The summer day is done [Import] [Paperback]

ROBERT TYLER STEVENS (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 347 pages
• Publisher: FONTANA (1977)
• ISBN-10: 0006158072
• ISBN-13: 978-0006158073
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars intelligent historical fiction, July 25, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Summer Day Is Done (Paperback)

The Summer Day Is Done works so well on many levels--as a tale for explaining the downfall of Nicholas II, a portrait of a family, and a touching but never melodramatic or sappy romance. Stevens draws his characters with a loving but honest hand, and never gives into the temptation to destroy the book's integrity by incorporating traditional "happy ending"-type of events. I'm sure historians of the Russian Revolution might take exception to his habit of casting the Romanoff family and their actions in the best possible light (it was quite a shock to me when I read Nicholas and Alexandra, after reading this novel), but I rather like his decision to focus on N & A's positive qualities. We'll leave cold reality to the history texts.

And the romance is exquisitely written. It is a wonderful love story, which is rarely found despite the multitudes of books that claim to be romances. (To give you an idea of my taste, I think that Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres and Possession by A.S. Byatt fall into the category of intelligent and thoughtful love stories that eschew formulas.) Kirby and Olga never step out of character. Even though you know what really happened during the Russian Revolution, somehow the book manages to avoid predictability. You find yourself hoping desperately that somehow, events that are decades past can be averted.

This is a fabulous book. Read it if you can find a copy.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 30 years and no sigh of quiting, October 3, 2009

By 

E. Voves (Philly, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Summer Day Is Done (Mass Market Paperback)

I first got this book 30 years ago and I came to Amazon recently just to replace my worn out copy! I'm not into romantic novels. But I enjoy reading about the Romanovs and thought, well this will be fun. And it is.

Okay it's fluff. But it's very well written fluff and you have to respect that; good writing is good writing. It takes you expertly away to another time and place. Olga Nikolaevna has always been my fav and it's nice to think she had a romance in the short time given her. Nothing could come of it of course, but while nursing during the WWI, the real Olga Nikolaevna indeed did, with one of the injured soldiers she cared for. Well why not a Mr. Kirby?

It's very sweet that in the book, the innocent romance begins when Olga is 16, and so there are years for the two characters develop a bond...and not the mere weeks the real Olga had. The fact that it's an "impossible" relationship due to their difference in rank, only adds to the romance of the story . Here a look or a word, speaks worlds.

I re-read " The Summer Day is Done" every few years and it's always enjoyable. All I know is even though I have passed on 1000's of books during those 30 years,I could never bring myself to put "The Summer Day is Done" in the box and pass it on to another reader....and I'm glad I can get a newer copy on Amazon for myself!

Enjoy!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Summer Day Is Done, May 28, 2008

By 

Lalee - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Summer Day Is Done (Mass Market Paperback)

R.T. Stevens has done an absolutely wonderful job of this fictional novel of the Imperial Family! The main characters are John Kirby, a British officer, and Grand Duchess Olga Nicolaevna, the eldest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna. The Summer Day Is Done is such a charming book and so difficult to put down - it makes you want to smile, and yet at the same time, so tragic that it is quite easy to find yourself in tears. The portrayal of the Imperial Family in this book, I find, is much better than a lot of other books on the family (fiction or non-fiction).

Overall, The Summer Day Is Done is definitely worth a read and one to treasure for a lifetime.