SKU: 52444740753

Parallel Lives A Love Story from a Lost Continent by Iain Pears (Hardcover)

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Parallel Lives A Love Story from a Lost Continent by Iain Pears (Hardcover)This is the simplest tale in the world. Two people meet and fall in love. But the route which brought Larissa Salmina and Francis Haskell to a backstreet Venetian restaurant in 1962 was anything but straightforward. Larissa was born in northern Russia, the daughter of a Soviet army officer from a noble family who survived the siege of Leningrad by eating cats tails and being evacuated over the ice. Francis was the grandson of an Iraqi Jew, forever

This is the simplest tale in the world. Two people meet and fall in love. But the route which brought Larissa Salmina and Francis Haskell to a backstreet Venetian restaurant in 1962 was anything but straightforward.

Larissa was born in northern Russia, the daughter of a Soviet army officer from a noble family who survived the siege of Leningrad by eating cats’ tails and being evacuated over the ice. Francis was the grandson of an Iraqi Jew, forever feeling out of place in his adopted country of England. How they could meet and instantly understand each other so profoundly that both were prepared to risk heartbreak, and in her case, retribution, to be together is the story of this book.

Escaping Leningrad, teenage Larissa lived in the Urals surrounded by Spanish revolutionaries, went feral and after the war rose to become the youngest Commissar in the Soviet Union and Keeper of Italian Drawings at the Hermitage. She took the Russian contribution to the Venice Biennale in 1962 and lost it on the journey. She briefly absconded with her supervisor’s corpse, developed a useful sideline in forgery, and stole (“I didn’t steal it. I liberated it”) a Matisse from the Italian government. She was a trained connoisseur and could spot a Tiepolo at 100 yards.

Francis was a distinguished art historian, comfortably at home in King’s College Cambridge. But he was lonely, self-doubting and had all but abandoned hope of falling in love, or finding anyone who could love him. Larissa swept away all the years of anguish in one meal. Bestselling novelist and art historian Iain Pears’ fabulous book brings into sharp focus the strange world of the Soviet Union, and the even stranger world of a certain variety of the English elite. It seeks to show how leaving the Soviet Union was a sacrifice for her and how it was the English man, not the Russian woman, who was set free because of their meeting.

Iain Pears knew both his principal characters well. His book is a story of Europe; not the Europe of geographical and ideological divisions but of a certain mentality which was common to a few on both sides of the Iron Curtain. Whatever their differences in nationality, language, and politics, both Larissa and Francis were members of a unified, pan-European culture which paid little heed to the divisions which so pre-occupied most people of the age. It also operated by very different rules and values to the societies in which they existed. It was a world of dancers, exiles, and the occasional spy, of artists, aristocrats, and academics. It consisted of people who only felt safe when they were away from home, were comfortable only in the company of foreigners. It is a tale of a world we seem to have lost.

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SKU: 52444740753

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Tstar
Carnegie, US
★★★★★ 5
So sweet
Format: Kindle
It’s so unexpectedly sweet that it sneaks up on you. Each character is so unique and charming. I love the openness and honesty among their pack. It really blows me away how wonderful this omegaverse trope plays out. I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2026
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Verified Purchase
Queen of Anxiety
Charlottesville, US
★★★★★ 2
Needs editing
Format: Kindle
Cute storyline and promising characters, but the lack of editing is painful to read. I would love to read an edited version.
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Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2025
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Verified Purchase
Amanda
Massapequa, US
★★★★★ 5
A good read
Format: Kindle
A good read, just fluffy cuteness, no antagonism. I like all the characters. It could have used another round of editing however, glanfds being one error that cracked me up, and my personal pet peeve was that the author kept using the word fill instead of feel, which I promise you are not interchangeable haha, but it's definitely better than the majority of books I read on here mistake-wise.
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Reviewed in the United States on November 28, 2024
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Cecy Melero
Pawtucket, US
★★★★★ 4
amazing
Format: Kindle
Knot the Bride was a fantastic read! The characters were all amazing and well-developed. It was easy to like them all. Sophia, Luca, Nick, and Gavin were all perfect for each other. It was such a charming story that had me hooked the entire time. I did wish there were POVs from Luca, Nick, and Gavin but it was still an amazing book without it. I am excited to read the next book in the Willowside Omegaverse series! This is definitely a must-read for fans of omegaverse romance!. I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.
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Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2025
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Tara
Louisville, US
★★★★★ 3
3 Star Read,
Format: Kindle
This book wasn't bad, but wasn't my cup of tea. It's highly disappointing because the storyline is so original. There is no real conflict or resolution, so the entire thing feels flat. As a lover of omegaverse books, I know there is a ton of variety out there, and ov is really up to the author. But this one is weird. Omegas have multiple scent glands all over their bodies and go into week long heats every month. Alphas have knots in the middle of their shaft instead of the base, and the knot doesn't always swell, no explanation of when or why. It doesn't engage at all when the mouth is in play. I also didn't enjoy the author's writing style. Each paragraph is only 1 or 2 sentences long, and the entire book reads very stacato. The conversations are stiff and unnatural feeling. Everything is very repetitive, both in word choice and in thought. The same thing is repeated 3 or 4 times over a single page, multiple times over. I ended up doing so much skimming. The first 50% of the book is all slow burn, and the last 50% is almost straight mediocre spice. This wouldn't have been all bad if the grammar and spelling errors didn't start at the exact same time. Tongue is repeatedly misspelled in the middle of the spice.
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Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2024

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