Red Mistress is a historical fiction novel that begins in 1914 in pre revolutionary Saint Petersburg. It tells the story of Nadia Kushlinka, whose family is considered aristocratic. Nadia’s mother is French and her “au pair”, Mrs. Fields, was hired from London, to teach Nadia and her brother Vasily, English. When the revolution begins, Vasily goes off to fight, And life changes completely for Nadia. She must reinvent herself, in order to survive. Lucky for her, her language skills serve her extremely well ....
Red Mistress is a great historical fiction read.

After finishing the book I watched author @elizabethblackwellbooks speak about writing the book and all the research that went into covering all the different time periods (and cities: Saint Petersburg, Paris, London). (She is the author in the top left corner in the 2nd photo). This FB live event really explained ALL THE WORK that goes into writing a book like this, (ALOT).

Well, @elizabethblackwellbooks, I am posting this #5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review for #redmistress. I really enjoyed reading it, and I especially enjoyed listening to you (and all the other historical fiction authors) talk about writing historical fiction.
Thank you @NetGalley and @lakeunionauthors for my copy of Red Mistress in return for my honest review.

#historicalfiction #bolshevik #saintpetersburg #petrograd #paris #london #espionage #summerreads #beachreads

Historical Fiction the Way It Ought to Be

I love to read historical fiction, but I don't think I've read one before that was set around the time of the Russian Revolution with a female lead. Back when I was in high school at the height of the Cold War, I actually took a class in Russian history. The author has done an amazing amount of research to make this feel realistic and believable. She has certainly created a strong, sympathetic heroine who had and then lost much as a part of the Bolshevik Revolution. You can appreciate her will to survive as best she can. I like books that show the sweep of history through the lens of a small group of people who are caught up in its currents. The author achieves that here. The writing style is immersive, which I am a fan of, particularly in historical fiction (where I don't think it is particularly easy). Highly recommended.

Red Mistress is my idea of the perfect historical fiction novel, as it has almost all of my favorite historical fiction elements: an interesting and well-researched time period, an immersive setting, Russian politics, espionage, war, forbidden romance, and a strong female protagonist. It's almost as if Elizabeth Blackwell wrote this book with my preferences in mind.

I haven't read much historical fiction lately--mainly because it seems like everyone and their mother keep writing more books set during WWII, and a girl can only read so many WWII novels before she gets sick of them. Not that fiction set during WWI is all that much less abundant, but I hadn't read a good WWI novel with a good, non-Western, female POV character since 'Nam and I was itching for a fix.

I loved everything about the story: the characters, the plot, the setting, the drama, the politics. Everything. And it was quite clear that the author did her due diligence in researching the time period and making the story feel realistic. I was ecstatic to learn that Red Mistress wasn't Elizabeth Blackwell's first novel, so that once I finish making my way through my stack of ARCs, I don't have to wait for her write a new novel and can instead start reading her older books, which I'm confident will be awesome, given how much I enjoyed this book.

Do yourself a favor and pick up this book ASAP.

Set during the Russian Revolution and pre WWII France, Red Mistress tells the story of Nadia and her struggle to survive. I have not read any books set in Russia during this era so I absolutely loved learning more about the Revolution. While this story is more character driven, which I don't normally enjoy, there was enough action to make the pages fly by.

I have been recommending this book to everyone who loves historical fiction! I will be trying to learn more about this era on my own as well.

A young girl whose family are aristocrats in Russia during the Russian Revolution, sees the downfall of her family and is forced into the position of taking care of them, which leads her into doing things she never dreamed she would have to do.I
I enjoyed this book a lot. It was well written and grabbed my interest from the beginning. The characters where well developed and interesting and the plot was different.
Giving a 4 star rating!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher and author for an ARC of this book. The opinions expressed are my own.

Red Mistress by Elizabeth Blackwell is an enjoyable historical fiction that encompasses the rise the rise and events of the Russian Revolution, and the immediate years thereafter.

This story is about Nadia whom was a part of the Russian royals/aristocracy during the time of this upheaval. Many were arrested and executed. A few were able to flee to other countries, where their lives were drastically altered and became impoverished. Others were lucky enough to find family, friends, or trades that allowed them to survive. Nadia was able to marry and involve herself with the Bolsheviks and then later became a spy of sorts in France. Mystery, suspense, intrigue, and also surprisingly, love/romance are all themes that are incorporated into this entertaining and enjoyable HF.

I enjoyed the plot/time frame, the character cast, and also the ending. I also enjoyed the author’s note on what was real vs fiction.

4/5 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for this ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR account immediately and will post it to my Amazon and B&N accounts upon publication.

I really enjoy historical novels and this one was a treat since it was set during the Russian Revolution, not a familiar subject for me. Nadia comes from a noble Russian family, who loses everything at the start of the war. Her family falls apart and she is left alone, with no source of income. Her brother is fighting with the resisters, so she has no contact with him.
She meets up with a friend of her uncle’s, who is a Bolshevik and ends up marrying him to survive. So begins her career as a spy in Paris.
This was a story of struggle, loss and the will to survive, no matter the cost. But her past guides her to try and help those of her family that survived, unable to betray her values.
Elizabeth Blackwell is a skilled storyteller and the amount of research needed to tell this story is apparent. I loved her fictional characters, especially Nadia, a strong brave woman, ahead of her time.
My thanks to #LakeUnionPublishing and #NetGalley for the ARC for my independent opinion. I really enjoyed this book!

Nadia and her family lived well before the Russian Revolution but then everything came tumbling down for her. Grinding poverty and being a non-person reduces her to a shadow of herself but her uncle Sergey is there as more or less of a safety net for both Nadia and her brother Vasily. Unfortunately, so is Alek, who before things went bad, flirted with her mother. Nadia marries Alek, becomes a translator, thanks to the English she learned from her governess, as well as her French, and then finds herself on a mission to uncover traitors to the USSR who are resident in Paris. This has a great start but fell off for me because I could not grasp WHY Nadia continued with her mission in Paris. Certainly she wasn't committed to the cause, not one bit. The argument could be made that she was worried about Sergey and Vasily but that wasn't raised. Certainly she wanted to be close to Lee but really, I don't understand why she followed through with any of the "espionage." Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. I know I sound sour but know that this is a well written novel that will appeal to fans of historical fiction.

It was refreshing to find a story about a female spy that had nothing to do with World War Two. I found myself getting wrapped up in Nadia's story as she navigated a life of duty and secrecy while trying to remain true to herself. I did find a few things as predictable, while other elements caught me completely off guard. Overall it was a lovely story that I enjoyed reading.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this book because of Elizabeth Blackwell's previous books. They've kinda got that historical yet creepy ghost vibe on my opinion and the sypnosis for this one threw me. I loved it though!!!!!!!! The espionage, secrets, passion, and deception weaves into an amazingly great historical fiction book!!! Five stars from me. Thank you to Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for my honest review.

A great read about a young Russian aristocrat who loses everything during the Russian revolution. From riches to rags, the reader is taken on Nadia’s journey from wealth to poverty in Russia to France to England. She is a resilient determined heroin.

Having read the authors take on sleeping beauty I was excited to read what else she could imagine. I have always been fascinated with russian history especially having been to St Petersburg.. Add in political intrigue and spies and my other love Paris, what is there not to love? Sometimes it felt a little slow but I was engaged enough in the story not to mind. I really liked the main character and her resilience. I guessed one of the twists and was glad I was right. if you like this genre I reccomend.

I absolutely LOVED this book!!! We meet Nadia Shulkina, a Russian aristocrat and her noble family who become victims of the events of the Russian Revolution. Nadia sees her father killed, and everything in her life ending as she knows it. So to survive, Natalia keeps reinventing herself. First as a housekeeper in her own home , which is turned into a dorm for nurses, then marries her uncle's older good friend, a Party official, then an artist, a translator, and finally a spy. This was a page turner, an easy quick read, and a female protagonist that you admire and root for!!!; Highly recommend!!

What a wonderful novel of the difficult path one young woman walked through the Russian Revolution and the early Soviet Union. I loved Nadia's detachment and practicality, mixed with her belated understanding of childhood incidents.

A great, quick read. I really enjoyed this book. A young woman who is a Russian aristocrat sees her world fall apart during the Communist Revolution. This section of the book was particularly well written and a wonderful depiction of how the Revolution went down for those with money. The protagonist then struggles to survive in new, awful circumstances and eventually ends up in Paris. The book has a terrific twist at the very end.

Well written and edited, with not an ounce of fat on it. Highly recommended for summer beach reading.

Before the Russian revolution, Nadia Shulkina and her family led a life of privilege, with a country estate and a home in Saint Petersburg. Nadia was taught by an English governess and adored her older brother Vasily. With the rise of the Bolsheviks her father was murdered, their estate and home were confiscated and she became a “former person”. With her new status she was not entitled to a food ration card and survived by becoming a cleaner in her former home.

Nadia takes on a number of jobs as she re-invents herself. Caretaker for her mother, illustrator for a publication and provider for her surviving family, she does what she must to survive, even marrying Alex Semetov, an influential member of state security. Under his direction she becomes a spy. As Marie Duval she travels to Paris to make contact with Russian exiles and find evidence of plots against the Bolsheviks. It is this assignment that gives her a taste of freedom and a chance to find love. Everything is jeopardized when a murder is committed and she is exposed.

Elizabeth Blackwell takes you from the ballrooms of Saint Petersburg to the revolts and destruction of a way of life. Nadia grows from a young teen to a resourceful woman who must consider her every word and action to survive. The writing makes it easy to visualize the Russian countryside and the streets of Paris, making Red Mistress a story that is easy to recommend. I would like to thank NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for providing this book for my review.

It’s no secret I love history and historical fiction, but Russia and the Soviet Union have never been one of those areas that I have an interest in. I do, however, also love spy novels, so I thought I’d give The Red Mistress a try. Wow, I was not disappointed! From the first page, Ms Blackwell’s writing had me hook, line, and sinker.

The story revolves around Nadia, the daughter of a Russian Aristocratic family. She is a young teenager when the revolution begins and her world is upended and she quickly has to learn how to survive in the new Soviet Russia. She soon finds herself married to an influential member of the party, but she knows she can’t trust anyone, let alone her husband. He then sends her to France to use her language skills as an interpreter née spy at the embassy and she she finds herself embroiled in a plot to overthrow the Bolsheviks. Or is it? Who can she trust? Who is following her? Along the way she meets Lee, a British socialist with whom she has an affair. But is he spying on her too?

And then the story gets good! No kidding, the plot twists just kept going. This was one of those books I couldn’t put down. If you like historical fiction, Soviet or Russian era stories, or spy novels, although there really isn’t that much spy craft, just the underlying theme, this is a great read. Perfect for the beach or a lazy Sunday.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers and the author for an ARC in return for an honest review.

I always enjoy reading historical fiction. However, I have not read many books about the 1920's Russia and its spy network. That said, I really enjoyed this account of a woman born to a higher class family to have it taken away when the Bolsheviks emerged into power. Through her own fortitude and linguistic knowledge, Nadia is able to create a new life for herself as a somewhat spy in Paris.

Red Mistress give some insight on what a woman of this era had to do to survive being part of a non-existent/non-person situation.

There is a bit of a love story, which did not interfere with the overall story. This is a good summer read.

Thank you NetGalley and the author and publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest feedback.

Red Herring. This book seemed so real that I was *constantly* Googling to see if various people were in fact real. Only to get to the author's note at the end where Blackwell points out that at least a few characters were based on real life people - but the characters did not share the names of the people they were based on. From the opening opulence of Tsarist Russia just prior to WWI to the Bolshevik Revolution to the dramas of the new Political Directorate and Stalin's purges, this book spans about 25 years of momentous history and covers it in a way I had never really seen before. Great work in making every setting believable and almost palpable, and great storytelling within those settings to boot. Very much recommended.

This was a great read - I finished it in one day. The main character, Nadia, is entirely believable as she goes through life in Russia beginning with WWI. The description of life in tsarist Ruissia and then Bolshevik Russia is captivating and written with a lot of detail.

I must confess I didn't see the twist near the end. (I don't want to give away any spoilers.)

I love spy novels and I have been devouring the ones about female spies lately. If you're the same, you should definitely pick this one up.