What do you think?
Rate this book
Blood and Sable
THE NOBLE LEGACY OF AN UNFORGETTABLE WOMAN ... THE ENDURING PASSIONS OF MEN ... A SAGA AS SPECTACULAR AS ALL OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE ...
PRINCESS ANYA --- The pride of Russia's Royal Family, she was gifted with the best of everything --- wealth, power, beauty, intelligence and a fiery independence. She would need all of this --- and more --- to triumph when her world is ripped apart.
ADAM LOWELL --- The handsome, ambitious American diplomat who poured his life into his career. But when he meets the captivatingly beautiful Anya, he would risk it all --- including his life --- to save hers ...
OLEG IVANOV --- The volatile, exiled revolutionary. Obsessed with Anya at first sight, he will break every rule in his drive to posses her.
PRINCESS ANYA --- The pride of Russia's Royal Family, she was gifted with the best of everything --- wealth, power, beauty, intelligence and a fiery independence. She would need all of this --- and more --- to triumph when her world is ripped apart.
ADAM LOWELL --- The handsome, ambitious American diplomat who poured his life into his career. But when he meets the captivatingly beautiful Anya, he would risk it all --- including his life --- to save hers ...
OLEG IVANOV --- The volatile, exiled revolutionary. Obsessed with Anya at first sight, he will break every rule in his drive to posses her.
- GenresRussiaHistorical Romance
562 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1988
2 people are currently reading
39 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 13, 2011
3.5 stars for this Russian soap opera
Russian Princess Anya Svirdiov is raised by her aunt and uncle upon the death of her parents, and no surprise is the apple of her family's eye (she is a princess after all). While staying at the family's country estate, she is attacked and left for dead by Oleg Ivanov, a local peasant and all around bad guy. Anya is sent to grand-papa in Paris to recuperate, but rumors soon start swirling that she was raped as well as beaten and now damaged goods and no marriage prospects in sight because of that. Anya's not one to be down and out for long and convinces her grand-papa there's one man who will marry her - American diplomat Adam Lowell (Adam's known the family for years). Adam may be a grieving widower, but he's no fool to turn down a girl and her money and the two settle happily into married life (well, he really does love her). It's too hard to explain and yes I know it stretches the credulity factor, but Adam gains the title of Prince and even keeps the day job at the American Embassy (you never know when that diplomatic immunity will come in handy).
Anyhoo, married life is wonderful, but Anya's extended family certainly has their ups and downs, let alone the Romanovs and that little complication Grigori Rasputin. Anya's other complication in life is the mad as a hatter Oleg who like the phoenix rises from the ashes and is hell-bent on killing Anya once and for all. Since most of you know your basic history you know a little thing called WWI happens, as well as a Revolution so you know life is going to get really complicated - and it's much too hard to try to explain it all in a brief review.
Despite what appears to be a romance from the cover, I wouldn't exactly pigeon hole it there. I'd call this more of a big old soap opera, picture the Carringtons of Dynasty in St. Petersburg. The Sviridov's are filthy rich, so reader will get ample fill of beautiful women, extravagant gowns, furs, jewels, grand nights at the opera and a good cat fight or two. Yes, there is the strong love interest between Anya and Adam, but there's none of the usual romance tropes of Big Misunderstandings and Separations followed by mad passionate making up. The sex in this book is fairly tame, especially by today's standards, but be warned there is one secondary story that involves parental abuse of a child, so if you are sensitive to that I'd recommend steering clear of this. That said, I wouldn't call it gratuitous in nature, nor is it overly sensationalized with minute details of child rape - but is used to set the background for one disturbed child.
All in all a fairly decent read, not great but not bad either but like any soap opera the strum and drang went on just a wee bit too long, as well as the Oleg's constant near misses at capture and well deserved death. I enjoyed the ride at first, but now I'm glad it is over.
Russian Princess Anya Svirdiov is raised by her aunt and uncle upon the death of her parents, and no surprise is the apple of her family's eye (she is a princess after all). While staying at the family's country estate, she is attacked and left for dead by Oleg Ivanov, a local peasant and all around bad guy. Anya is sent to grand-papa in Paris to recuperate, but rumors soon start swirling that she was raped as well as beaten and now damaged goods and no marriage prospects in sight because of that. Anya's not one to be down and out for long and convinces her grand-papa there's one man who will marry her - American diplomat Adam Lowell (Adam's known the family for years). Adam may be a grieving widower, but he's no fool to turn down a girl and her money and the two settle happily into married life (well, he really does love her). It's too hard to explain and yes I know it stretches the credulity factor, but Adam gains the title of Prince and even keeps the day job at the American Embassy (you never know when that diplomatic immunity will come in handy).
Anyhoo, married life is wonderful, but Anya's extended family certainly has their ups and downs, let alone the Romanovs and that little complication Grigori Rasputin. Anya's other complication in life is the mad as a hatter Oleg who like the phoenix rises from the ashes and is hell-bent on killing Anya once and for all. Since most of you know your basic history you know a little thing called WWI happens, as well as a Revolution so you know life is going to get really complicated - and it's much too hard to try to explain it all in a brief review.
Despite what appears to be a romance from the cover, I wouldn't exactly pigeon hole it there. I'd call this more of a big old soap opera, picture the Carringtons of Dynasty in St. Petersburg. The Sviridov's are filthy rich, so reader will get ample fill of beautiful women, extravagant gowns, furs, jewels, grand nights at the opera and a good cat fight or two. Yes, there is the strong love interest between Anya and Adam, but there's none of the usual romance tropes of Big Misunderstandings and Separations followed by mad passionate making up. The sex in this book is fairly tame, especially by today's standards, but be warned there is one secondary story that involves parental abuse of a child, so if you are sensitive to that I'd recommend steering clear of this. That said, I wouldn't call it gratuitous in nature, nor is it overly sensationalized with minute details of child rape - but is used to set the background for one disturbed child.
All in all a fairly decent read, not great but not bad either but like any soap opera the strum and drang went on just a wee bit too long, as well as the Oleg's constant near misses at capture and well deserved death. I enjoyed the ride at first, but now I'm glad it is over.
August 29, 2021
This is a gripping drama, extremely soapy, more sweeping epic than romance novel. Plot-wise it’s about what you would expect - we have our heroine, Anya, and then an assortment of colorful and often wickedly villainous supporting characters. We follow not only Anya but, like, everyone else involved around at various points, including the evil Oleg - which does give us a good look at some of the revolutionary tactics and mindsets of the era, although by making him an insane rapist the book loses some nuance (understatement). However, the rather comprehensive look at Russian society means that no one escapes unscathed - from the high society ladies drooling over Rasputin to the industrialists secretly funding revolutionaries to the corrupt secret police to the revolutionaries themselves - which is a nice change from the vaguely hagiographic books set prior to the Revolution which portray the aristocracy as glamorous protagonists who never do anything REALLY bad and the revolutionaries as bestial jealous thugs. Conniving ballerina and semi-professional mistress Zenaida and Anya’s venal and (understandably) rage-filled cousin Tasha are both more interesting than Anya, but the author treats both of them with a fair amount of respect although she does not present either as likable.
In general the book seems to have a good sense of place - where you’re standing in St. Petersburg or Moscow at a given moment feels clear and “real.” However, Russian naming conventions take a real beating, with the author assigning nicknames approximately at random (Talya to Natalya, Kolya to Constantine, Tasha to Tatiana, etc.), and one poor child is referred to as “Byelochka” throughout the entire novel. In terms of timing the real focus of the novel is pre-revolutionary imperial Russia and World War I.
Content warnings: violence, child molestation, rape, murder, mob violence. This is one of those old-school books where the only graphic sex scenes involve villains and often sexual coercion, which is incredibly unfortunate (I recommend skipping). Please don’t ask me why this kind of old school epic novel frequently does this, because I don’t know and it’s gross.
In general the book seems to have a good sense of place - where you’re standing in St. Petersburg or Moscow at a given moment feels clear and “real.” However, Russian naming conventions take a real beating, with the author assigning nicknames approximately at random (Talya to Natalya, Kolya to Constantine, Tasha to Tatiana, etc.), and one poor child is referred to as “Byelochka” throughout the entire novel. In terms of timing the real focus of the novel is pre-revolutionary imperial Russia and World War I.
Content warnings: violence, child molestation, rape, murder, mob violence. This is one of those old-school books where the only graphic sex scenes involve villains and often sexual coercion, which is incredibly unfortunate (I recommend skipping). Please don’t ask me why this kind of old school epic novel frequently does this, because I don’t know and it’s gross.
February 11, 2023
An incredible look at the opulence and extravagance of pre-revolution Russia.
Read
September 3, 2008F Kan
July 23, 2012
Awesome
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews