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Tree of Angels
A house carved fine as a jewelry box, a painted garden, an angel in a palm tree. These are only some of the marvels of the Russian estate on which Nina Karsavina grows up, surrounded by her beautiful mother, her eccentric father, her sister Katya, and the housekeeper Darya.
But when her father gradually loses his sanity after the death of her mother, Nina takes the difficult decision to leave her homeland behind and marry a complete stranger. Over the next 80 years, the family will scatter across the globe in the wake of the Russian Revolution and two World Wars. It is only when Nina’s own granddaughter Julia, an artist, begins a search for her roots that the family’s tragic history can be pieced together for the first time.
But when her father gradually loses his sanity after the death of her mother, Nina takes the difficult decision to leave her homeland behind and marry a complete stranger. Over the next 80 years, the family will scatter across the globe in the wake of the Russian Revolution and two World Wars. It is only when Nina’s own granddaughter Julia, an artist, begins a search for her roots that the family’s tragic history can be pieced together for the first time.
- GenresHistorical Fiction
403 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
August 17, 2016
This story of Nina, a Russian girl, who, following the death of her mother, escapes from the tyranny of her deranged father by marrying an English man at the age of fourteen, started with promise.
She lives with this man under strange circumstances in the seaside town of Brighton until his violent death. However, I could not get to grips with the character of Nina, who a young stranger in a foreign country, acts and speaks like a confident, worldly middle-aged woman. There are so many other characters and sub-plots, that when the main story moves from Nina's life to those of her descendants, the confusion escalates so that the reader becomes lost at times. There are too many threads which are not sufficiently expanded or woven together. Too many chance meetings take place in order to conveniently connect events. There is a proliferation of death and madness, before the ending which is neither unexpected nor credible.
Brighton, my home town, is well described as a background to much of the story, but the characters never rang true to me and the various sub-plots were poorly developed.
Not a memorable read.
She lives with this man under strange circumstances in the seaside town of Brighton until his violent death. However, I could not get to grips with the character of Nina, who a young stranger in a foreign country, acts and speaks like a confident, worldly middle-aged woman. There are so many other characters and sub-plots, that when the main story moves from Nina's life to those of her descendants, the confusion escalates so that the reader becomes lost at times. There are too many threads which are not sufficiently expanded or woven together. Too many chance meetings take place in order to conveniently connect events. There is a proliferation of death and madness, before the ending which is neither unexpected nor credible.
Brighton, my home town, is well described as a background to much of the story, but the characters never rang true to me and the various sub-plots were poorly developed.
Not a memorable read.
February 3, 2010
This book was one of the best I have read in a while. Initially set in Russia, then later in England and Australia, it follows the story of Nina. This book took me by surprise many many times, the story twisted unlike most family based story. I would recommend this book to anyone happy to read more than one chapter at a time, I found it hard to put down!
March 13, 2022
I found this book in a neighbourhood Little Free Library a couple of years ago and brought it home because the premise was intriguing. It sat in one of my "to be read" stacks until this month.
Divided into three individual "books" the scope of this novel spans family connections across several generations, in different parts of the world, beginning in Tsarist Russia in the World War I era, followed by a substantive chunk set in Brighton, UK, during those same war years.
I absolutely LOVED "Book 1", with its vivid and compelling narrative....the most gripping book I've read in quite a few years. But I found later (as I read on) that the final few paragraphs of "Book 1" appeared to be a deliberate attempt to mislead readers, which meant that as I continued on into "Book 2", I was reading under a mistaken premise.
"Books" 2 and 3 (the final 100 pages of this novel) were seriously problematic to me as a reader, with a confusing web of characters (and their multiple intentions) expressed in several different narrative voices, in diverse settings. It was too many people to have to keep track of, with their various interconnections, and I finally gave up on keeping them straight, but dutifully finished the book as I'd come so far already, enjoying "Book 1" immensely.
Nonetheless, a very interesting read...with quite a few "dark moments" (and a couple of dark narrative voices) spread throughout this varied palette.
Divided into three individual "books" the scope of this novel spans family connections across several generations, in different parts of the world, beginning in Tsarist Russia in the World War I era, followed by a substantive chunk set in Brighton, UK, during those same war years.
I absolutely LOVED "Book 1", with its vivid and compelling narrative....the most gripping book I've read in quite a few years. But I found later (as I read on) that the final few paragraphs of "Book 1" appeared to be a deliberate attempt to mislead readers, which meant that as I continued on into "Book 2", I was reading under a mistaken premise.
"Books" 2 and 3 (the final 100 pages of this novel) were seriously problematic to me as a reader, with a confusing web of characters (and their multiple intentions) expressed in several different narrative voices, in diverse settings. It was too many people to have to keep track of, with their various interconnections, and I finally gave up on keeping them straight, but dutifully finished the book as I'd come so far already, enjoying "Book 1" immensely.
Nonetheless, a very interesting read...with quite a few "dark moments" (and a couple of dark narrative voices) spread throughout this varied palette.
May 18, 2020
Ik werd aangetrokken door het stukje oud Rusland, toen ik dit boek ergens zag liggen. Het was niet helemaal wat ik ervan verwachtte. Te vaak wilde ik dat het verhaal sneller ging en dat de schrijfster eens ophield met alles te vertellen en tot in detail te beschrijven. Soms voelde het als een serie oude foto's en ansichtkaarten. Jammer, volgens mij zat er meer potentie in het verhaal.
Overigens vind ik het echt raar als mensen midden in een dialoog, tijdens het praten, gebruik maken van haakjes (). Echt, dat heb ik nog nooit iemand horen doen.
Overigens vind ik het echt raar als mensen midden in een dialoog, tijdens het praten, gebruik maken van haakjes (). Echt, dat heb ik nog nooit iemand horen doen.
January 6, 2018
I read this in a day on the couch with a hit drink and I think it's perfect for a holiday read or the like. I'd have struggled to read it over a longer period of time, there's a fair few names and places to remember. I loved the different settings of the UK, Russia and Australia plus the different years it was set in. The characters were real and relatable and despite the cheesiness I loved the ending and some of the twists along the way.
June 20, 2024
Het was een leuk boek, vooral het eerste stuk was goed geschreven en leuk om te lezen. De laatste 100 bladzijdes hadden wat mij betreft niet gehoeven. Het werd er verwarrend door en het was niet meer in lijn met het verhaal. Omdat er zo veel nieuwe personages bijkwamen bleef het ook vlak en dat is zonde.
October 16, 2025
An interesting read if you have the time, but the web of characters is too much to keep up with at times. The chance meetings and coincidences are intriguing, even if they invite some degree of poetic imagination.
October 15, 2020
This was an Intriguing story with regards to the history and the locations depicted. The writing kept me engaged. But it was a depressing story.
February 19, 2023
SPOILERS AHEAD!
I can appreciate the uniqueness of the story and I was captivated for awhile, but eventually i just realized I didn't LiKE it. No specific reason exactly. Maybe it just seemed a little too far fetched. It felt long in places it could have skipped, and too short on some scenes that could have been a little more elaborated on. For instance it spends chapters on Richard, who ends up being a total jerk, completely irrelevant to the main plot, but she meets and has sex with Harry I think his name was in about two pages. I just didn't buy it, because it didn't build the attraction between them at all. I liked that Richard was proudly gay which was an unusual twist and quite entertaining but the way it "came out" was kind of vague and strange. I had to go back and reread a few pages several times because it seemed like it contradicted itself and I kept saying "wait what?" As if pages were missing from my book. That broke the spell for me.
I can appreciate the uniqueness of the story and I was captivated for awhile, but eventually i just realized I didn't LiKE it. No specific reason exactly. Maybe it just seemed a little too far fetched. It felt long in places it could have skipped, and too short on some scenes that could have been a little more elaborated on. For instance it spends chapters on Richard, who ends up being a total jerk, completely irrelevant to the main plot, but she meets and has sex with Harry I think his name was in about two pages. I just didn't buy it, because it didn't build the attraction between them at all. I liked that Richard was proudly gay which was an unusual twist and quite entertaining but the way it "came out" was kind of vague and strange. I had to go back and reread a few pages several times because it seemed like it contradicted itself and I kept saying "wait what?" As if pages were missing from my book. That broke the spell for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 4, 2016
This was a quick read because I was on holidays, otherwise I would have dragged on it...
Nina, a Russian rich girl has her life changed and as the pillars of her life disappear, one way or the other. She then leaves her home and Russia, without much regret on the eaves of First World War to go and live in Brighton. Three fourths of the book are devoted to her life until the verge of the end of the war. The last fourth focuses mostly on her off springs, which made this a very unbalanced novel and without a surprising ending.
I've found this slow paced at times, in need of some editing/revising due to gaps on the plot (would Nina ever talk to her father in English?) and the dates misleading (why start a chapter mentioning a date when in its beginning it is catching up on the gap years, without a clear clarification until some pages in?). Characters were also mostly bidimensional and o didn't get the feeling that I knew them at all!
Not really recommended.
Nina, a Russian rich girl has her life changed and as the pillars of her life disappear, one way or the other. She then leaves her home and Russia, without much regret on the eaves of First World War to go and live in Brighton. Three fourths of the book are devoted to her life until the verge of the end of the war. The last fourth focuses mostly on her off springs, which made this a very unbalanced novel and without a surprising ending.
I've found this slow paced at times, in need of some editing/revising due to gaps on the plot (would Nina ever talk to her father in English?) and the dates misleading (why start a chapter mentioning a date when in its beginning it is catching up on the gap years, without a clear clarification until some pages in?). Characters were also mostly bidimensional and o didn't get the feeling that I knew them at all!
Not really recommended.
August 17, 2015
Three quarters of this book was devoted to the story of Nina and Richard, where we learned about Russian history, and much more. The storyline was very well developed and we could emphasize with the interesting characters. The remaining one quarter was very disjointed where decades were covered in a couple of chapters and the characters were very impersonal.
April 14, 2016
Nice book a little tragic though.. But a wonderful take on war life.. I wonder how many people had to really live such a life.. Nina Karasavina the protagonist s brilliantly portrayed..
NICE READ! WORTH MY TIME!
NICE READ! WORTH MY TIME!
June 10, 2016
It was quite well written until the end of Nina's story... Then it got sloppy and choppy and lost me almost entirely. I enjoyed that it was multigenerational, but the second and third generation felt very rushed and like important details were missing.
January 26, 2008
A nice read. Interesting character from russia who moved to Brighton before WW1. Takes in England and Australia.
March 20, 2012
Yes, it was a war story again, but it was so well written. It really gripped me. Highly recommended.
September 26, 2012
surprisingly good. I had expected a mediocre, easy read. Instead I got a great story.
December 24, 2012
Excellent book. Would recommend it to anyone.
April 29, 2014
A beautiful and complex and even heartbreaking story. So hard to put down.
November 5, 2014
One of the best books i've read in a while.
March 22, 2018
6.5/10
June 13, 2011
Such an interesting read. Penny Summer writes with such honesty and brilliance.
June 3, 2016
Very well written with such detail to names place and events.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews