A dramatic love story set against the background of the Great War and the Russian Revolution . . . Emily Paget, poor relation of an earl, shocks her family with her determination to earn her own living, rather than suffer the tedium of a respectable marriage. Whisked off to St Petersburg by her eccentric Russian grandmother, Emily finds the freedom she craves amongst the drawing-room revolutionaries. She also falls passionately in love for the first time, never dreaming how close they are to real revolution.
When it comes, bloody and brutal, Emily's courage is tested to the full. Only she can save something from the wreck and bring the last of her family safe out of Russia. But she must leave behind the man she loves, not knowing even if he is alive or dead.