Goodreads asked Anne M. Kennedy:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Anne M. Kennedy I was working as a teacher in Baku Azerbaijan and was asked to teach a class about the Baku oil barons. I knew nothing about them and had little knowledge of Baku's history. I researched and found the topic so interesting that I wanted to set a story about a family living during the time of the first oil boom. The effect of the first oil boom and the terrible working conditions on the oil fields attracted Joseph Stalin to Baku. He found the oil workers ready for revolution.

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