A Train to Moscow

A Novel

By: Elena Gorokhova

Narrated by: Elizabeth Knowelden

In post-World War II Russia, a girl must reconcile a tragic past with her hope for the future in this powerful and poignant novel about family secrets, passion and loss, perseverance and ambition.

In a small, provincial town behind the Iron Curtain, Sasha lives in a house full of secrets, one of which is her own dream of becoming an actress. When she leaves for Moscow to audition for drama school, she defies her mother and grandparents and abandons her first love, Andrei.

Before she leaves, Sasha discovers the hidden war journal of her uncle Kolya, an artist still missing in action years after the war has ended. His pages expose the official lies and the forbidden truth of Stalin’s brutality. Kolya’s revelations and his tragic love story guide Sasha through drama school and cement her determination to live a thousand lives onstage. After graduation, she begins acting in Leningrad, where Andrei, now a Communist Party apparatchik, becomes a censor of her work. As a past secret comes to light, Sasha’s ambitions converge with Andrei’s duties, and Sasha must decide if her dreams are truly worth the necessary sacrifice and if, as her grandmother likes to say, all will indeed be well.

©2022 Elena Gorokhova (P)2021 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“Simmering in intensity and details, this historical tale might pique the interests of romance readers and draw historians as the bitterness of war and the impact of young hearts meeting collide.”—Booklist

“Elena Gorokhova, who grew up in the 1960s Soviet Union, has given us a heartfelt autobiographical novel…This novel will move you to feel the pain and frustration of one who needs to live in truth and have the freedom of expression.”—Historical Novels Review, Editors’ Choice

“…poignant and masterful, beautifully and intricately laced with imagery, intrigue, and emotion…The storyline is riveting, corkscrewing into an array of twists and turns…It’s unquestionably a notable and splendid piece of literature.”—Portland Book Review

loved it!

I loved this story, great character development very moving. and the characters were not 1 dimensional stereotypes

only ok

So this isn't what I'd normally pick up to read,but I did for a reading challenge. The story was OK. It wasn't bad, but it also wasn't captivating or addictive. It was however, a small glimpse into the lives of every day Russians post WW. Its worth the read, just don't expect any roller coaster emotional ride.

Beautifully written

This was a dark novel based in post WWII Russia, and is a coming of age story in which Sasha, who was born in a provincial town and then moves to Moscow to follow her dream of becoming an actress, learns to survive in a world of censorship and lies, societal and personal trauma. There is no HEA, but this was a powerful story and one I connected with.

The narration however could have been better. As a Russian speaker, the mispronunciations were jarring and so distracting. If you’re going to read for a foreign language character, at least try with your pronunciations. 😣

A glimpse of life in Russia

The writing is magnificent, and poignant. I lived in Russia during the 1960s through the eyes of Sasha. I was left wanting to know what happened to her next.

Outstanding romantic novel with deep insight into personality and culture

This story of a young Russian actress, her complex family history and troubled romance moved me greatly.

The writing is stunning in its attention to descriptive details of people, places, and situations.

The narration was well done; however I took off one star because the narrator’s soft, breathy voice was hard to hear in places.

The narrator also mispronounced many of the Russian words and names sprinkled through the text. Since I speak the language, however, I was able to catch them with a couple replays.

the entire story

nothing. beautifully written there's nothing I don't dislike about it. I could envision The entire story.

Impressive from start to finish

A coming of age story, from an author who grew up in the Soviet Union. The writing style is excellent, as is the narration. Plan to wait for any future novels.

Excellent

Good performance and fantastic writing . The story is compelling and shows multiple perspectives from the Russian point of view on WWII and living under party rule in th 60s and 70s

Fascinating look into Russian life

I had a hard time getting into the story at the beginning. But I'm glad I stuck with it. It was fascinating to read about life in Russia post WWII, and to see what would happen to Sasha. It has inspired me to do more research about that time and place. I got through the last quarter of the book quickly because it was so captivating at the end.

enjoyed the book

I enjoyed the book even though it was long. Historical fiction takes you to the time and place of a character to understand a life. This story does that.