Russian Winter by Daphne Kalotay

I could not put this one down (but I did only because I had to!)

An elderly Nina Revskaya is selling off her jewels and recalling her past as a 1880s Bolshoi ballet prima donna who defected to the US as a young woman. Her story interweaves with that of Grigori Solodin who is trying to piece together his own life story. These two lives are connected somehow and just when you think you’ve figured it out, Kalotay throws another twist into the mix. The novel is compelling and heartbreaking. The eighty year old Nina makes you laugh out loud and cry in dismay and the ending is unexpected yet so very satisfying … LOVED IT!