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necessitteem's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed this book! I found it much more engaging and atmospheric than Debra Dean’s other book, The Madonnas of Leningrad. I loved how real this story felt and I love how connected I became to the characters. Such a lovely book!
vicki_s's review against another edition
5.0
This books is beautiful. The pace is so intense and I was so moved by the second half of Dasha's story. Watching the life of the saint descend into grief fueled madness or the embrace of divinity was so raw, I'm glad it was from an outside perspective. That was intense enough for me.
wordnerdy's review against another edition
3.0
http://wordnerdy.blogspot.com/2012/07/2012-book-200.html
beckylej's review against another edition
3.0
Dasha and her cousin Xenia were raised together almost like sisters. Now, all grown up, Dasha recounts their life together.
Xenia was like any other child -- almost. She had an uncanny prescience, sometimes able to predict certain things simply based on her dreams. When she met and fell madly in love with Andrei, her life seemed complete. They longed for children and when they finally conceived it seemed as though Xenia would have everything she dreamed. Life had other plans. Tragedy struck and Xenia retreated into herself. Dasha tried desperately to help, but when Xenia finally emerged she became fixated on helping those in need, finally giving away all of her possessions. She would disappear from Dasha's life only to be discovered wandering the most destitute area of the city, clothed in her husband's uniform and spouting predictions and helping those around her.
Like THE MADONNAS OF LENINGRAD, THE MIRRORED WORLD as historical fiction is fantastic. The images of eighteenth century Russia -- especially the whims and excesses of the royal family -- are fascinating and richly portrayed. But, again like MADONNAS, I found Xenia and Dasha's story very sad.
Perhaps it's something that comes with age. I can recall as a teen being utterly disappointed in coming to the end of GONE WITH THE WIND (the movie). By the time I was in my twenties I'd gone from loathing it to adoring it. Similarly, while both MADONNAS and MIRRORED WORLD deal with undoubtedly woeful subjects, I can see how the stories would be considered less melancholy by other readers. By the end of MIRRORED WORLD Xenia herself is in a much more peaceful, if not outright happy, place and I think even Dasha has come to appreciate this as well.
All that said, I kind of wish that MIRRORED WORLD had been about twice as long as it actually was. It's a very slim read -- and a quick one at that. I would have loved for parts of the story to have been fleshed out more. By the the end of the story everything wraps up very quickly. In truth, Catherine's fear of Xenia is barely touched on at all.
Xenia was like any other child -- almost. She had an uncanny prescience, sometimes able to predict certain things simply based on her dreams. When she met and fell madly in love with Andrei, her life seemed complete. They longed for children and when they finally conceived it seemed as though Xenia would have everything she dreamed. Life had other plans. Tragedy struck and Xenia retreated into herself. Dasha tried desperately to help, but when Xenia finally emerged she became fixated on helping those in need, finally giving away all of her possessions. She would disappear from Dasha's life only to be discovered wandering the most destitute area of the city, clothed in her husband's uniform and spouting predictions and helping those around her.
Like THE MADONNAS OF LENINGRAD, THE MIRRORED WORLD as historical fiction is fantastic. The images of eighteenth century Russia -- especially the whims and excesses of the royal family -- are fascinating and richly portrayed. But, again like MADONNAS, I found Xenia and Dasha's story very sad.
Perhaps it's something that comes with age. I can recall as a teen being utterly disappointed in coming to the end of GONE WITH THE WIND (the movie). By the time I was in my twenties I'd gone from loathing it to adoring it. Similarly, while both MADONNAS and MIRRORED WORLD deal with undoubtedly woeful subjects, I can see how the stories would be considered less melancholy by other readers. By the end of MIRRORED WORLD Xenia herself is in a much more peaceful, if not outright happy, place and I think even Dasha has come to appreciate this as well.
All that said, I kind of wish that MIRRORED WORLD had been about twice as long as it actually was. It's a very slim read -- and a quick one at that. I would have loved for parts of the story to have been fleshed out more. By the the end of the story everything wraps up very quickly. In truth, Catherine's fear of Xenia is barely touched on at all.
sarahsbookstack's review against another edition
2.0
probably 1 and a half stars if that was an option
unabridgedchick's review against another edition
4.0
I have a soft spot for saints. Novelists who tackle the life of a saint -- what they might have been really like -- automatically endear themselves to me, and I was drooling with anticipation over this book. Happily, Dean didn't disappoint, and this brisk little novel has the lush extravagance I wanted from a historical novel featuring royalty as well as the more mundane details of everyday life.
Beginning in the 1730s, the story is told by young Dasha, who is mesmerised by her older cousins, Nadya and Xenia. While Nadya is cold and cruel, making a flawless debut into St. Petersburg society, Xenia is dreamy, impulsive, and impractical -- and yet, she makes a successful love match. When tragedy strikes, Xenia's wild exuberance manifests as a discomforting disregard for herself, her property, and her place in society.
I loved this book from the first page -- Dean immediately sucked me in with her sweet narrator, Dasha, and her complicated cousins. Dean juxtaposes the real cruelties of life -- heartbreak, disappointment, loss -- against the historical ones of the era -- like the Empress' cruel mock marriage of her young jester to an old maid that required them to spend their wedding night naked on a bed of ice in a massive ice palace.
What else should I squee about? I raced through this book because I didn't want to leave Dasha, Xenia, and even Nadya, and I was fascinated -- and horrified -- at this look at royalty. (That Empress Anna -- she was a cruel one!) Dean's writing style is effortless, a little pretty, a little detailed, so that mood and place are evoked easily.
Beginning in the 1730s, the story is told by young Dasha, who is mesmerised by her older cousins, Nadya and Xenia. While Nadya is cold and cruel, making a flawless debut into St. Petersburg society, Xenia is dreamy, impulsive, and impractical -- and yet, she makes a successful love match. When tragedy strikes, Xenia's wild exuberance manifests as a discomforting disregard for herself, her property, and her place in society.
I loved this book from the first page -- Dean immediately sucked me in with her sweet narrator, Dasha, and her complicated cousins. Dean juxtaposes the real cruelties of life -- heartbreak, disappointment, loss -- against the historical ones of the era -- like the Empress' cruel mock marriage of her young jester to an old maid that required them to spend their wedding night naked on a bed of ice in a massive ice palace.
What else should I squee about? I raced through this book because I didn't want to leave Dasha, Xenia, and even Nadya, and I was fascinated -- and horrified -- at this look at royalty. (That Empress Anna -- she was a cruel one!) Dean's writing style is effortless, a little pretty, a little detailed, so that mood and place are evoked easily.
johannalm's review against another edition
4.0
The Mirrored World, Debra Dean
Debra Dean writes eloquently about women. I loved her other novel, the Madonnas of Leningrad, which takes place during WWII, and centers on saving the art of the hermitage. This novel is situated in Russia too, but during the reign of Catherine the Great.
The Mirrored World is a book about people on the periphery of the great court, who also benefit from it. Mostly the book is based on the life of St. Xenia of St. Petersburg, who is still revered in Russia to this day.
It’s a short novel that illuminates so much about that time period and explains parts of Xenia’s life and family that transformed her into a saint; including an important female friendship, her great love, her tragic loss, and how she ended up living in devotion to God.
Dean does a wonderful job brining the intimate and inner life of her female character’s to the surface. You really know them as feeling and thinking people. She also builds a picture for us of the majesty and the absurdness of the imperial court under Catherine and other rulers around that time.
I highly recommend this writer, especially if Russian history interests you.
Debra Dean writes eloquently about women. I loved her other novel, the Madonnas of Leningrad, which takes place during WWII, and centers on saving the art of the hermitage. This novel is situated in Russia too, but during the reign of Catherine the Great.
The Mirrored World is a book about people on the periphery of the great court, who also benefit from it. Mostly the book is based on the life of St. Xenia of St. Petersburg, who is still revered in Russia to this day.
It’s a short novel that illuminates so much about that time period and explains parts of Xenia’s life and family that transformed her into a saint; including an important female friendship, her great love, her tragic loss, and how she ended up living in devotion to God.
Dean does a wonderful job brining the intimate and inner life of her female character’s to the surface. You really know them as feeling and thinking people. She also builds a picture for us of the majesty and the absurdness of the imperial court under Catherine and other rulers around that time.
I highly recommend this writer, especially if Russian history interests you.
mimima's review against another edition
3.0
I often wonder what makes a book a slow starter - is it the book or is it me? Is it finding the footing for a character and a story, or is it me having to get into the rhythm of the writing?
These are the things I found myself pondering as I began this novel - a secular Historical Fiction about St. Xenia of Petersburg, a very beloved Orthodox Saint. For a lot of the novel, I felt that it was a bit hampered by the choice of the narrator not being Xenia herself, but a cousin. I think that the concept of a Holy Fool outside of an Orthodox background is hard to convey.
However, as the story progresses, the impact of being related to a Holy Fool really begins to be felt by the narrator, and it ends on a very strong note.
These are the things I found myself pondering as I began this novel - a secular Historical Fiction about St. Xenia of Petersburg, a very beloved Orthodox Saint. For a lot of the novel, I felt that it was a bit hampered by the choice of the narrator not being Xenia herself, but a cousin. I think that the concept of a Holy Fool outside of an Orthodox background is hard to convey.
However, as the story progresses, the impact of being related to a Holy Fool really begins to be felt by the narrator, and it ends on a very strong note.
margreads's review against another edition
3.0
I often find myself fascinated by novels set in Russia. Whether it be the terrible siege of Leningrad or the final days of the Romanov family, I find it so interesting. I remember thinking a few years ago that it was kind of surprising that there is so little set in the world of Catherine the Great. Over the last 12 months or so, I have read a couple of books with that setting which goes some way towards rectifying that oversight, but I suspect that just like the country itself, Russian history is so vast that it would be difficult to read something about all the different eras!
This book starts in the upper classes of the Russian aristocracy in the latter days of the reign of Empress Elizabeth in the mid 1700's and through the reign of Catherine the Great. Whilst the reader is exposed to some of the key historical events and culture of that time, really the story is much narrower than you might otherwise expect. While other authors might be tempted to fill the pages with what are undoubtedly fascinating details about the glamourous life of the upper classes, Dean is careful to provide the reader with just enough to colour the book, but not so much that the reader loses track of exactly what it is that this book is about.
For more head to
http://www.theintrepidreader.com/2012/08/the-mirrored-world-by-debra-dean.html
3.5/5
Review to come