The Dvina Remains

by Eugenie Fraser

The sequel to The House by the Dvina. This book completes the story with Eugenie Fraser's first return visit to Russia 50 years after her family fled to Scotland due to the Revolution. But, it was another 18 years before she was allowed to visit Archangel and make contact with relatives.

Genres: History, Russia, Memoir

221 pages, Paperback

First published March 14, 1996

About the author

Eugenie Fraser was born in Archangel to a Russian father and a Scottish mother. After the family fled to Scotland, she was brought up in Broughty Ferry and later spent most of her life in India with her husband. She died in Edinburgh in 2002.

Reviews

[Toni · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had purchased this book for my sister, who's all time favorite book is the House by the Divina. When she finished it she mailed it back to me and I've had it sitting on my to read pile for a few months. I was reluctant to begin this, believing it couldn't possibly live up to the original. I'm glad I finally decided to dive in. The Divina Remains is perhaps not as compelling as the first book, however it is still a really wonderful book.

After leaving Archangel in 1920 with her mother and brother to her mother's homeland of Scotland, Eugenie never returned to Russia until 1972, when she and her husband went on a tour. The tour was a source of disappointment, as nothing was the same and she was not able to return to Archangel.

Following this trip she begins a correspondence with her cousin who remained in Russia and is now married and living in St Petersburg. Most of the book is comprised of his letters to Eugenie, relating life in Russia since 1920, through the "terrible 30's" and during World War II.

Its not until the early post glosnast 90's that Eugenie finally is able to travel back to Archangel and observes that all is changed and only the Divina remains.

[pinta_vodki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely not as captivating as the first book, mainly because of a large portion in the middle told in letters, and while the things that happened directly after Eugenie's departure are interesting, it did not need to show all of her cousin's life up to the 80s with every minute detail. Some most interesting excerpts would be enough. But still a good book.

Equally devastating in some places.

Funny part: "In the washbasin, however, we found no plug, but having been warned previously, we had brought our own." Their family was so British, on a tourist trip to Russia in the 1970s they had to bring their own plug for the sink. lol

[Alistair Robinson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I`m afraid that i found this to be an irritating book. It`s the sequel to "The house by the Dvina" which is the authors account of her family fleeing Russia in 1920 and coming to Scotland as a child (She had a Russian father and Scottish mother). The bulk of this book is a series of letters from relations in Russia and while there are some points of interest these needed a jolly good edit and smack of sheer padding out. The author makes several trips to Russia and keeps telling us about "there were things of interest" as if she is sending a post card. The actual underlying story of a family broken up by the Russian Revolution, the Stalinist purges and a lost Russia do have interest but the authors style is annoying and I really can`t recommend this book.

[Constance · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sequel to the House by the Dvina...not quite as good but worth reading.

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating follow-up to The House by the Dvina. In the first book, the author escaped from Russia to Scotland with her mother and brother after the Russian Revolution. 50 years passed before she was able to set foot in Russia again, then another 20 years passed before she could visit her hometown in Russia. The Dvina Remains recounts these visits and also includes many letters from her cousin which tell about the suffering of people through the years of communist rule and their current living conditions. Absolutely fascinating (more so because I have a daughter living in and loving Russia, and a son in Ukraine).

[S Ambrose · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Dvina Remains is a must read for anyone who read and enjoyed The House by the Dvina.
It does not really have the in-depth fascination and appeal of The House by the Dvina which so colourfully conjures up the bygone era of an early 20th century privilged childhood in Russia, but it does satisfy the curiosity as to what came to pass in the years after the family fled Archangel. In some ways a rather depressing account of the changes that Eugenie found on her return, but heart warming that she was well received all those years later by her long-lost family in Russia.

[Chrissie]

The sequel to "The House by the Dvina". This book completes the story with Eugenie Fraser's first return visit to Russia 50 years after her family fled to Scotland due to the Revolution. It was another 18 years before she was allowed to visit Archangel and make contact with relatives.

[Duncan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finished the "trilogy" of her life but not up the the standard of the other two