THE FOUR WINDS OF HEAVEN

by Monique Raphel High ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 27, 1980

Diamonds and troikas and hair's-breadth flights, the lives and loves of the aristocratic Russian-Jewish de Gunzburgs from 1895 to the 1920s--certainly a tale for the Evergreen audience, but finer-textured, cooler, classier. Baron David de Gunzburg, a gentle scholar and mediator between the Jews of St. Petersburg and the anti-Semitic government of the Tsar, marries Parisienne cousin Mathilda--but un-religious, refined Mathilda (""she disliked excess and Russia itself was excessive"") finds her true passion with handsome, fiery governess Johanna; and through the years jealous lesbian Johanna will estrange Mathilda from David and will attempt to destroy Mathilda's children. The four children, however, do pretty well at destroying themselves, loving grandly in Russian thunderbolt fashion. Reckless idealist Anna gives herself freely to socialist Ivan Berson, refuses marriage as bourgeois, and--in Swiss exile--bears a child she can never acknowledge. Lovely Sonia hopelessly loves Volodia, son of anti-Semitic Count Tagansev (he flings himself off to a military death). Charming, cynical Ossip adores Volodia's sister Natasha, pursues her even after she's been shunted into a loveless marriage, but finally weds another--unwisely. And stalwart Gino's quiet beloved Olga will be a victim of rape and suicide. Finally, after punishing flights from the Bolsheviks, the family--minus father David (dead in the violence), traitorous Johanna (killed by raiders), and Gino (lost in the White Army)--straggles into Paris, where Sonia will at last marry happily. High has based this novel on the diaries of her grandmother, Sonia de Gunzburg; and the environs, speech, and social conventions have a convincing intimacy. True, the coincidental meetings of the clan in passage seem to reduce Russia to the dimensions of Rhode Island, and politics are seen through the steam of samovars. But the bare-bone tension of the worst of times has a stern verisimilitude, making this a cozy, Russian companion for a month of Sunday afternoons--and a must for lovers of thick, exotic family albums.

Pub Date: Feb. 27, 1980

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Delacorte

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1980

Categories: FICTION