Review: The Daughter of Victory Lights

Title: The Daughter of Victory Lights

Author: Kerri Turner

Publisher: 20th January 2020 by Harlequin Australia, HQ & MIRA

Pages: 384 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: Historical Fiction, Women's Fiction

My Rating: 4 cups

Synopsis:

An enthralling story of one woman's determined grab for freedom after WW2 from a talented new Australian voice.

'PART CABARET, PART BURLESQUE, AND LIKE NOTHING YOU'VE EVER SEEN BEFORE! GENTLEMEN, AND LADIES IF YOU'VE DARED TO COME, WELCOME TO ... THE VICTORY!'

1945: After the thrill and danger of volunteering in an all-female searchlight regiment protecting Londoners from German bombers overhead, Evelyn Bell is secretly dismayed to be sent back to her rigid domestic life when the war is over. But then she comes across a secret night-time show, hidden from the law on a boat in the middle of the Thames. Entranced by the risque and lively performance, she grabs the opportunity to join the misfit crew and escape her dreary future.

At first the Victory travels from port to port to raucous applause, but as the shows get bigger and bigger, so too do the risks the performers are driven to take, as well as the growing emotional complications among the crew. Until one desperate night ...

1963: Lucy, an unloved and unwanted little girl, is rescued by a mysterious stranger who says he knows her mother. On the Isle of Wight, Lucy is welcomed into an eclectic family of ex-performers. She is showered with kindness and love, but gradually it becomes clear that there are secrets they refuse to share. Who is Evelyn Bell?

My Thoughts

‘After a life of doing what was expected of her, leaving to help a group of strangers better their law-breaking performance just so she could do the kind of work she craved again … It was madness. It was also freedom.’

The Daughter of Victory Lights is the second book by Aussie author Kerri Turner that I have read and enjoyed. Once again, Kerri has done her research and details a beautiful merge of fact and fiction from post World War II. There is much to love about this tale from the roles of women and men during and post war to the Victory itself - that unique performing boat.

This book is split into two parts centreing around firstly Evie and then later, her daughter Lucy. I thoroughly enjoyed the first part as you journey with Evie from her role in the first all- female searchlight regiment through to providing the lighting work on the Victory. Then Flynn’s role in the Graves Registration Unit was truly an eye opener - horrific and heartbreaking. I feel Kerri truly captured for both Evie and Flynn the impact these demanding roles played in their lives. Reading about the Victory performances was another definite highlight of this book. Switching to the second part of the story almost twenty years later was a surprise in more ways than one initially. Whilst not as strong as the first part - carried through by the characters of Bee and Humphrey - it is like a completely different tale through the eyes of young Lucy. Worthy but not as compelling in my opinion. 

‘Think how much hurt you’re causing other people. And for what?’ ‘For a life.’ Maureen shook her head. ‘You have a life. One everyone else manages to be grateful for. Why can’t you?’

Overall this is a most unique tale of both war and post war experiences for two situations that I had been unfamiliar with. It truly showcases the contributions of women in this fascinating role during war with the expectation to then return to ‘normal’ life; and, this 

unit in the army of literally picking up the pieces in the aftermath of war for the men and the shattering long term impact it would have. 

There is love and loss, trauma and rescue, tragedy and heartwarming experiences throughout this uniquely compelling tale. I look forward to seeing where Kerri will take her readers next. 

‘Here she didn’t have to hide the person she used to be—the person she longed to be again. Here, as Evie, she could be anyone she wanted to.’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Review: The Last Days of the Romanov Dancers

Title:  The Last Days Of The Romanov Dancers

Author: Kerri Turner

Publisher: 21st January 2019 by Harlequin Australia, HQ (Fiction, Non Fiction, YA) & MIRA

Pages: 320 pages
How I Read It: ARC book
Genre: womens fiction, historical fiction

My Rating: 4 cups

Synopsis:

Petrograd, 1914. A country on a knife edge. The story of two people caught in the middle - with everything to lose...

A stunning debut from a talented new Australian voice in historical fiction. Valentina Yershova's position in the Romanovs' Imperial Russian Ballet is the only thing that keeps her from the clutches of poverty. With implacable determination, she has clawed her way through the ranks, relying not only on her talent but her alliances with influential men that grant them her body, but never her heart. Then Luka Zhirkov - the gifted son of a factory worker - joins the company, and suddenly everything she has built is put at risk.

For Luka, being accepted into the company fulfils a lifelong dream. But in the eyes of his proletariat father, it makes him a traitor. As civil war tightens its grip and the country starves, Luka is torn between his growing connection to Valentina and his guilt for their lavish way of life.

For the Imperial Russian Ballet has become the ultimate symbol of Romanov indulgence, and soon the lovers are forced to choose: their country, their art or each other...

My Thoughts

The Last of the Romanov Dancers is the debut novel by Aussie author Kerri Turner and is a good combination of fact and fiction on a well versed topic but with a fresh twist. An intriguing historical venture into Russian ballet during the dying days of the Romanov rule.

This is a well researched book detailing lives - both real and fiction - during pre revolution Russia and branches across all levels of the social spectrum. Struggling with their involvement in WW2, the balance between the ‘have and have nots’ was coming into stark contrast in war torn Russia. Jealousy and hate at the forefront, as the lives of the royal family (with guest appearances by Rasputin) seemingly in sharp contrast to the ordinary Russian struggling to live on the street. With a focus on the Imperial Russian ballet - something the aristocracy thought would prove a worthy distraction to the war effort - all badly backfired and was held up as the ultimate symbol of everything they were fighting against.

‘He couldn’t stand to be there any more, with people who were so ready to ignore those who had already lost so much and were desperately trying to survive off less food than was left over on the silver plates they dined from. What was more, he needed to get away from them so he could try to convince himself that he wasn’t becoming one of them.’

This is where a fresh insight is provided for this well versed period in history as it is told through the eyes of the dancers. Kerri Turner (an obvious dancer herself) presents the world of ballet with everything from Swan Lake roles, to blistered feet from pointe shoes and the various ballet movements and technique. You are taken into the heart of the Imperial Russian ballet of the day where politics, deception and intrigue rule the way.

Throw into this mix of revolutionaries and ballerinas, two lovers caught in what would prove to be, a catastrophic crossfire, and you have a well rounded story.  At its core, however, this is a love story. Luka Zhirkov - a gifted dancer but from a proletariat background and Valentina Yershova who exchanges physical relationships with a ‘Protector’ in order to have influence in the ballet company. This is perhaps the slight downfall of the novel, as undoubtedly one can hazard an accurate guess of how this story will play out and the ultimate conclusion it will arrive at.

Still, I recommend this for lovers of historical fiction, particularly for the fresh perspective it brings to this revolutionary state with the interesting cultural aspect of Russian ballet.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release