Mon, 01 Sep 2008
Ninachka: the making of an Englishwoman
Nina Murray ed. Jay Underwood, Ninachka: the making of an
Englishwoman?, Hamilton Books
As the writer, Princess Shcheyteenin, is my Godmother, and is also
95 years old, I'm not very likely to be critical in my summary of this
work which starts with pre-revolutionary Russia, and then moves on to
England, where most of the rest of the story occurs including the days
of WWII.
It is quite a gruelling journey as well: deprivation, reduced circumstances,
murder, and unexpected deaths pepper the story at regular intervals. But, as
well as this, it is inspirational in that the writer became a doctor and an
eye surgeon and a well-respected member of the communities she lived in - that
this was done at all, let alone with a background of some personal tragedy, was
quite a feat of human endurance.
Personal histories tend to flesh out our knowledge of times past in a
deeply interesting way and here we have knowledge of the flight of the
Russian aristocracy and of their assimilation into other countries as well as
some experience of WWII in England at a very human level of personal
relationships and movement.
(Baron K)
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