The Federov Legacy, a new book by Sechelt author Rosella Leslie, is as rich and textured as a Romanov tapestry, much like the one that originally inspired this story.
The book covers a terrifying period in Russian history when the Great War (World War One) caused divided loyalties and ripped families apart. In the midst of the turmoil, the Russian revolution was born.
At a recent book launch in Sechelt, Leslie demonstrated her vast knowledge of the period, though she admitted she had no Russian or Eastern European background or language.
In researching the book, she gobbled up history, she told the audience. She combed the Internet, reviewed letters and diaries of the time, pored over English language reports of the war news from early newspapers and generally left no research stone unturned.
As a child, Leslie had loved stories about the Romanov tsar and tsarina, until she found out the true nature of the family through her research the tsar's weakness and anxiety and the tsarina's involvement with the hypnotic monk, Rasputin. These are real characters that make great fodder for novels.
She also noted through her research in early Globe and Mail articles that Russia's role in World War One was pivotal to its outcome, an aspect of history we know little about today.
In the book, a Romanov tapestry hangs in the farmhouse of a Hutsul family of the western Ukraine, a gift from the Countess Stanislavovna Federov, a relative of the family. They must send their son, Oleksi, off to Russia when war breaks out because he is in trouble with the local authorities for allegedly stealing a pig.
In St. Petersburg Oleksi meets Tusya, who has come from British Columbia to be of service to the same Countess, a cousin of his father. Tusya's sister, Alice, is also sent to Russia at the command of their father where she uses her nursing skills in the battlefield. Their lives are interwoven and they must learn to survive during the fighting and deprivation.
Leslie is the author of several other works. Her last, Drift Child, was set on a coast not unlike our own, while her previous book, The Goat Lady's Daughter, fictionalized an account of some well known Sechelt figures, Bergie and Minnie Bergliot. This book takes her far away from home and opens up a new page of history for the reader.
The Federov Legacy is published by Caitlin Press and is available for $21.95 at local bookstores.
