If you’re intrigued by Russian history, if Russian novels give you goosebumps or if you love historical fiction in general, you’ll love “The Last Russian Doll”.
The Last Russian Doll – Summary
The novel follows three generations of Russian women, from the 1917 revolution to the starvation of Leningrad (today’s Saint Petersburg) in WWII, to the last days of the Soviet Union, all wrapped in an enduring love story.
It all begins with Rosie, a young woman who lives in England and has a mysterious past. After her mother dies, she returns to Russia to uncover her family history, guided by her mother’s fairy tales. She leaves behind her fiancée, Richard, with whom she has a nice, comfortable relationship, the kind where she can be her ideal person, but can’t actually share her true self.
Rosie discovers the story of Tonya, a married noblewoman who falls in love with Valentin, an idealistic revolutionary. Tonya and Valentin’s love is epic, and their choices have consequences that affect all their descendants.
First, they live out lovers. When they are discovered by Dmitry, Tonya’s husband, they decide to remain together, despite society’s norms. Dmitry, on the other hand, locks Tonya and refuses to be humiliated by a separation. Tonya manages to escape within a few months, but it’s too late. Valentin is already with Viktoria, thinking it was her choice to remain with her husband. Tonya manages to have Dmitry murdered and flees to her village and her parent’s property – Otrada.
This all happened during the Bolsheviks’ revolution, making it impossible for authorities to figure out she had anything to do with it.
Tonya is pregnant with Valentin’s child, Lena. She has lived for many years in Otrada trying to get ahold of Valentin, at least to let him know about Lena. When they finally reunite, Valentin’s marriage is only for show. He is then able to actually live with Tonya and their daughter.
The tricky part is that Valentin is a wanted man as a Bolshevik and Tonya becomes an informant to protect him. They have twins (Yekaterina and Mikhail) before they are discovered and sent to labour camps.
Rosie’s journey goes to every city they have lived in and uncovers their story. The horrific details involve surviving the war, labour camps, starvation and separation.
The Last Russian Doll – Characters
As you can expect, with a storyline that spans three generations, this book has a lot of characters. The intricate relations between them are difficult to navigate, especially since we get small, seemingly unrelated stories initially. Of course, they are all related and, when everything is revealed, we get lots of surprises.
If you need to follow along better, these are the main characters:
Rosie (Raisa Simonova): The protagonist of the present-day storyline. She is a student at Oxford University with a loving fiancée and a promising future, but she is haunted by her past. She was born in Moscow as Raisa, but her family fled to England after a tragic night. She wants to find out the truth about her origins and her mother’s strange folklore.
Alexey Ivanov: a historian and writer, travels to Russia in search of someone, and employs Rosie as his assistant.
Lev: Rosie and Alexey’s driver while in Russia.
Zoya: Rosie’s dead sister. Killed at 15, she haunts her memory and guides her steps.
Antonina (Tonya): The protagonist of the historical storyline. She is a young noblewoman (her father is an actual prince) who lives in St. Petersburg during the 1917 revolution. Married to Dmitry Lulikov, a factory owner, she is as pretty as a porcelain doll but has a rebellious spirit and a passion for literature. She falls in love with Valentin, a charismatic revolutionary who wants to change the world, but their relationship is tested by the turmoil of history.
Valentin Andreyev: born in St Petersburg in 1896, Tonya’s lover. He is part of Bolshevik radicals who want to overthrow the tsar and establish a socialist state. He is idealistic, charismatic, and courageous, but he also has a dark side and a ruthless ambition.
Viktoria Andreyevna: Valentin’s wife. Her father, Pavel Katenin, took Valentin in when he was just a boy and brought him into the Bolshevik movement.
Natalia Burzinova: Countess, mother of two kids (Fedea and Akulina), widow, and friend to Dmitry Lulikov who harbours feelings for him.
Sasha (Alexander) Ozhereliev: an outcast from Popovka who helps Tonya give birth to Lena and later moves in with her at Otrada.
Nelly: a friend of Tonya from Otrada, married to Kirill Vladimirovici.
Katerina Simonova (Katya): Rosie’s mother, she is a ballerina. She flees to England with her daughter, but she never forgets her homeland or lover.
Eduard Dayneko: Katya’s lover and Rosie’s real father. He is a talented woodworker and painter. He was also a paid assassin who murdered Katya’s husband and Rosie’s sister.
Ivan Vasiliev: he is the colonel who saved Rosie and her mother and got them out of Russia.
Do not read ahead unless you’ve read the book or don’t mind spoilers!
Thoughts on The Last Russian Doll
It’s impossible to talk about this saga without spoilers. However, nothing I say will prepare you for the end, for when you uncover all the little secrets Rosie’s family harbours. The twists and turns of this novel were amazing, some more believable than others, but they all made me gasp and want to keep on reading.
However, there were so many things I would have omitted altogether, along with some of the characters – there were just so many! I never mind that when they make sense, but here… they managed to make everything too consulted and distracted from the main story.
Furthermore, I wish I could have fallen in love with Tonya or Rosie. I didn’t. I wish I had wept when Tonya discovered her long-lost lover, Valentin. I didn’t. Their story was amazing, but it didn’t move me. I had no time to really love them because the story simply always moved along too fast.
I also wish Rosie had a developmental arc. I wish I felt her change as she uncovered stuff about her family, but she remained an enigma. She also gave up on her relationship with Richard without so much as a face-to-face. She entered into a relationship with Lev without knowing anything about him. Not to mention her initial reason for coming back to Russia – finding her family’s killer.
However, Tonya’s story was really moving! I felt her pain every time! I wanted Valentin to love her so badly, I wanted him to fall for her as she did for him. He never did. He loved her in his way, but not nearly enough for a true love story. This is what made their final encounter a bit weak. I guess their story was too real and I wanted the fairy tale.
What really impressed me was the family dynamics between mothers and daughters. No good relationship there! They were all dysfunctional, yet…that is to be expected. If you have a bad experience as a child, it really is difficult to break the cycle and become a good mother yourself.
Conclusion
“The Last Russian Doll” was a captivating story, rich in details and history. I talked a lot about its imperfections, but it really was a great read! I was immersed in the story every step of the way and in today’s distracted world, this says a lot.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is The Last Russian Doll Based on a true story?
No. The author, Kristen Loesch, is fascinated by secret family stories and history, thus coming up with the story.
What is the meaning of the ending in The Last Russian Doll?
In the end, Rosie is reunited with Tonya, her grandmother. She now lives under a different name and is intrigued to discover Alexey Ivanov to be her old husband, Dmitry.
Tonya reunites with Valentin after so many years. She finds him in Popova, still waiting for her.
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