Book Review: The man from St. Petersburg - Ken Follett  

Posted by Divya A L

A story during World War it is, comprising the following elements - Poverty, Murder, War, Politics, Anarchy, Love, Betrayal.

The British try to make a secret alliance with the Russians to get them to their support in a war against Germany(who plan to attack France). The Russian Anarchists defy the war as they feel the lives of poorer Russian mass would be sacrificed when they don't even understand its purpose. This man from St. Petersburg known as Feliks is one such anarchist who will find a way out to stop the secret treaty getting signed which will in turn save those innocent lives from the miseries and brutalities of the war. The idea is to kill the nephew of the Czar of Russia (Aleks) which will enrage the Czar to an extent to distrust the British and decline their support.

The story also involves a love triangle which will turn the plans of Feliks upside down with every murder attempt against Aleks. He finds Lydia his lady love, after 19 years and reminisces those youthful days of his. Lydia, however, would be married to Walden, a semi-official diplomat under the Conservative governments, the uncle of Aleks who is involved in the negotiations of the treaty. Feliks also discovers that Lydia would've given birth to his daughter who grows up with Walden, her "papa" and not surprisingly, she'd have derived the anarchist qualities of her real father.

While Feliks is hellbent on killing Aleks, Walden hides Aleks and vehemently tries to see Feliks arrested and sentenced to death. As it dawns to Lydia that only one of her loves could survive at the end of it, she desperately tries to protect them both. Charlotte puts up quite a show in helping her real father get to his target victim.

What I liked the most is the different perspectives that come out from Walden, Feliks, Lydia and their daughter Charlotte. A nice story and damn well written by Ken Follett!

4.5/5 for this one!

This entry was posted on Friday, March 23, 2012 at Friday, March 23, 2012 . You can follow any responses to this entry through the comments feed .

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