Montefiore writes about Russia and Stalin's awful government alongside, in a distorted mirror sort of way, the lives of the elite Soviet men and women in Moscow. They are all linked by a school, their children, and their amazing lives of luxury amid a ruined, damaged Russia. The catalyst for the book is a Romantic club started by one of the pupils. It all hinges on Pushkin's Onegin and the belief that "love is all" and without it there should be death. All the teen angst would have come to nothing without documentation. A small velvet book declares that this is a new "government", and like some secret word in a quiz game, the buzzer goes off, at least in the heads of the paranoid men in the top jobs, and the children are declared dangerous, taken into custody, and "interviewed".But in some ways this is a side story to the love stories playing out behind the scenes, all of the affairs are secret, all are fundamental to the men and women who are involved in them. I won't name names as it's a spoiler, but the costs are high, the implications to families are sad, bad, and dangerous.I believe I was so hooked by "One Night" because the state of love put the State into a right old state. You see the workings of the horrible, twisted minds that saw children as a threat, that allowed them to, inadvertently, betray their own families, that damaged relationships for the sake of power. If you didn't know much about Stalin before this book you certainly find out what a deranged mother-f@#er he was by the end. You also realise that when a man/woman controls someone's loved ones he/she can do whatever they want. You just have to keep notching it up so you control everyone.I was gripped by this book and read it quickly, but ultimately I was disappointed in how many people had to be broken and hurt. It was as if love could never just be love. Historical novels are my "adult education" remedial history classes. I must have daydreamed through history lessons in high school and college; there are chasms in my knowledge base that would swallow the Russian Army. So, this Stalin-centric novel was my first in- depth exposure to the horror of his regime.In some ways, the plot was secondary to the grim history lesson for me, but it served to educate me on the cruelty of the regime and the insecurity faced by everyone-- even the Russian elite. And, it was a reminder not to take for granted the freedoms we enjoy.This story was filled with tension, uncertainty and fear. The family scenes were particularly poignant because there was so much that had to be left unsaid. Too much knowledge was dangerous, but learning was revered. And, in this novel, so was the concept of romantic love. It dominated the plot, but also the soul of the book. Amidst the terror, there were moments of hope and beauty. Thank goodness.
Do You like book L'amore Ai Tempi Della Neve (2013)?
Loved it, great story, fascinating setting
—mariacris98
He is a historian not a novelist.
—rebeccamariex43
