Rosemary Sullivan

For me, this Stalin's Daughter had two parts - Svetlana's life in Russia and her life after she defected. I picked up the book to read the first part and found myself slogging through many chapters of the second part. However, once I committed to reading the whole book (it's 600 pages not counting the references at the end), I found myself becoming more interested in the incredibly impulsive life of Stalin's only daughter, Svetlana Alliluyeva.

Author Rosemary Sullivan's research is impressive and her writing style smooth and conversational.
While I think Sullivan did an amazing and thorough job - the kind of biography Alliluyeva deserves - as a reader, much of the second part felt unnecessary and was frustrating to read. (After defecting from Russia, her life becomes incredibly socially complicated and it seems that all spats and slights are documented in this book.)… (més)

Three and a half stars. I couldn't put this down. I blew through it in three days, and I try not to do that with books this long. I couldn't help it. As a result, I lowered the rating a little from five stars--my brain was absorbing just so much in so little time, and it was exhausting, but that's on me. What an incredibly thorough book and investigation. Every single theory that has been put forth is explored. Relationships between who and what, and there are SO many, are painstakingly examined and explained for people who might not know. The book points out that there are three official versions of the journal, and that the most widely read one has several censored passages. The book further mentions the ABC miniseries I watched, which is available for free on Youtube and stars Hannah Taylor Gordon. The miniseries refers to several paragraphs that had been censored from the version of the diary that gets read in the US.

The investigation t0ok five years, a team of people interviewing dozens of others and examining so much evidence of all different forms, and the development and use of brand new technology. It also explains why each of these are important in ways readers can understand. The book explains at length the historical and societal forces at work that I've never heard covered, and it added a richness and understanding I wouldn't have had otherwise. It doesn't pardon any of this, but it explains a lot. I'm so glad the investigative team succeeded in the ways that they did. I'm glad I sat down and read this.… (més)