Under a Blood Red Sky by Kate Furnivall

Under a Blood Red Sky was my January choice for the Read Your Own Books Challenge for which the book must have been on the shelf for over six months. I bought it about this time last year after being tempted by a 'buy 3 for less' offer. Problem was , despite the huge discount, I only wanted one of the books on offer and it wasn't this one. When is a bargain not a bargain?


It's about: The story begins in the Davinsky Labour Camp in 1933. Sofia Morosova knows she has to escape. All that sustains her through the bitter cold and hard labour are the stories told by her friend Anna, beguiling tales of a charmed upbringing in Petrogard - and of Anna's fervent love for a passionate reolutionary, Vasily.
So when Anna falls gravely ill, Sofia makes a promise to escape the camp and find Vasily. But Russia, gripped by the iron fist of Communism, is no longer the country of her friend's childhood. Sofia's perilous search takes from industrial factories to remote villages, where she discovers a web of secrecy and lies - and an overwhelming love!


 An historical romance - love and danger with a touch of magic but although the background is atmospheric and gives a glimpse of the horrors of Stalin's rule I found the the story too improbable to take seriously .  I read the first 100 pages and skimmed the rest. Not the sort of book I'm in the mood for reading but at least it can now be removed from the bookshelf.