ways to survive in new circumstances and face difficult choices to save their lives and those of their families. I loved the strong women in this book, especially some of the secondary characters like Luba, Sofya’s younger sister; Mamka, Varinka’s feisty mother; and Caroline Carson Woolsey Mitchell, Eliza’s mother who now navigates New York high society the way she once did a Civil War hospital. As the stories of the three protagonists and those around them unfold, they experience devastating loss, try to find love and learn just how formidable they can be.

My one criticism of “The Lost Roses” is that the way some of the characters reconnect felt overly convenient, but it’s a small quibble. Kelly notes at the end of the book that her next will be a prequel to this one and focus on Caroline Carson Woolsey Mitchell’s experience as a nurse during the Civil War. I’m already counting down the days!

I received a digital copy of this ARC from NetGalley and Random House in exchange for an unbiased review. All opinions are my own

Unfortunately, I am listing this one as a "did not finish". I love the Russian history and the focus on WWI, but the many characters to keep straight was just too much for me right now. I found myself fighting the urge to skim and looking at my % read too often.

Perhaps the timing is off for me and I will try again at a later time. If I come back to it and finish it I will post a review online at that time.

If you enjoyed "Lilac Girls," this book is for you. If you didn't read "Lilac Girls," don't worry, this book takes place earlier in time and you do not need to read one to better enjoy the other. In a similar style, the story is told alternating between three women. Eliza Ferriday, the mother of Caroline from "Lilac Girls" tells most of her story from America. Sofya Streshmayva is a cousin to the Romanovs at a time when Bolsheviks were coming into power. The third central character is Varinka Kozlov, a peasant, who has been poorly treated in life prior to the Russian Revolution. While all three stories will hold your attention and are compelling, I was most fascinated by the story of Sofya. I knew little about life in Russia before and during the Revolution, and the author has clearly done her research and makes you feel for these characters. There is plenty of suspense and surprises along the way. I probably enjoyed this book more than "Lilac Girls" because I didn't have to close my eyes during certain scenes, and if you've read that book, you know what I mean.

A historical novel of war and friendships. I loved this novel very much. It was very readable an moves along. This author makes history very interesting

Kelly's historical fiction writing brings these stories to life. She absolutely captured me with Lilac Girls, so I was very excited to get to read a galley of Lost Roses (thanks, NetGalley!). This time we follow multiple storylines in Russia and the US during WWI and the Bolshevik Revolution. Amazingly, our main US character from Lilac Girls, Caroline, is part of this story as well, since her mother, Eliza is our US protagonist.
On the other side of the world we have Russian Aristocrat Sofya, and her peasant nanny Varinka.
This story took a solid 33% (kindle book, so I'm not sure how long that truly was) to get me fully invested. That is much longer than I am usually willing to wait for a story to get going. It was worth it in the end, but I feel a bit tighter plotting through the first half of the book would have served us well

I loved Lilac Girls so much, I was afraid Lost Roses wouldn't be as fascinating. But it was fantastic! I love how Martha Hall Kelly takes events we all know (World War I and the Russian Revolution) and tells the story from a completely different perspective. Namely, how these events affected the women. Just LOVED the characters so much! Thanks for a great read. I can't wait for Kelly's next book.