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The Man From St. Petersburg

2003Ken Follett

2.7/5

My first Ken Follett. Although no pirates are involved, the word “swashbuckling” comes to mind. The story is set in London in the early 1900’s. It’s fiction, but enough real-life characters and events are involved that is has an aura of a historical novel.A Russian anarchist is trying to assassinate a Russian Price, the son of Czar Nicholas. The Prince is in London trying to negotiate an alliance between England and Russia against Germany in what is assumed to be an upcoming war. A very young Winston Churchill is involved in the negotiations. The Prince is staying at the London home of his cousin who married a British Lord. Amazingly, the anarchist used to be her lover back in Russia 17 years ago! And he learns she has a daughter who is 17…. Could it be? The anarchist re-ignites the old flames to earn entrance into the home to try to assassinate the prince.Woven into the story are true historical events. The daughter hears Emmeline Pankhurst speak and joins the suffragette movement. We are given readings from Russian revolutionary pamphlets. Archduke Ferdinand is assassinated near the end of the story.So we have a fast-moving kind of made-for-TV thriller. The coincidences are astounding. We have several just in the nick-of-time escapes and a brave main character managing to catch and disarm a nitroglycerine bomb.The characters are well-developed, especially the anarchist, his Russian former lover, and the daughter. But there is little depth to the writing. It’s more like a historical romance than a historical novel. So I’ll call it a fun story and good entertainment.Photo of Emmaline Pankhurst from theguardian.comPhoto of the author from ken-follett.com

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