Zoya (Mass Market Paperback)

by Danielle Steel (Author) "Zoya closed her eyes again as the troika flew across the icy ground, the soft mist of snow leaving tiny damp kisses on her cheeks,..." (more)
Key Phrases: imperial egg, New York, Tsarskoe Selo, Ballet Russe (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
With the emotional panache that pleases her devotees, Steel (Kaleidoscope) portrays Zoya Ossupov, a courageous young woman of Imperial Russia who experiences both ecstasy and trauma. Daughter of a count who is a cousin of Tsar Nicholas, Zoya enjoys a privileged, cloistered existence. Zoya, whose name means "life," is on intimate terms with the tsar's family. All of them, of course, are endangered by the Revolution. The insurgents slaughter the tsar and his kin, and cause the deaths of Zoya's parents and brother, forcing her to flee to Paris with her aged but indomitable grandmother. Suffering in unaccustomed poverty, they are sustained by Zoya's wages as a dancer with the Ballet Russe. Romance brightens her life following a chance encounter with an affluent New Yorker, Capt. Clayton Andrews. Enchanted by Zoya, Andrews eventually brings her to Manhattan as his bride, never imagining the tragedies that will befall them both. Steel evokes the final days of Imperial Russia with characteristic bravura. As always, she offers a carefully calculated mix of picturesque locales, remarkable events and appealing characters. Literary Guild and BOMC dual main selections.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal
$19.95. f Most of Steel's readers have favorites among her stories and while this one may not be destined to be the choice of many, libraries will have difficulty keeping it in stock because of Steel's reputation. Within weeks of her last visit to the family of her distant cousin Tsar Nicholas II, Zoya and her grandmother flee the Russian Revolution in 1917, taking with them two final royal gifts, a small dog and the measles. The harsh winter in Paris before Zoya meets the handsome American captain she marries is difficult. She loses all but her two children in the stock market crash, but finds work as a fashion coordinator. Throughout, history and romance often seem to bump into each other as they stumble over coincidence. This is not one of Steel's better sagas, and her fans will be disappointed. Literary Guild Dual Main Selection.Andrea Lee Shuey, Dallas P.L.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Dell (June 4, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440203856
• ISBN-13: 978-0440203858
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 1.8 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #607,873 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful entertaining journey, June 27, 1998

By	[e-mail] (Chicago, Illinois) - See all my reviews

I hate to admit it, but I like Danielle Steel. Sure, we can criticize her prose which can be downright silly but no one can argue the fact that she is a professional when it comes to story-telling. Her novels read like epic screenplays and readers are taken to worlds far away with stories about characters which are moving and keep the pages turning. I have read only 5 of Ms. Steel's novels but "Zoya," to date, is the best. "Zoya" is the story of a Russian girl who flees her Russian homeland with her grandmother during the revoloution. She goes to Paris where her dreams of being a dancer are fulfilled and romance enters her life. The novel moves from Paris to New York where we are allowed to watch Zoya for 80 years. Ms. Steel brings to life all the feelings of Russia and romance eventhough, as we said, they may not be articulated well. This reader felt all the tears, laughter and joy Zoya experienced throughout her lifetime. Novels can either teach or entertain - so what if there is no lesson to be learned from the novels Danielle Steel writes? I can't think of too many people who can come up with stories like she can - so hats off to Ms. Steel!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Zoya, November 26, 2002

By A Customer

I must say that this is an intriguing book to read, thoroughly enjoyable, and very earnest in the feelings it conveys. However, as a Romanov afficionado I fundamentally oppose putting words into the mouths of the Tsar's family. Also, some glaring mistakes were made in their descriptions:

First, Joy was NOT Maria's (Mashka's) dog, nor was it a female! HE was a liver spaniel and belonged to Tsarevich Aleksei, Marie's younger brother. The reason I know he couldn't be a girl is, first, accounts of those who knew him and the family, and, second, the fact that "JOY" in Russian sounds positively like a male name.

Marie herself had a pet mouse, her sisters Anastasia had a Cavalier King Charles spaniel named Jemmy (though some say he originally belonged to Tatiana), Tatiana had a French bulldog named Ortino (who was a girl), and Olga had a cat named Vaska.

Also, somehow it seems improbable that a COUNTESS, which is rather low a title in Russia (Grand Duke and Prince come above it!) could be a cousin to the Tsar.

No blood was shed in the days of the Revolution, nor in the Bolshevik coup d'etat; the book says that "hundreds of people were dead by the end of the day."

Finally, the book depicts the Revolution as happening in a snap, and immediately Bolshevik. That is very, very wrong indeed. All of 1917 and part of 1916 endured strikes and random violence in Petrograd. Plus, after the Revolution came a summer of non-Bolshevik rule, though they were, of course, very powerful already...

However, the book was very good outside of that. Though again, another comment, most White emigres tended to keep up the Russian language and culture in their children, while Zoya doesn't do this... She could, of course, be called an exception, but somehow the fact that her children don't speak Russian sounds weird.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Intriguing, April 25, 2002

By	Theresa W (mi, usa) - See all my reviews

This is a very intriguing story. If you like to read about places you've never been...a life very different from your own...I think this story will do it! Get lost in people & places so different & amazing...