I've read tons of romance fluff lately so it was great to read something that mattered. I was a fan of Gordeeva and Gringov from seeing them in the 92 Olympics--unlike many stone-faced Russians at the Olympics, you really could see the love between these two. I've never forgotten the little back story shown on who they were and where they were from. When Gringov dropped dead in 94, Wow! What a shock.This book starts out raw with grief. You can feel Katia's pain and sorrow and some bewilderment of how or why this even happened. I enjoyed their back story. Communist Russia is fascinating to me and I enjoyed this inside look at their Athletic program where bribery, mindless dedication, and the end result always trumps the individual and means. I remained interested through out as their story grew from skating partners to friends to dating to lovers to marriage to parents. I ached for their sorrow at leaving baby Daria behind in order to skate and the insight it provides in just how different family is looked at by someone in communist Russia versus my upbringing. The USA really is a blessed nation! The convenience of the Internet made it easy to go back and see some of the skating programs she talked about and what their movements represented. Their love story was the important part and I delighted in how good they were to each other. Such a tragedy how it ended and the book was published too soon after Sergei died to get a good sense of Katia finding peace & happiness on her own. (Back to the Internet for that! LOL).I had this book for a long time without reading it and almost got rid of it without reading it. I'm so glad I didn't.
I read this book in high school, and last night I was having one of those "your mind is going crazy as you're falling asleep" moments that popped this book in my head. I have to be honest and say I can't remember many details (setting, certain events, etc), but I do remember that it was incredibly touching and heartbreaking. You have to understand - until I had my son, I never read romance. I was actually one of the mockers *dodges flying insults*. I read horror; King, Koontz, Saul, etc. In fact, I was the one who had a note from my mother allowing me to read that stuff in junior high. By high school, I had devoured everything in King's backlist and was always waiting for the next one to come out. In one of those interims, I happened to pick this one up on a whim. I am so glad I did.It is not fiction. It is the story of Sergei and Ekaterina, world famous ice skaters, as the move through life and death as told from her point of view. No spoiler since it was national news in high school that Sergei died. Ekaterina poured her grief and love into this book. It made me cry, and I can honestly say it was my first "romance" novel. A beautiful glimpse into a love that we don't see very often in the real world anymore. Read this book just to renew your faith that true love does exist.
Do You like book My Sergei: A Love Story (1997)?
I felt like he was my Sergei too just reading this. I am always so appreciative that people will write books and let us in their lives for a little while. Through the happy and heartache... it is just so thrilling to me to share a human life and story. Like Petra's book which I read recently, I found myself googling them and then reading all about them after I finished the book. I also had to squeeze this book into two days because I just simply had to keep going. My heart broke with Katia, but I loved how she ended it to and what life lessons and insights she has learned from having her life blessed by her Sergei.
—Melissa
This is the true story of Sergei Grinkov and Ekaterina Gordeeva, the famous figure skating pair that won medal after medal in the 80s and 90s. This is the story of how they began skating together and over the course of the years fell in love, married and had a daughter. This is the story of Sergei's death at 28 due to an unknown heart defect and Katia's struggle to find her way back from the darkness of her loss.I can only recommend this to anyone who ever watch them skate in their day - they were beautiful to watch, so in tune with each other that it was clear they were in love long before they were married.A wonderful story. Bring tissues when you read it.
—Sandra
I remember Gordeeva and Grinkov...I followed them from the 1988 olympics when I saw the most beautiful and flawless performance I had ever seen. This is a beautiful love story as well as a look into the world of ice skating and of living in Russia. I was sad that she was set on being sad at the age of 24 and thinking she would never be happy again. This book was written the year after Sergei died. I remember watching her tribute on ice to Sergei and it was interesting to read about that and how it came together. I am happy to report that I have looked her up on the internet and she has found happiness again, has had another daughter and is married to another olympic skater from Russia (who I also watched perform in the olympics quite awhile ago). I spent quite a bit of time on you tube watching videos of some of G&G's performances. Lovely. And with more of an inside scoop this time.
—Allyson
