Children in the City of Czars: A Novel

The hard hitting story of three orphans trying to survive in a world gone mad and where everyone but family could be the enemy.

A brother determined to keep his sisters safe in a crumbling Russian government.

Fedya is a young boy living in St. Petersburg, Russia in a time of despair and hopelessness. He attempts to protect his sisters , Elena and Irishka, by turning them over to social services who places them in an orphanage for potential adoption. Fedya's involvement in a street gang brings him into contact with dangerous people from the Russian mafia. He becomes involved with a prostitute attempting to escape her former life. Fedya is determined to find his uncle who might be able to keep his promise to his mother to keep the family together.

Children of the Czars is an insightful look of children struggling to survive in St. Petersburg, Russia under Yeltsin's administration. Fedya's struggle to be the big brother and protect his younger sisters is an admirable trait for a boy who is a child himself. I found my self encouraging Fedya not to give up in spite of the abuse and betrayal from people he thought he could trust in this gripping novel.

Irmargde Brown develops relatable characters throughout the story. I highly recommend this book for is authors personal touch and taking readers to St. Petersburg in a time where children experienced despair but also hope that things will get better.

Note: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. Thank you, NetGalley and publishers.
After the fall of the Soviet Union, life became even more difficult for the little people. It was hard to find food or money, and as so often sadly is, the ones who suffered the most were the most vulnerable, especially children. Our story opens in the city of St. Petersburg, with a family of three children, recently orphaned with the death of their mother. The oldest child makes the difficult decision to turn his sisters over to the system of Children’s Homes, that should keep them alive, even if they are split up. Though the children suffer through terrible, heartbreaking situations, they never give up hoping that they will be reunited. This is the first book in a series, so there are unanswered questions that will be addressed in the sequel.

Children in the City of Czars by Irmgarde Brown is a raw, dark, harrowing, multi-layered and difficult story to read but oh, how rewarding! Left orphaned in 1990s St. Petersburg in the post-Soviet era and in dire straits, teenager Fedya turns in his two unsuspecting younger sisters, Elena and Irishka to Social Services in hopes of a better life for them while he (barely) survives on the streets. The story details life from the three perspectives as well as other characters they encounter. What they endure is severe and horrendous but they all hold out for hope of reuniting one day. Their emotions are very real and crushing yet they cling to to gossamer threads of hope.

The writing is beautifully painful and poignant. It frequently cut like a knife. I could feel the desperation of the children as they navigated their new worlds. It seemed to them that adults were always the winners and they had no chance. Though there were some improvements to the wealthy in that time, so many were left to struggle on their own and they did things they wouldn't have otherwise even contemplated.

If you seek original writing and content which will challenge your mind and heart, add this to your list. Be aware there are vivid graphic details and violence. Sometimes I shuddered and my skin crawled, especially knowing this sort of thing was/is reality in many areas of the world. Important and sobering information can be difficult to learn about..

My sincere thank you to Serey/Jones Publishers and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this riveting and heartbreaking novel..