City of Silence (City of Mystery) (37 page)

Yes,
he liked it.  It was a good name, strong and simple and solid.  He uttered it
out loud, called the name up into the sky, shattering the silence of the river
and causing the birds above him to startle.  Over and over he shouted the words,
like an Adam newly christened into a world newly born.  For this was the start
of everything, was it not? 

And
so he said his name once again:  Vladimir Lenin.

Historical
Notes

I
hope that City of Silence has inspired readers to learn more about this pivotal
time in Russian history, i.e., the thirty years which marked the end of the imperial
age and the rise of the Marxist Party.  I knew very little about imperial
Russia before I began my research – as I suspect is true of most Americans -
but quickly fell under the spell of the endlessly fascinating and exasperating
Romanov family.

The
murders of the ballet dancers and the characters of Tatiana, Filip, and Konstantin
were entirely fabricated.  The fictional character of Cynthia Kirby was named
in honor a friend of mine, a lovely woman with most excellent manners, who in
no way deserves to be disposed of in such an inelegant manner.

In
contrast, the tales of the royal families of both Russia and England were
largely based on fact.  Alix and Nicky truly met when Serge and Ella married, and
carried on a long distance courtship to the dismay of both their families
before ultimately marrying when she was twenty.  The personalities and
relationships within the Winter Palace are as close to accurate as I can
imagine them, based on letters and diaries from the time.

My
sins are mostly against the calendar.  While Tchaikovsky did have a triumphant
tour of Europe, he was not honored in St. Petersburg during that particular
summer.  Likewise, Vlad was not in St. Petersburg in June of 1889, nor was
there an attack on any members of the tsar’s family at that time, although the
previous attempts on the tsar’s life and the involvement of Vlad’s brother Sasha
are based on fact.  For dramatic purposes, I also collapsed the time frame of
the courtship between Alix and Nicky, implying that events which occurred
months or years apart, actually all happened within a two week period.

One
aspect of the story which I did not have to adapt for dramatic purposes was the
Queen’s reservations toward the men her granddaughters chose as husbands.  Victoria
did indeed dislike Russia, and used all of her influence in an effort to
dissuade her granddaughters from marrying into the Romanov family.  Many of the
Queen’s quotes are taken directly from her letters.

And
as history shows us, her fears were well founded.  Both Alix and Ella died
horribly brutal deaths in 1917 at the dawn of the Bolshevik Revolution.  Their
murders and those of their families were decreed by none other than the
single-minded leader of the Marxist party, Vladimir Lenin.

What’s
Next?

If
you enjoyed City of Silence, look for the first two books in the City of
Mystery series:  City of Darkness, which takes place in London and explores in
the infamous case of Jack the Ripper, and City of Light, which travels to Paris
on the eve of the Exposition Universalle, the World’s Fair which introduced the
Eiffel Tower.

City
of Bells, in which the Scotland Yard forensics team will travel to Bombay to
defend Aunt Gerry’s first love from a charge of murder, is due in late summer,
2013.   To be notified of when it is available, either “like” the City of
Mystery page on Facebook or leave your email address at
[email protected]
.

And
I would appreciate any reviews of City of Silence or any of the other books in
the City of Mystery series.   The link to Amazon is
http://www.amazon.com/City-Silence-Mystery-ebook/dp/B00B7NHUWU/ref=pd_sim_kstore_2