The Revolution has put an end to Tsarist Russia. The Romanovs are murdered and the Bolshevik’s are trying hard to get a handle on the unruly, fractured life…and the lack of food...and sanity of the New Soviet Union. And to get rid of the last of the “people” those who were part of the ruling class.

Lily and Irina Golitseva are two countesses living in the family’s shabby mansion called Moscow House. They live there with an eccentric aunt, the grandma and surprisingly, a free-flying parakeet. There is also a cousin, a little girl named Natasha, and, Irina’s son Seryozha that to avoid her ostracism, was being raised by the now-deceased Pasha.

(Trust me, there’s a lot of characters and their relationships to keep track of.)

To make money Irina and Lily constantly drag off family portraits or some jewelry etc. to the open market where everyone is looking for a bargain to survive. Though the Great War is over and there are automobiles on the streets, everything is dingy and worn. Irina and Lily's parents have been dragged off by Bolsheviks to prison. Their oldest brother is missing presumed dead from the war or otherwise. They are doing what they can to stay alive.

One small thing that saves them from prison is grandma was friendly with Kamenev a close associate of Lenin’s. But of course nothing in this time is remotely stable.

Moscow House is old and like most of the homes of the past regime multi-storied, ornately decorated with nooks and crannies everywhere. And in good gothick style there are many things that go bump (or bang or crash) in the night.

The house is quite full of ghosts of the past.  The strongest is the house imp, the Domovoy, whom it is best to please else bad things happen. Lily and Irina discover their eccentric aunt is talking to the dead. Grandma is lost in the old days but feeds a group of Bolsheviks who have commandeered the west side of the house. Aunt Marie is focused on their favorite uncle Pasha and sets a fancy table for dinner for the living and the dead—- and the dead show up: their parents their sister and other relatives, but no Uncle Pasha.

The two young women want to get out. And find something to do to earn some real money. Through the graces of an old playmate Count Nicky Naroshin, Irina discovers the American Relief Administration or the ARA which helps the starving and orphans by providing food clothing, whatever they can. And they are there at the request of the soviets. Irina is actually paid to be an administrative assistant handling shipments of needed supplies, handling payroll, and translating. She also gets Lily a job working with a writer and artist named Frank because Lily is a talented artist, a former student of Marc Chagall.

Things seem to be looking up, but then, two Bolsheviks are found dead in an untenanted part of the house which spooks the rest of them so much so, the rest of the Bolshevik squatters pack up and leave. The energy in the novel revs up as things get more chaotic. And Ms. Gilmore really shines here. Her characters are wonderful and lively even in the midst of spooky old Russian haunts. But the future is marching forward and Irina and Lily see light at the final messy end of their past.

Again - great characters, terrific setting and lush writing. ~~ Sue Martin

For more titles by Oleysa Salnikova Gilmore click here