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One Night in Winter
- A Novel
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 13 hrs and 20 mins
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Publisher's summary
The acclaimed novelist and prizewinning historian Simon Sebag Montefiore explores the consequences of forbidden love in this heartbreaking epic, inspired by a true story that unfolds in Stalin's Russia during the bleak days after World War II.
A jubilant Moscow is celebrating the Soviet Union's victory over Hitler when gunshots ring out though the city's crowded streets. In the shadow of the Kremlin, a teenage boy and girl are found dead. But this is no ordinary tragedy, because these are no ordinary teenagers. As the children of high-ranking Soviet officials, they inhabit a rarefied world that revolves around the exclusive Josef Stalin Commune School 801. The school, which Stalin's own children attended, is an enclave of privilege - but, as the deaths reveal, one that hides a wealth of secrets. Were these deaths an accident, a suicide pact…or murder?
Certain that a deeper conspiracy is afoot, Stalin launches a ruthless investigation. In what comes to be known as the Children's Case, youths from all over Moscow are arrested by state security services and brought to the infamous interrogation rooms of the Lubyanka, where they are forced to testify against their friends and their families. Among the casualties of these betrayals are two pairs of illicit lovers, who find themselves trapped at the center of Stalin's witch hunt. As the Children's Case follows its increasingly terrifying course, these couples discover that the decision to follow one's heart comes at a terrible price.
A haunting evocation of a time and place in which the state colluded to corrupt and destroy every dream, One Night in Winter is infused with the desperate intrigue of a political thriller. The eminent historian Simon Sebag Montefiore weaves fact and fiction into a richly compelling saga of sacrifice and survival, populated by real figures from the past. But within the darkness shines a deeply human love story, one that transcends its moment as it masterfully explores our capacity for loyalty and forgiveness.
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Set across Istanbul and Oxford, from the 1980s to the present day, Three Daughters of Eve is a sweeping tale of faith and friendship, tradition and modernity, love and an unexpected betrayal. Peri, a wealthy Turkish housewife and mother, is on her way to a dinner party at a seaside mansion in Istanbul when a beggar snatches her handbag. As she wrestles to get it back, a photograph falls to the ground - an old polaroid of three young women and their university professor.
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Review 3 daughters of Eve
- By CA on 04-28-18
By: Elif Shafak
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Mr. Fox
- A Novel
- By: Helen Oyeyemi
- Narrated by: Carol Boyd
- Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Fairy-tale romances end with a wedding and the fairy tales don't get complicated. In this book, celebrated writer Mr. Fox can't stop himself from killing off the heroines of his novels, and neither can his wife, Daphne. It's not until Mary, his muse, comes to life and transforms him from author into subject that his story begins to unfold differently....
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A Great Novel, just Poor for Audio
- By James A. Dittes on 08-13-16
By: Helen Oyeyemi
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Hum If You Don't Know the Words
- By: Bianca Marais
- Narrated by: Katharine Lee McEwan, Bahni Turpin
- Length: 14 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Life under Apartheid has created a secure future for Robin Conrad, a 10-year-old white girl living with her parents in 1970s Johannesburg. In the same nation but worlds apart, Beauty Mbali, a Xhosa woman in a rural village in the Bantu homeland of the Transkei, struggles to raise her children alone after her husband's death. Both lives have been built upon the division of race, and their meeting should never have occurred...until the Soweto Uprising.
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Completely wrong accents
- By Debbie on 02-12-22
By: Bianca Marais
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Mata Hari's Last Dance
- A Novel
- By: Michelle Moran
- Narrated by: Zara Ramm
- Length: 7 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Paris, 1917. The notorious dancer Mata Hari sits in a cold cell awaiting freedom...or death. Alone and despondent, she is as confused as the rest of the world about the charges she's been arrested on: treason leading to the deaths of thousands of French soldiers. As she waits for her fate to be decided, she relays the story of her life to a reporter who is allowed to visit her in prison.
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Throughly enjoyable
- By scalante on 09-07-16
By: Michelle Moran
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Grand Central
- Original Stories of Postwar Love and Reunion
- By: Melanie Benjamin, Amanda Hodgkinson, Pam Jenoff, and others
- Narrated by: Carla Mercer-Meyer
- Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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On any particular day, thousands upon thousands of people pass through New York City's Grand Central Terminal, through the whispering gallery, beneath the ceiling of stars, and past the information booth and its beckoning four-faced clock, to whatever destination is calling them. It is a place where people come to say hello and good-bye. And each person has a story to tell.
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Grand Central: Memories
- By ZacharyKindle Customer on 05-03-17
By: Melanie Benjamin, and others
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In the First Circle
- By: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Harry T. Willets - translator
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 31 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Moscow, Christmas Eve, 1949. The Soviet secret police intercept a call made to the American embassy by a Russian diplomat who promises to deliver secrets about the nascent Soviet Atomic Bomb program. On that same day, a brilliant mathematician is locked away inside a Moscow prison that houses the country's brightest minds. He and his fellow prisoners are charged with using their abilities to sleuth out the caller's identity, and they must choose whether to aid Joseph Stalin's repressive state - or refuse and accept transfer to the Siberian Gulag camps, and almost certain death.
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One of the five finest novels written in the 20th Century
- By Ellis D Vener on 04-08-19
By: Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, and others
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Honor
- By: Elif Shafak
- Narrated by: Mozhan Marno, Piter Marik
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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An honor killing shatters and transforms the lives of Turkish immigrants in 1970s London. Internationally best-selling Turkish author Elif Shafak’s new novel is a dramatic tale of families, love, and misunderstandings that follows the destinies of twin sisters born in a Kurdish village. While Jamila stays to become a midwife, Pembe follows her Turkish husband, Adem, to London, where they hope to make new lives for themselves and their children. In London, they face a choice: stay loyal to the old traditions or try their best to fit in.
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Complex but Compelling
- By Cariola on 04-14-13
By: Elif Shafak
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Palace of Tears
- By: Julian Leatherdale
- Narrated by: Ming-Zhu Hii
- Length: 15 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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The dazzling story of family, passion, secrets and vengeance, woven through the hardships of both World Wars and revealing the intriguing history of the Palace, the opulent Blue Mountains hotel famed for its luxury and mysterious owner. A sweltering summer's day, January 1914: the charismatic and ruthless Adam Fox throws a lavish birthday party for his son and heir at his elegant clifftop hotel in the Blue Mountains. Everyone is invited except Angie, the girl from the cottage next door.
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Distractingly bad acting by narrator!
- By Bunny on 01-30-16
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Mosaic
- By: Diane Armstrong
- Narrated by: Deidre Rubenstein
- Length: 19 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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>i>Mosaic is compelling storytelling at its best - from the fascinating details of Polish-Jewish culture and the rivalries and dramas of family life, to its moving account of lives torn apart by war and persecution, this an extraordinary true story of a family, and of one woman's journey to reclaim her heritage.
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Absolutely excellent!
- By Roberta on 09-22-11
By: Diane Armstrong
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The Muse
- A Novel
- By: Jessie Burton
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin, Maria Elena Infantino
- Length: 13 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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England, 1967. Odelle Bastien is a Caribbean émigré trying to make her way in London. When she starts working at the prestigious Skelton Institute of Art, she discovers a painting rumored to be the work of Isaac Robles, a young artist of immense talent and vision whose mysterious death has confounded the art world for decades. The excitement over the painting is matched by the intrigue around the conflicting stories of its discovery.
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Mixed narration
- By Amy Fleury on 08-05-16
By: Jessie Burton
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The Mayfair Bookshop
- A Novel of Nancy Mitford and the Pursuit of Happiness
- By: Eliza Knight
- Narrated by: Ann Marie Gideon
- Length: 11 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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1938: She was one of the six sparkling Mitford sisters, known for her stinging quips, stylish dress, and bright green eyes. But Nancy Mitford’s seemingly dazzling life was really one of turmoil: with a perpetually unfaithful and broke husband, two Nazi sympathizer sisters, and her hopes of motherhood dashed forever. With war imminent, Nancy finds respite by taking a job at the Heywood Hill Bookshop in Mayfair, hoping to make ends meet, and discovers a new life.
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Perfectly Voices, Upliftingly Fun
- By Syd Young on 04-15-22
By: Eliza Knight
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Lavender Road
- By: Helen Carey
- Narrated by: Annie Aldington
- Length: 14 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Lavender Road boasts a pawnbroker, a pub, two rows of terraced working class homes, and, at one end, the big house owned by the local brewer. When war breaks out, the lives and fortunes of the families who live in Lavender Road are changed out of all recognition.
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Great story with wonderful, believable characters!
- By Kathleen Bailey on 03-27-24
By: Helen Carey
What listeners say about One Night in Winter
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Bob
- 02-25-18
Great story great history
This is the second of the three novel trilogy that I have listen to. This was an amazing story about a period of history that I really had given no thought to and yet found it completely absorbing and fascinating from start to finish. Once more this author has delivered a sound historical perspective on a part of history That most Americans never even knew existed. What a joy to get a broader understanding of our world and especially through the lens of Russian literature.
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- JK
- 06-08-23
RECOMMEND
This is book 3 in the series.
There are romantic episodes and political.
As far as the political, the Stalin regime was unbelievable inhuman.
This book can lead you to a more intense study of Russia, which is very interesting, in all aspects, from literature,
art and yes cruelty.
So yes, if you listened to book one and two, I do recommend listening to book three.
Mr. Simon Montefiore is an awesome author.
The narrator, mr. Simon Prebble is a pleasure to listen to.
My thanks to all involved, JK
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- Judith A. Weller
- 01-13-15
An Interesting Portrayal of Life under Stalin
The story is about what happens to children of privileged parents who attend a prestigious school, School 801, in Moscow. They are brought to school in expensive Western Limousines, The time is 1945 and everyone is eager for the victory parade. The children in school have created a play-acting club devoted to Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin. They dress up in period costumes and reenact Onegin’s shooting of Lensky. When they go to attend the victory parade in their period costumes they reenact the shooting but this time there are real bullets and two children are killed. The shooting occurs right after the famous 1945 Victory Parade in Red Square.
There is a mystery but it is never solved – we never do find out who substituted a real pistol for the fake dueling pistols. The story is bases on a real event, but embellished for this is a work of fiction.
The children are taken to Lubyanka prison to be interrogated. During the interrogate the children, through flashbacks, show us the privileged life they left. All their parents were high party apparatchiks and are scrambling to use their party contacts to free their children. We get flashbacks of the parents’ life during the Great War and their wartime romances. Also there are intermittent sections of Stalin’s life and how he views the problems at the school. For like everything in the USSR at this time, Stalin’s approval is necessary.
The book moves forward to 1950 and eventually to 1970 and we see the children as adults with children of their own, some still attending School 801.
At time the books gets quite tedious. The most interesting parts of the book are the interrogations in Lubyanka. I doubt I would every listen to his book again, as I gradually lost interest in the end of the book. The book has too many descriptive passages in it which can often go on far too long. The book is beautifully written and the writer’s portrayal of Soviet life is excellent. It just did not capture my attention for the whole book and I felt it could have been much shorter than it was.
The reader is excellent and it is Simon Prebble's reading which enables the story to move along and lifts the reader over the boring bits.
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2 people found this helpful
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- nursebettyknitting
- 09-20-15
Horrors of Stalinizm
Pretty good, but extremely depressing to listen. Life under Stalin was horrific for many, and the reality described in the book rings very true. Narrator did a terrible job mispronouncing Russian names, and did not bother to to change his voice for the female characters...The writer researched his topic superbly, and the story sounds very believable...Overall, recommend this book.
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- Peter W. Kalnin
- 05-04-23
A Story of Stalinist Russia
A Story of Stalinist Russia
One Night in Winter uses school life as a focusing device to examine life in Russia under Stalin. It is best to have some knowledge of the period before diving into this excellent novel, which shares much with A Separate Peace but with a Stalinist twist and recalling the events of the Decembrist Plot over a century before. It begins innocently enough, but the story's destination is Lubyanka Prison, sweeping up teachers, students and even children. It is an exacting portrait of the horrors of the purges... and the transcendent power of love, over time and imprisonment. A great novel.
Simon Prebble is perfect as a narrator.
I recommend this book without reservations.
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- AnnieB
- 08-11-15
Love, death, and terror under Stalin.
Truly a moving and heart wrenching story based on true events in Russia. Making children the focus of the brutality of Stalins Russia pierced right into my heart. Simon Prebble the narrator was superb, getting all the voices perfectly. Only flaw was that I never found out who shot the children at the parade.
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1 person found this helpful
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- C. Becker
- 12-07-23
Marvelous story
Very moving but hard to bear story about the cruelty of the despotic Russian regime towards children
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- brian
- 07-17-17
Love, death, and more in Stalinist Russia
If you could sum up One Night in Winter in three words, what would they be?
History, fiction, amazing.
What other book might you compare One Night in Winter to and why?
As good as Young Stalin, one of the author's earlier books.
Which scene was your favorite?
The scenes with Stalin and the members of his court.
Who was the most memorable character of One Night in Winter and why?
The children, for their POV's on things, Satinov as well.
Any additional comments?
A must-have for fans of historical fiction.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Daisy
- 03-05-15
It's the "War and Peace" of the 20th century
This book has the breadth of Tolstoy's masterpiece, the lively cast of wonderful characters, stories of families and lovers against the backdrop of war and oppression. The depiction of Stalin is also brilliant. Montefiore weaves poetry and literature into a fascinating and at times tragic tale with plenty of twists and turns. The narrator is very good, and would be perfect if he could pronounce all those Russian words properly. I highly recommend this book. It is one of the best I have read in many years.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 02-21-18
wonderful and encompassing
I enjoy this author so much. I've read Jerusalem and The Romanovs and this was my first novel by him.
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