Linda Lee Chaikin, The Midwife of St. Petersburg

The Midwife of St. Petersburg

Linda Lee Chaikin

Waterbrook, Apr 2007, $13.99

ISBN: 140007083X

Karena Peshkov dreams of going to medical school, but the Imperial College of Medicine ignores her annual application. By 1914, Karena has accepted that she will never be trained as a doctor so she makes the best of helping her Jewish mother, the village midwife. She accepts an invitation to spend some time with her cousin Tatiana Roskov, daughter of an influential Czarist general. At the affluent estate she meets Colonel Alexsandr Kronstadt. They are attracted to one another but he is intended for Tatiana.

Trying to provide medical assistance to the neglected, impoverished peasants becomes nearly impossible as Karena and her injured mother are forced to flee to St. Petersburg. The Bolsheviks accuse the two female Peshkovs of royal connections while the Czarist secret police believes she is a Bolshevik assassin. Neither side cares one iota about the truth as power is all that matters. Unable to remain neutral anymore as he fell in love with Karena at the Roskov estate, Alex risks his military career to insure she is safe though he does not dare go anywhere near her.

This is a deep look at Russia during the turbulent end of the Tsarist reign and subsequent competition to replace the monarchy. The storyline is mostly seen through the discerning eyes of Karena, but to a degree the audience also obtains the insights of Alex. Romance fans will hope they will find a way to be together during the torrential chaotic era while historical readers will thoroughly enjoy Linda Lee Chaikin's deep look at revolution in WWI-era Russia.

Harriet Klausner