Title: The Girl from Jungchow (Russian Concubine #2)

Author: Kate Furnivall

Publisher: Berkley Trade 2009

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 500

Rating:   4 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Historical Fiction; Mount TBR; Fall into Reading

How I Got It: I own it!

China, 1929. For years Lydia Ivanova believed her father was killed by the Bolsheviks. But when she learns he is imprisoned in Stalin-controlled Russia, the fiery girl is willing to leave everything behind- even her Chinese lover, Chang An Lo.

Lydia begins a dangerous search, journeying to Moscow with her half-brother Alexei. But when Alexei abruptly disappears, Lydia is left alone, penniless in Soviet Russia.

All seems lost, but Chang An Lo has not forgotten Lydia. He knows things about her father that she does not. And while he races to protect her, she is prepared to risk treacherous consequences to discover the truth.

A slow start, but ultimately a good historical fiction read.  I admit that Lydia isn't my favorite literary character.  It's the other characters that roped me into the book.  Liev's stubbornness, Alexei's mystery, Elena's hardness, Antonina's fragile nature, Edik's need for a place, even Chang's honor.  Those characters kept me reading each chapter, wanting to see where life took them.  The contrast is setting also grabbed my attention.  While The Russian Concubine was set in China, the second book is set squarely in Stalin's Russia.  Like Lydia, I yearned for the colorful warm China.  Russia is gray, gray, and more gray.  I did appreciate the descriptions of settings and building.  Overall I didn't like is more than The Russian Concubine, but it definitely kept my attention for the third book.

Russian Concubine

• #1 The Russian Concubine
• #2 The Girl from Junchow
• #3 The Jewel of St. Petersburg