Crime mystery set in DEVON
GIVEAWAY 3 copies of Dancing for Stalin (Russia)
3rd October 2021
We are delighted to offer 3 copies of Dancing for Stalin: A Dancer’s Story of Courage and Survival in Soviet Russia by Christina Ezrahi
UK only giveaway. Closes 16 October 2021.
Nina Anisimova was one of Russia’s most renowned ballerinas and one of the first Soviet female choreographers. Yet few knew that her exemplary career concealed a dark secret.
In 1938, at the height of Stalin’s Great Terror, Nina was arrested by the secret police, accused of being a Nazi spy and sentenced to forced labour in a camp in Kazakhstan. Trapped without hope – and without winter clothes in temperatures of minus 40 degrees – her art was her salvation, giving her a reason to fight for her life.
As Nina struggled to survive in the Gulag, her husband fought for her release in Leningrad. Against all odds, she was ultimately freed and astonishingly managed to return to her former life, just as war broke out. Despite wartime deprivation and the suffocating grip of Stalin’s totalitarian state, Nina’s irrepressible determination set her on the path to become an icon of the Kirov Ballet.
Dancing for Stalin is a remarkable true story of suffering and injustice, of courage, resilience and triumph.
HOW TO ENTER
You need to be a member of TripFiction. Simply go to www.tripfiction.com and scroll down to the JOIN NOW tab. And we do check!
Then, in the COMMENTS below, let’s talk Russia! Do you want to go, have you any top tips for visitors, do you love the food?
Enter by midnight, 16 October 2021 and the 3 winners will be chosen at random. UK only
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Was on my list for 2020 but… Would love to go via fiction!
Winners:
Jue
Pagan21
Krys
Watching Jane MacDonald cruising in Russia really made me want to go
Russia is not a place I have thought of going to as it seems a cold place. I think I am wrong as it has some stunning architecture and scenery.
I would love to go to Russia – it looks beautiful and the food is delicious
A trip to Russia in the 21st Century has no appeal to me whatsoever. I am however fascinated by its history and have studied it in some depth.
Yes, would love to find out more about such an intriguing country x
A trip to Russia is definitely on my Wish List
I would love to visit, the architecture is amazing
I would absolutely love to go. My son is studying International Relations with a minor in Russian and will be doing a study abroad in Russia with a dream to do the trans-Siberian train ride.
My mother-in-law went to Russia when she was 15. I’d love to be able to take her back. It sounds like the most amazing adventure.
I’d love to visit Saint Basil’s Cathedral after watching an online talk about it.
I would love to travel to Russia, I even passed a certificate in Basic Russian in case pointing didn’t get me very far. I was supposed to go in 2015 but work got in the way then again in 2020 but well, I don’t need to mention that. Third time lucky…!
My partner went many years ago and said it was Fab!
Yes I would love to go and see the fantastic sights and try the local food.
Hello, I love Eastern European food, I have been thinking about making some Russian Lepeshki sour biscuits as I’m sure they would be very tasty!
Moscow would be amazing to visit, though I’d imagine quite cold!
I would love to visit Russia in summer
It would be lovely to visit Russia and see some sights but possibly not in the colder months
Near been but would love to visit Moscow. Though would have to be summer my old bones wouldn’t stand the cold
I’ve never been but would love to go one day. I’d love to go to Moscow and see St Basil’s Cathedral and to travel on the trans-Siberian railway.
Would love to visit Russia but definitely in the summer as Im not a fan of cold weather!
have been to St Petersburg and loved it
I have never visited, mostly because I avoid cold places but I am sure I miss out a lot.
Fortunately, I have visited Russia & seen the fabulous Catherine’s Palace & wonderful Peterhof Palace which was the experience of a lifetime.
I would love to go to Moscow 🙂
I have been obsessed by Russian history since 1970 watching Nicolas and Alexandra on TV. Always wanted to go, did get a chance in the 80s but mum said no and I was under 16!! I will get there though
I really know very little about Russia, apart from the fiction I’ve read set there, but I’d love to see some of the iconic sights like St Basil’s Cathedral. I’d like to learn more about the food and drink too, in my mind it’s all cabbage and vodka!
Russia has always been my dream destination since reading Dostoevsky as a teen, I’ve read quite for more Russian based novels since, some even light hearted ones!
Always wanted to visit
I’ve been to St Petersburg and would recommend visiting the Peterhof Palace because it is beautiful
I would love to go to Moscow and see St. Basil’s Cathedral. It looks so pretty.
My plans to meet up with a close friend from Sydney in Moscow and then travel to St. Petersburg together in Autumn 2019 went a little awry.
I’ve never been to Russia but Moscow and St. Petersburg look appealing. I’ve heard that Russian food isn’t great though so I think I might need to take lots of snacks.
See the sights !
Travel the Trans-Sub and roll acriss the steppe from Europe to Asia and the Far East!
I would love to go to Russia.We have neighbours from Russia teaching us the language and cooking Russian food and drinking vodka.It sounds an amazing place and her family live in the Ukraine.
I would love to experience the harsh weather conditions in Russia and learn some of the language
I have never been to Russia but my late husband took a school trip there in February many years ago. His pupils were sensibly dressed in long johns, thermal vests etc. His group were from a comprehensive school. They met up with a party of boys from a public school who were dressed in their smart school uniforms, blazers, caps etc but they were all complaining of the bitter cold! My husband said that the food was awful and the boys lived on Mars bars they had secreted in their luggage! Hopefully things are different now!
Dancing for Stalin:
Russia fascinates and frightens me in equal measure.
Take warm clothes if going in winter and suitcase snacks! The food doesn’t sound appetising.
So many great writers, artists & composers. I’ve never been to Russia & sadly the only Russians I’ve met are the people who got away to the West.
I’m originally from Russia. Nina Anisimova choreographed her ballet Gayane in Kirov theatre, Perm (my home town) in 1942. She danced the lead in the Sabre dance.
Would love to go to Russia! Leningrad in particular. Love reading about the history, especially books by Helen Rappaport, her research is top notch.
The first (& probably the last!) time I was in Moscow was in 1983, when I was held prisoner in an hotel, thanks to Aeroflot famously overbooking, as usual!
We had no luggage, had to wash out our underwear in the basin and clean our teeth with salt from the dining room!
We were held for 5 days and woken at 4am every day, taken to the airport, only to find the flight was overbooked!
On the 5th day, we rebelled and refused to leave the airport and staged a sit down strike! Some hefty female police officers tried to pull us up to standing but we resisted.
Maybe they realised that it was not good publicity for the USSR, for within a few hours we were on a first class flight to Vienna, from whence to London!
My luggage arrived 2 weeks later, from Paris!
I’d love to go to Russia and visit St. Basil’s cathedral. Would recommend everyone reads Tolstoy’s War and Peace before!
I would love to go to Russia. Through work, I have had contact with several Russians and heard about places to visit. Fingers crossed, one day I might be able to travel there.
The main Russian thing that I love is vodka 🙂