Orphan, Agent, Prima, Pawn

Product Description

The year is 1958, and sixteen-year-old Svetlana is stuck in a Moscow orphanage designated for the unwanted children of Stalin's enemies. Ballet is her obsession and salvation, her only hope at shedding a tainted family past. Sveta's dream is to make a new life as a dancer. Her dream comes true- she's invited to join The Bolshoi Ballet, whose power as a symbol of Soviet prowess is unmatched-except perhaps by the dreaded KGB secret police. Sveta is stunned when officers show up at her door. Inexplicably, they know about a fainting spell she once had- a trance she slipped into. Something like a vision. Some very powerful people believe Sveta is capable of serving the regime as much more than a dancer. They want to enlist her against the West as a psychic spy. She must explore this other talent if she is to erase the sins of her family, if she is to dance on the world stage for the Motherland-if she is to survive.The year is 1958, and sixteen-year-old Svetlana is stuck in a Moscow orphanage designated for the unwanted children of Stalin's enemies. Ballet is her obsession and salvation, her only hope at shedding a tainted family past. Sveta's dream is to make a new life as a dancer. Her dream comes true- she's invited to join The Bolshoi Ballet, whose power as a symbol of Soviet prowess is unmatched-except perhaps by the dreaded KGB secret police. Sveta is stunned when officers show up at her door. Inexplicably, they know about a fainting spell she once had- a trance she slipped into. Something like a vision. Some very powerful people believe Sveta is capable of serving the regime as much more than a dancer. They want to enlist her against the West as a psychic spy. She must explore this other talent if she is to erase the sins of her family, if she is to dance on the world stage for the Motherland-if she is to survive.
Elizabeth Kiem studied Russian language and literature at Columbia University and lived in Russia immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Her nonfiction work can be read all over the world wide web. She is also the author of Dancer, Daughter, Traitor, Spy and Hider, Seeker, Secret Keeper. She lives in London.