Review: The Witches of St Petersburg by Imogen Edwards-Jones

Militza and Stana have been married off to Russians. The sisters, who hail from Montenegro, are victim to the culture of the times; they serve as links between their father’s country, and the wealth and influence of the Russian empire. Forced to marry for power, with no consideration for love, they do their best to be integrated into the society of Russia, despite the unsavory reception they receive. Shrouded in names and insults, allusions to their backwater homeland and suggested inferiority, the duo are at a loss in their new homes. Desperate to be included among the elite, they befriend the new Tsarina, who herself is an outcast and foreigner.

The Tsarina, apart from being foreign with patchy Russian, is also suffering the misfortune of not producing an heir. As girl after girl fills the home of the Tsar, the public and the Romanovs wait with bated breath for the arrival of a son. Militza and Stana, familiar with the occult, become dedicated to the mission of helping the Tsarina with her deepest wish – a son. Through a carousel of mystics, prophets, rituals and spells, they offer up their last hope to a new arrival – Grigory Rasputin.

Edwards-Jones weaves a glorious golden thread between fiction and history, knitting together a story that is all the more entrancing for the truth that lies at its heart. Rasputin is as infamous as he is mysterious, and to be afforded an insight – albeit embroidered and tweaked, is a treat to any fan of history or the occult. Edwards-Jones’ prose is hypnotizing and bewitching, casting a spell on the reader to follow every carefully selected word as a trail to a beautiful world long since past. The riches and excesses of the Romanov court shine brightly against the impending doom that awaits the family and the country. The Witches of St Petersburg is a delightful dive into another land and another time, being hypnotic in its ability to express such turmoil, angst and frustration against a background of shining palaces and dripping jewels. To read this book is to be transported into another world, and to thoroughly enjoy it.

The Witches of St Petersburg by Imogen Edwards-Jones is published by Head of Zeus, and is available in South Africa from Jonathan Ball Publishers.