First up is The Russian Affair
Twenty-nine-year-old Anna Viktorovna lives in Moscow with her young son and her father, a once popular and respected poet who has fallen into disgrace because of his dissident views. Her husband, a junior officer in the Red Army, is on active duty and living seven time zones away. Anna struggles gamely through her difficult existence, doing the best she can amidst the long lines, bureaucratic inferno, and corruption and incompetence of the police state. When she meets and makes an impression on a powerful Soviet official—Alexey Bulgyakov—her life begins to look a little brighter. Alexey is married and nearly twice her age, but he turns out to be a man of infinite patience and forbearance, and gradually a strange but solid bond grows between them. Though Anna still loves her mostly absent husband and harbors no illusions about the future, she and Alexey become lovers.
Soon Anna and Alexey’s burgeoning romance is irrevocably threatened when a KGB colonel forces Anna to spy on Alexey, who is suspected of disloyalty to the state. Though Anna loathes the notion of double-crossing the man she has come to love, when her family is threatened she must comply. But Anna isn’t the only character playing a double game.
With bravura storytelling, stunning authenticity, and complex yet sympathetic characterizations, The Russian Affair depicts a love that struggles to survive against all odds and despite its many-layered deceptions.
The second book we have to offer is Treasures From the Attic: The Extraordinary Story of Anne Frank's Family.
An old lady dies in Basel, Switzerland. Her devoted daughter-in-law, Gertrude, steels herself to do what all families must in the aftermath of death—she heads upstairs to the attic to sort through the effects. But Helene Elias wasn’t just any old lady, and none could put a price on what she left as an inheritance.
Helene Elias was born Helene Frank, sister to Otto Frank, and thus Anne Frank’s aunt. Alice Frank, the matriarch and grandmother of the family, left Germany for Switzerland in the 1930s, and though her family had scattered across Europe, she remained at the hub of their lives. They wrote voluminously, sent photos, visited for summer holidays and reunions, and of course wrote about them when they returned home. Alice kept every bit she could. It all sat upstairs in the house, which was eventually passed down to Alice’s grandson, Buddy Elias, Anne Frank’s childhood playmate, and his wife, Gertrude.
What Gertrude found has become an utterly engaging, endearing, and convincing account of a family that tells us who shaped Anne Frank, made her who she was. They believed themselves to be ordinary members of Germany’s bourgeoisie. That they were wrong is part of history—one that we celebrate here.
Due to the generosity of Doubleday I have 2 copies of each book to giveaway. US addresses only, no PO boxes. Leave a comment with a valid email address before May 31st. I'll randomly pick winners on the 31st. If you want extra entries you can spread the word (twitter, facebook, etc.) about this giveaway and leave a separate comment with a link to each place you posted about it. Please specify which book (or both) you would like to win.
Due to the generosity of Doubleday I have 2 copies of each book to giveaway. US addresses only, no PO boxes. Leave a comment with a valid email address before May 31st. I'll randomly pick winners on the 31st. If you want extra entries you can spread the word (twitter, facebook, etc.) about this giveaway and leave a separate comment with a link to each place you posted about it. Please specify which book (or both) you would like to win.
21 comments:
Thanks for the giveaways! I'd like to win both books. :)
susanna DOT pyatt AT student DOT rcsnc DOT org
Tweet: http://twitter.com/#!/SusieBookworm/status/72990677411184640
susanna DOT pyatt AT student DOT rcsnc DOT org
My first Armchair BEA is so fun. Thanks for making it even more exciting.
meaghanwalsh81 at mac dot com
Count me in, they look great!
Vivien
deadtossedwaves at gmail dot com
Thanks for the giveaway.
I posted it on a Facebook Group dedicated to Bookish Giveaways:
https://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_159284117466848&ap=1
zohar dot laor at gmail dot com
http://www.ManOfLaBook.com
I would love to read either one of these books.
rsgrandinetti@yahoo(DOT)com
I haven't read either of these...please include me in both!
thank you for fantastic giveaway!!!
mmafsmith(at)gmail(dot).com
Treasures from the Attic sounds fantastic!
recklesslyreading@gmail.com
Thanks!!
Thanks for the giveaway! I would like The Russian Affair.
scarlet_kira(at)live.com
I would love to be entered for both. But I would LOVE Treasure from the Attic
Thanks for the chance
sharon54220@gmail.com
I would love to win TREASURES FROM THE ATTIC. Just can't get enough of Anne Frank!
Thanks for hosting the giveaway!
geebee.reads AT gmail DOT com
I'd love to read either one, but I think I'd prefer Treasures from the Attic.
meredithfl at gmail dot com
https://twitter.com/#!/tessaa99/status/73525786774212608
meredithfl at gmail dot com
They both sound like books I'd enjoy so toss my name in the hat for both of them, please.
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alterlisa AT yahoo DOT com
http://lisaslovesbooksofcourse.blogspot.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/alterlisa/status/73619305878650880
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alterlisa AT yahoo DOT com
http://lisaslovesbooksofcourse.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=100729600019725&id=1184379567
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alterlisa AT yahoo DOT com
http://lisaslovesbooksofcourse.blogspot.com/
http://www.goodreads.com/user_status/show/6405272
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alterlisa AT yahoo DOT com
http://lisaslovesbooksofcourse.blogspot.com/
The Diary of Anne Frank has always been a favorite of mine so I would love the chance to read Teasures from the Attic.
Thanks! :0)
librarygrinch at gmail dot com
Tweeted:
http://twitter.com/#!/librarygrinch/status/74397339737001985
librarygrinch at gmail dot com
Thanks for the chance to win! Both books look great!
hense1kk AT cmich DOT edu
Oh either book please!
books (dot) things (at) yahoo (Dot) com
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