Praise for Russian Winter
"An elegant, compelling puzzle of family, memory and solitude that brings to life modern day Boston and postwar Russia through a profound love story. Graceful, moving and unexpected." —Matthew Pearl, author of The Dante Club
“A magnificent tale of love, loss, betrayal and redemption. … And while there is fascinating information and insight about ballet, jewels, music, art and politics, the emotional center of the book holds everything together. Toward the end, with many unanswered questions swirling, the author lets the truth ebb and flow until a final riptide of revelations leaves the reader profoundly moved.” —Eugenia Zukerman, Washington Post
“Russian Winter… is eerily engaging and affecting. It could well be the debut novel of the year.” —Frank Wilson, Philadelphia Inquirer
“You will be awake until 4 a.m. reading Daphne Kalotay's debut novel.… Kalotay unfurls the plot exquisitely, inching together her three main characters, each trapped, as are the insects in Nina's amber, in their respective stases. It is to Kalotay's credit that she does not pay mere lip service to Grigori's grief over his dead wife, to Drew's failed marriage; she explicates, she details, she keeps the dead and the living on each page. …Kalotay, who previously published Calamity and Other Stories, is a spectacular writer: precise, alert, full of movement and air.” —Nancy Rommelmann, The Oregonian
"A suspenseful, elegant novel whose grace matches that of the ballerina whose story lies at its heart." — Lilith
“Kalotay juxtaposes the sobering devastation of Russia’s darkest times with the pristine beauty of ballerinas, precious gems and unfaltering love. …Russian Winter is a great read for any fiction lover. Be warned—once started, this book will be highly difficult to put down!” —Emily Beardsley, Baltimore Jewish Times
“An exceptional debut… Delving into Nina's life with the Bolshoi Ballet, her life among the Soviet Union's artist community and her escape from the Stalinist regime add glamour and historical flavor to this novel of secrets, intrigue and wonderfully described priceless gems.” —Carol Memmott, USA Today
“Kalotay’s masterful storytelling propels a rich narrative of secrets and betrayals, deceptive memories, profound loss and the transformative power of love. … RUSSIAN WINTER creates a wholly believable world…. The ending is a stunner, and as you armchair travel back to the USSR, you’ll want to enjoy all the revelations along the way” —Kathy Hickman, The Sun Chronicle
“Readers should set aside time to savor this delightful historical fiction with a twist of contemporary romance.” —The Internet Review of Books
"A sweeping transgenerational novel... Kalotay develops a neat narrative of deception and betrayal that takes in great strands of literary and political history. ...[A] complex story that, in the end, boils down to the simplest of elements: love, fear, disappointment and loss. An auspicious first novel, elegantly written and without a false note." —Kirkus (starred review)
“With sure and suspenseful artistry, Daphne Kalotay intersperses the unfortunate and tortuous histories of Nina, Elsin, and their artist friends with new discoveries and disclosures… [that] draw together in a conclusion that is surprising, fitting, and satisfying.” —Barbara Fisher, Boston Globe
"Kalotay's narrative moves effortlessly between midtwentieth-century Russia... and contemporary Boston.... Kalotay has created appealing, well-rounded characters in well-researched settings, notably in capturing the fear, deprivation, and rampant suspicion of the Stalin era and its effect on artists. ...This is a briskly paced, fresh, and engaging first novel dealing with the pain of loss and the power of love." —Michele Leber, Booklist
"Kalotay makes a powerful debut.... [An] entrancing story thanks to a skillful depiction of artistic life behind the Iron Curtain and intriguing glimpses into auction house operations." —Publishers Weekly
"This novel, about an oppressive Soviet Russia, a mysterious amber pendant, and the lives of ballerinas, composers, and poets, is fantastic." —Lindy Moore,The Rumpus
"Russian Winter … is an impressive debut: intelligent, moving, and flitting seamlessly between the artistic salons of Soviet Russia and the Boston of today." —Laura Barnett,The Guardian
"Russian Winter is a suspenseful, thoughtful, and engrossing tale of emotionally compelling characters-a remarkable debut by a gifted author." —Lisa Verge Higgins, New York Journal of Books
"Daphne Kalotay's characters are fully developed, believable and authentic. Revskaya is particularly credible as an elderly woman steeped in melancholy reliving her younger days. Russian Winter is a saga of love, loss, betrayal, heartbreak and redemption.” —The Charleston Post and Courier
"Each character has a petrified secret. The interlocking plots--the present alternates with Revskaya's youth--build to harrowing betrayals, showing how Soviet Russia was 'rearranged to discourage love for anything other than one's country.'" —The New Yorker
"Kalotay has done her research impeccably well, on Soviet Russia, on what it is really like to be a ballerina, as well as the precarious lives of artists when art must follow party lines. The result of this careful research is that Stalin’s Moscow feels heartbreakingly real to the reader. …Like ballet, Russian Winter is meticulous and precise [and] shows us people and ideas that are powerful and fragile all at once.'" —Norah Vawter, Tottenville Review
"Russian Winter is much more than mere behind-a-cultural-scene entertainment, well-rendered as that world is; it’s also a window into an older world of poetry, dance, betrayal, true and false love, thwarted ideals and secrets kept tighter than a sealed drum. Kalotay....has brought to life hidden worlds with the verve of an expertly executed tour jeté." —Sarah Weinman, Maclean’s
"Russian Winter is a strong debut novel [that] focuses not so much on major historical events but on the nuances and subtleties of actual groups of people at a time in history. …There is a particular luxuriance and expressiveness in each and every ballet scene and some truly wonderful imagery surrounding the arts. Readers will find many passages that echo their exact feelings as an observer. The writing is also graceful and intuitive… and any reader who enjoys history and has an interest in Russia should find worthwhile things here. —Melanie Smith, BookReporter.com
"Daphne Kalotay writes about her characters—artists struggling to dream and survive within the constraints of the Stalinist regime—with sensitivity, humor, and wisdom. I believed in these characters and cared about their fates.... A captivating and entertaining read." —Oscar Hijuelos, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love
"This tale of a Russian ballerina who defected to Boston is a history lesson inside an evocative novel about art and betrayal." —O Magazine, Ten Titles to Pick Up Now
"Tender, passionate, and moving, Daphne Kalotay's lovely debut novel about ballet, jewels, love and betrayal is also a delicious form of time travel, transporting the reader between the shabby, scary glamour of Iron Curtain Russia and modern-day Boston. I loved being int he intricately connected worlds of Russian Winter, and I was sad to leave them when the book was over. —Jenna Blum, award-winning author of Those Who Save Us and The Stormchasers
"Part romance, part mystery, this elegant debut captures the danger--and refuge--of love in Stalin's era." —Good Housekeeping
"Russian Winter is a marvel that had me canceling appointments and staying up half the night, as it swept me into a world of intrigue, poetry, and romance. Set against the perfection of ballet, the harships of life in the Soviet Union after World War II, and the anguish of families lost and found, Russian Winter reminds me of why I love to read fiction." —Lauren Belfer, bestselling author of City of Light and A Fierce Radiance
"A memorable love story cleverly disguised as historical fiction." —Viv Groskop, Red (U.K.)
"Daphne Kalotay’s magnificent multi-layered debut novel takes us from a smart quarter of one of America’s oldest cities to the claustrophobic artistic community of 1940s Moscow where a careless look, word or gesture could bring terrible retribution. Written with passion, vision and a genuine empathy for the Russian people, Kalotay’s well-paced story interweaves historical intrigue with a modern-day enigma, allowing the past to shine a light on the present. The result is a satisfying and sweeping saga full of all those time-honoured ingredients – love, loss, mystery, tragedy and period detail – that are the hallmarks of a successful historical novel." —Pam Norfolk, Lancaster Evening Post
“A fabulous read, full of Soviet past and modern-day intrigue.” —Beacon Hill Patch
"A pleasing combination of historical novel and literary mystery. — Choice magazine (U.K.)
Praise for Calamity and Other Stories
"Superior fiction. Forget the flashy epiphany, the Kodak moment. Kalotay prefers the glancing accumulation of detail, which pays off to impressive effect." —Los Angeles Times
"Kalotay's collection builds force so quietly that when all the characters appear together in the final story you're stunned—by how well it works and by how familiar these women now feel." —New York Times Book Review
"Like short-story collections by Alice Munro and Lorrie Moore . . . Lovely [and] comic." —San Francisco Chronicle
"[A] delicately graceful debut. . . . Capturing her characters at different stages in their lives, Kalotay artfully crafts her book around their metamorphoses, both big and small." —Publishers Weekly
"Contemplative, melancholy, yet not without humor, these are well-made fictions on a delicate scale that subtly demonstrate such truths as the persistence of character and the endurance of friendship." —The Boston Globe
"Compassion is at the heart of Kalotay's polished stories, as are a subtle sense of humor and appreciation for the complexities of human emotion." —Booklist
"Daphne Kalotay's stories ... are old-fashioned in the best sense of the word, plainspoken and melancholy, about ordinary people struggling with the trials of ordinary life. Few writers I know speak ... with such clear-eyed compassion, such quiet humor and grace." —Jhumpa Lahiri, Pulitzer PrizeÐwinning author of Interpreter of Maladies and The Namesake
"Daphne Kalotay's characters are unique, flesh-and-blood New Englanders, people you often find yourself rooting forÉ. [Her] collection of short stories is well-worth reading." —Charleston Post and Courier
"Poignant and splendid stories... [Kalotay] makes it easy for us to identify with the connections and relationships that she has created because they feel genuine and palpable." — Lancaster Times & Clinton Courier
"These stories, simply told and insightful, make for entertaining reading...." —The Sunday Oklahoman
"Twelve straightforward narratives about love and longing alternate among three main characters who all come together in the final story, creating a connectedness that feels satisfying and organic rather than forced. This debut collection is deftly written and emotionally astute." —2005 Story Prize committee
"Daphne Kalotay pursues the ongoing arc of her characters' lives in subtle, languid, sometimes oblique ways." —The Improper Bostonian
"Kalotay's stories offer an intimate glimpse at ...the absurdities and delights of an ordinary life." —The Virginian-Pilot
"...the truths here are subtly scattered in a delicate way that will leave you contemplating her stories long after the book is finished." —Bay Windows
"Short stories brimming with subtle humor and interesting ironic twists..." —EDGE New England
"I found a book of short stories that I actually enjoyed —and not just because there was a picture of a cupcake on the cover." —Gwinnett Daily Post
A Boston Herald and Vancouver Sun "Editor's Choice" selection
A Poets & Writers Magazine 2005 "Notable Book"