Cheryl (boomerbooklover) -
I rarely give a 5-star review, but this is one of the best biographies I have ever read, even though it is about someone I never knew existed.
Stalin's daughter was raised in the Kremlin, married 4 times, had 3 children, defected to the U.S., and then lived mainly in England, New Jersey, and Wisconsin. Her family was not exempt from the violence of Stalin's reign, and many family members were imprisoned or killed. People who never knew her loved her if they revered her father as a military genius, or hated her for what they lost in her father's terrible purges. As one man stated, the fact that people you knew or loved could disappear in the middle of the night, and you might never learn their fate, was horrible. But what was even worse, people came to believe this was normal.
Svetlana described her rather tragic life as follows: âYou are Stalin's daughter. You can't live your own life. You can't live any life. You exist only in reference to a name. You can't regret your fate, though I do regret my mother didn't marry a carpenter.â
Highly recommend.
Stalin's daughter was raised in the Kremlin, married 4 times, had 3 children, defected to the U.S., and then lived mainly in England, New Jersey, and Wisconsin. Her family was not exempt from the violence of Stalin's reign, and many family members were imprisoned or killed. People who never knew her loved her if they revered her father as a military genius, or hated her for what they lost in her father's terrible purges. As one man stated, the fact that people you knew or loved could disappear in the middle of the night, and you might never learn their fate, was horrible. But what was even worse, people came to believe this was normal.
Svetlana described her rather tragic life as follows: âYou are Stalin's daughter. You can't live your own life. You can't live any life. You exist only in reference to a name. You can't regret your fate, though I do regret my mother didn't marry a carpenter.â
Highly recommend.
