Irina S Story

Irina’s Story is the history of the Uspensky family and its attempt to negotiate the perils of 20th century Russia. It begins in the twilight years of the Tsarist empire in the idyllic setting of the family’s country home at Babushkino, and describes a world which is destroyed by war, revolution and Stalin’s terror, and ends with the fall of communism and the beginning of a new Russia of gangsters and crony-capitalism. At the age of 90, Irina Uspenskaya is the last surviving witness of these events. In her Moscow apartment, while her young relative Slavochka and his friends in “the International Syndicate” aspire to become successful drug dealers, Irina collects the letters and diaries of her parents’ generation and sets down the tale of what happened to them all. In turn she describes the doomed marriage of her father Nikolai and her mother Xenia, who love but never understand each other; her idealistic aunt Adalia, who marries the sinister Grodsky; her disreputable uncle Alexander and his feisty wife Tatiana. These and a host of other colourful characters populate the story and we see their world through their eyes and understand it through their thoughts and writings. Our guide, Irina is wry, funny, insightful and humane. Born with a disability, she views events through detached yet sympathetic eyes and reflects on her own history and her unrequited love for a boy she met as a little girl and the family and children she will never have. Irina’s Story is told with verve, compassion and a command of the sweep of Russian history. It is at times funny, romantic, tragic and appalling, but suffused throughout with deep humanity.

Romania is a true cultural melting pot, rooted in Greek and Turkish traditions in the south, Hungarian and Saxon in the north and Slavic in the east and west. Carapathia, the first book from food stylist and cooking enthusiast Irina Georgescu, aims to introduce readers to Romania's bold, inventive and delicious cuisine. Bringing the country to life with stunning photography and recipes, it will take the reader on a culinary journey to the very heart of the Balkans, exploring it's history and landscape through it's traditions and food. From fragrant pilafs, sour borsch and hearty stews, to intricate and moreish desserts, this book celebrates the dishes from a culture living at the crossroads of eastern and western traditions.

"This eclectic anthology gathers stories from established and emerging writers in China that display an astonishing range of style and subject matter"--Back cover.

"The Imperial Wife is a smart, engaging novel that parallels two fascinating worlds and two singular women. Irina Reyn writes beautifully of immigrants, art and the vagaries of love". --Jess Walter, National Book Award finalist and author of the New York Times bestseller, Beautiful Ruins Two women's lives collide when a priceless Russian artifact comes to light. Tanya Kagan, a rising specialist in Russian art at a top New York auction house, is trying to entice Russia's wealthy oligarchs to bid on the biggest sale of her career, The Order of Saint Catherine, while making sense of the sudden and unexplained departure of her husband. As questions arise over the provenance of the Order and auction fever kicks in, Reyn takes us into the world of Catherine the Great, the infamous 18th-century empress who may have owned the priceless artifact, and who it turns out faced many of the same issues Tanya wrestles with in her own life. Suspenseful and beautifully written, The Imperial Wife asks whether we view female ambition any differently today than we did in the past. Can a contemporary marriage withstand an “Imperial Wife”?

Stolen at birth. Raised by wolves. Hunted down by evil magicians ... Irina: the Trilogy tells the magical adventures of a fierce princess who learns wisdom, her friend the gentle Andor who learns his strength, and Irina's loyal wolf-brother Durrell. These three gripping tales of friendship, truth and the power of redemption, are presented here together for the very first time. Melbourne writer Leah Swann has conjured a trilogy of fantastic stories for the young (and young at heart). Irina the Wolf Queen is a heroine both brave and beautiful - with the cunning and daring of an animal and the wit and intelligence of a human. Irina is destined for greatness, but at every turn she is confronted by evil ...

Book three of the Ragnor Trilogy 'I'm no wolf-queen,' Irina thought bitterly. 'I'm barely more than a girl, a stupid girl at that, who got herself helplessly trapped in a Narrowlands cell.' A terrifying army marches south towards Irina's family and friends. Locked in prison, she is powerless to stop it. The Book of the Junsong is lost, her mother is under an evil enchantment, and she is separated from her beloved wolves. Now, Irina must face her ultimate foe: the Venerated Dragon. And she must do it alone, with nothing to help her but a charm on her neck - and the truth. Can Irina fulfil her destiny and bring the Age of Peace to Ragnor? Melbourne writer Leah Swann has conjured a trilogy of fantastic stories for the young (and young at heart). Irina the Wolf Queen is a heroine both brave and beautiful - with the cunning and daring of an animal and the wit and intelligence of a human. Irina is destined for greatness, but at every turn she is confronted by evil ...