Furnivall returns to Russia, the setting for her previous novels, The Russian Concubine and The Concubine's Secret (and also her new novel The Jewel of St Petersburg). But this is unconnected to those.
Opening in one of Stalin's labour camps in Siberia, Under a Blood Red Sky, tells the story of Sofia and Anna, two women forced to dig ditches and cut trees, as punishment for being related to people deemed enemies of the Communist State. Anna is sustained by the support of her friend and the memory of her love Vasily. As she becomes ill, Sofia vows to escape and find Vasily, bringing him back to rescue Anna from a slow and painful death in the camp.
Escape she does, and eventually makes it to the village of Tivil, where Vasily is said to be hiding. There she meets Mikhail Pashin, the man she believes she's come to find, and the other villagers, including the mysterious gypsy Rafik, who possesses strange powers.
Sofia will learn about herself, about the mess Russia is in, and how to save herself and her friends. But will she save Anna?
I liked this book, and I picked it up because I enjoyed the previous two, they're well written and easy to read, you might even learn something!
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