A year ago the 2nd ed of Upheaval was about to be launched and I was suffering from anxiety. Although I don’t mind speaking in front of people, no matter how many, I’m not the sort of person who enjoys visibility. I much prefer working in the background, doing the research and connecting the dots. So preparing for an online book launch was daunting.
I had worked for many years on revising Upheaval, my maternal grandmother Olga Woronoff’s memoir about her life in Russia before and during the Revolution and Civil War. While rereading Upheaval for the umpteenth time, I had a few queries about the accuracy of some of my grandmother’s statements. These queries led to a ton of research and a trip down many rabbit holes in search of the truth, or as much of it as I could find. Eventually I wondered if my grandmother’s deeply personal memories would resonate beyond our family and the 2nd edition was born.
At the same time as I was researching, I was also sorting through the boxes of documents, photos and assorted family history items I had inherited from my parents and maternal grandparents. While I was fortunate to have been left all of this information, unfortunately the majority of it was either in Russian or Germany or, in a few instances, French, so impossible for me to read. I had a little bit of knowledge in all of the above languages but not so much that I could translate anything correctly. But I did discover what I was certain was a diary, written by my grandmother during 1919, the last full year my grandparents were in Russia. What a find! Luckily a friend of mine recommended a translator and I was finally able to read my grandmother’s thoughts from that chaotic time in Russia. I had no hesitation in including this diary into the 2nd edition of Upheaval as it gives the reader an honest awareness of the events at the time.
My grandparents were close to the Russian Imperial family, my grandfather served on the Imperial yacht, the Standart, and my grandmother was a lady-in-waiting to the Empress. I knew my grandmother was an acquaintance of the young Grand Duchesses and I had read some of their correspondence in books by Helen Azar and George Hawkins. I approached the State Archives of Russia (GARF) through a researcher friend of mine, and fortuitously they agreed to let me publish the letters between the Grand Duchesses and my grandmother in the 2nd edition of Upheaval. Those letters could have been written by any young lady of the time. They give a frank insight into the lives of the Grand Duchesses and, from an historical point of view, are very interesting indeed.
My family’s connection to Russia makes the history of that country fascinating to me. But I know there are many others who are also intrigued by Russia, its history, its rulers and its people. If you are one of these people, and you would like to discover a small part of Russian history through one who lived in Imperial Russia and then through the violence and chaos of both the Revolution and Civil War, you can purchase your copy of the 2nd edition of Upheaval here.
