St Petersburg

Thalia Marguerite Titania Bobrov travels with her mother from their quiet home in Smolensk to the Capital of Russia, St Petersburg, to stay with her maternal grandmother who is the youngest sister of the Dowager Empress of Russia and mother to the Tsar. Thalia is to be presented at court and launched into the glittering society of Russian Aristocracy.

During her new life, Thalia meets and falls in love with Prince Nicholas Ivanov, cousin to the Tsar and her mother’s cousin. Set between the glittering society of the aristocracy and the harsh realities and cruelty leading to war and the Russian Revolution.

Thalia learns new strengths as she passes between the rich and the poor. She trains with the Tsarina and two oldest daughters to become a nurse at Tsarskoye Selo which has partly been converted to a hospital for the injured Russian victims of war.

In her new life Thalia meets all the Royal family which she is related to, the famed Peter Karl Faberge, known for the famous Faberge Eggs, known worldwide, and the lecherous Father Gregory Rasputin, whose unwanted attentions Thalia has caught.

When the Tsar is forced to abdicate, and the royal family are kept under house arrest, Thalia and her family are forced to flee for their lives and make a home thousands of miles from their beloved homeland of Russia.

I suppose being an only child I had always made up stories in which I included brothers or sisters, also the fact that my father never seemed to be bothered about me, so I made up stories where I had a loving father. Thankfully my mum and maternal grandparents made up for what was lacking from my father.

For years I made up stories in my mind but as I grew up I began writing them down, always for my own amusement. In times of trouble or worry I would always lose myself in either reading books or writing my own stories. When my daughters were growing up and I was at home I once again began writing, but still all for my own amusement. It wasn’t until I met my late husband Bob that I was encouraged to start thinking about doing something more positive about it, hence my first novel Polerro was born as we went down to Polperro and do some research. It wasn’t until after Bob died that I was encouraged to send it off to a publishing company. (It had always been a dream of mine to become a published author.) The day I received a letter saying that a company actually wanted to publish me, I cried. Polperro took me four years to write, and it wasn’t until eight years later that I submitted St Petersburg, again when I had a letter saying that this should be published. Again I cried. St Petersburg was a labour of love and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of writing it. I have worked in several different jobs throughout the years from dental nursing, to switchboard and reception and then as my daughters grew up I began in sales. I even worked for four years as a Deputy Registrar in the Register Office only to return to sales again. Now I am retired and spend a good part of my life reading or writing. I hope you enjoy reading St Petersburg as much as I enjoyed writing it.