The Lost Souls of Angelkov

by Linda Holeman

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53	5	491,107	(3.62)	10
From one of Canada's finest historical novelists, an intricately woven story of revenge, deception, love and redemption set against the turbulent social upheavals of 1860s Russia. nbsp; For Antonina, the wife of a wealthy Russian landowner, the world falls apart one cold spring afternoon when her husband takes her little boy, Misha, out riding. Set upon by kidnappers on horseback, the boy is stolen and the count wounded. Beautiful, musical and sheltered, Antonina is at first stunned and grief-stricken, then helpless as the count sickens and dies. nbsp; Desperate, and surrounded by serfs and servants unsettled by the collapse of the old order, Antonina turns to Grisha, the estate steward, for help in getting her son back. He is a man of relentless competence and ambition, and she is drawn to his strength, unaware that he is both driven and crippled by secrets he hoped he'd left behind him in the land of his birth, Siberia. In her search for her lost boy, Antonina faces betrayals that are literally murderous, and finds strengths she had no idea she possessed as she wanders the crumbling halls of Angelkov, pitting her wits against people turned erratic and cruel. In the end, her fate, and the fate of her son, hangs on the way love can sometimes transform even the deepest of hatreds.… (more)

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Showing 5 of 5

Great read, nicely researched, good plot. Howver, plenty of mistakes in the Russian words and names used, a little surprised given how much effort has been put in for the research, the least the author and/or editor could have done is to check with a native speaker. (

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APopova | Jan 2, 2017 |

As far as historical fiction goes, I liked this book. Antonia's son is kidnapped. We follow her life growing up to where she winds up on a Russian estate in 1860 at what is called the time of the unrest meaning social upheaval. Antonia has a lot to deal with from an ill, demented husband, servants who leave, her own drinking, and a personal maid who is in love with her. Really, the novel is packed with stuff happening. Very entertaining. (

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Smits | Jun 9, 2015 |

I was hoping The Lost Souls of Angelkov by Linda Holeman would be the type of historical fiction that makes this such a favorite genre of mine and it started off promising indeed. Set in 1860 this is a dramatic story of life on one of the great Russian estates. Filled with rich and vivid descriptions, interesting and varied characters and a tension filled plot but unfortunately that was only the first half of the book. The second half got bogged down and was so boring that I was happy to finally finish the book. And I had to finish it, as I had read too far not to find out the ending!

As Count Mitlovskiya and his son are out riding one day they are accosted by three Cossacks and young Misha is kidnapped. The Countess Antonia, who did not want her son to go that day, blames her elderly husband for his failure to protect their son. Woven around this event and the quest to bring the child back, the reader is brought into the world of both the ruling class and the servants and serfs who serve them. This was an interesting time in history as Tsar Alexander II was just in the process of freeing the serfs which caused much uncertainly and upheaval.

The book started out as a sweeping epic, but by the second half of the book the story had narrowed and this limited vision of a drunken Countess and the people around her who were either consumed by jealousy, or were obsessed with revenge just moved too slow to hold my attention. I was disappointed as Linda Holeman is one of my favorite authors and I expected more. (

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DeltaQueen50 | May 3, 2015 |

http://coyotewandering.wordpress.com/2012/11/05/book-review-the-lost-souls-of-an... (

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allykat | Nov 5, 2012 |

Wonderful book, a real page turner (

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ScriverS | Jul 24, 2012 |

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Canonical title

The Lost Souls of Angelkov

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Epigraph

"Sans illusions, adieu a la vie!"

Motto from reminiscences of a Mazurka

Mikhail Glinka, 1847

"The hundred-year rise and fall of serf orchestras had produced precious few serious musicians and only one great composer who had been exposed to them - Glinka."

Richard Stites,

Serfdom, Society, and the Arts in Imperial Russia

Dedication

In memory of my grandparents, Theodor and Lyuba, who left me a rich Russian legacy

First words

The day his son was stolen, Konstantin had noticed the difference in the air.

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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

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Rich, Roberta

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Linda Holeman

▾Book descriptions

From one of Canada's finest historical novelists, an intricately woven story of revenge, deception, love and redemption set against the turbulent social upheavals of 1860s Russia. nbsp; For Antonina, the wife of a wealthy Russian landowner, the world falls apart one cold spring afternoon when her husband takes her little boy, Misha, out riding. Set upon by kidnappers on horseback, the boy is stolen and the count wounded. Beautiful, musical and sheltered, Antonina is at first stunned and grief-stricken, then helpless as the count sickens and dies. nbsp; Desperate, and surrounded by serfs and servants unsettled by the collapse of the old order, Antonina turns to Grisha, the estate steward, for help in getting her son back. He is a man of relentless competence and ambition, and she is drawn to his strength, unaware that he is both driven and crippled by secrets he hoped he'd left behind him in the land of his birth, Siberia. In her search for her lost boy, Antonina faces betrayals that are literally murderous, and finds strengths she had no idea she possessed as she wanders the crumbling halls of Angelkov, pitting her wits against people turned erratic and cruel. In the end, her fate, and the fate of her son, hangs on the way love can sometimes transform even the deepest of hatreds.

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For Antonina, the wife of a wealthy Russian landowner, the world falls apart one cold spring afternoon when her husband takes her little boy, Misha, out riding. Set upon by kidnappers on horseback, the boy is stolen and the count wounded. Beautiful, musical and sheltered, Antonina is at first stunned and grief-stricken, then helpless as the count sickens and dies.

Desperate, and surrounded by serfs and servants unsettled by the collapse of the old order, Antonina turns to Grisha, the estate steward, for help in getting her son back. He is a man of relentless competence and ambition, and she is drawn to his strength, unaware that he is both driven and crippled by secrets he hoped he'd left behind him in the land of his birth, Siberia. In her search for her lost boy, Antonina faces betrayals that are literally murderous, and finds strengths she had no idea she possessed as she wanders the crumbling halls of Angelkov, pitting her wits against people turned erratic and cruel. In the end, her fate, and the fate of her son, hangs on the way love can sometimes transform even the deepest of hatreds.

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