Stalin's Daughter: The Extraordinary and Tumultuous Life of Svetlana Alliluyeva

by Rosemary Sullivan
Hennepin County Library audiobook 16 discs
(print version has photos and 623 pages plus bib, index, notes, etc.)
read by Karen Cass
genre: non-fiction biography

Wow! So glad I listened to this on audiobook. Cass' voice was perfect once I got used to the British accent. Her pronunciation of Russian names leads me to believe she's fluent in the language.

Notes from listening in the car:

• abortion as a form of birth control - how incredibly sad!
• Stalin as dictator / the csars before / Pultin now . . . cult of personality
• people and place names - confusing - what's a dacha(?) / I looked it up - like a summer house
• arrests, torture, imprisonment, death by firing squad, fear, talk, forced confessions, . . . horrible. I can't imagine living in this environment.
• Stalin's death . . . everyone too frightened to call a doctor. Wow.
• Laventiy Beria - never heard of him before. What power over people's lives!
• after Stalin's death, people either worshiped or reviled him (and Svetlana)
• Olgivanna Wright - what a psycho! Taliesin - now I need to read more about Frank Lloyd Wright and this crazy place.
• 20 Letters to a Friend by Svetlana - I am interested in reading this.
• Olga - interesting to look up pictures of Svetlana's daughter! (Stalin's granddaughter is a tattooed biker chick in Seattle!)

Overall, I was fascinated by this history lesson. I believe the author researched extensively. Others in Litwits thought it was too long, too detailed, and had too much of Svetlana being a crazy woman . . . but I think she was in such a unique position in history. Yes, she was an odd duck - part Russian princess, part defiant rebel, part ??? I'm glad I "read" this, and I like that it piqued my curiosity on many levels.