"The best thing for being sad," replied Merlin, beginning to puff and blow, "is to learn something. That's the only thi...

“The most important things are the hardest to say. They are the things you get ashamed of, because words diminish them — words shrink th...

"Remember that there are two kinds of beauty: one of the soul and the other of the body. That of the soul displays its radiance in int...

     “Olya…” she wiped her nose, “poor little thing, like a bird with a broken wing she was.” Madame Solovyov moved to leave, lifting her ...

Grigory had tried. He really had. Eva, being the premature bride she was, had been given the benefit of the doubt more times than her wond...

Moscow, September 1910 That night, she dreamed. Lying next to a fitful Maxim, she became aware of the unmistakable briny smell of the ...

It was moments before dawn. Shura's eyes blinked wearily. The light from the sky was a dark, heavy blue, scarcely light enough to see ...

Time, it seems, has a funny way of imprinting itself on your memories. The grey land of Nerchinsk, with its worn roads, its forests, fences,...

Mikhail could not tell if she was truth or figment, but as he stirred, he found himself clinging to her. He brought his hands to his face;...

Dmitri Pavlovich Petrovsky had been born with twines of music lodged tight about his heart.  Like a rusted barbed-wire, it clutched at him...

The cello sang from the corner. Dmitri’s hands had been aching to play whilst waiting several weeks for his fingers to heal after the lo...

On some days Shura was ordered to clear the courtyards, other times she was made to haul logs, draw water, or to hew wood for kindling and s...

Mikhail lay slumped over his work, fast asleep. Remnants of tea kissed the bottom of his glass, papers sprawled and candles snuffed out. S...

My professional life has been a constant record of disillusion, and many things that seem wonderful to most men are the every-day commonp...

It was impossible at this point to ignore his eyes: deep set, large and a ghostly blue, the skin around them was dark and sallow, outlined p...

It was political prisoners used to work the mines, which was foolish of the system, for what better place to discuss rogue political ideals...