![]() ![]() She selects Saxon Princess Sophie and orders Varvara to become her friend. As Varvara tells us, ' The one you do not expect is the most dangerous of spies.' She plays the palace game as the Empress's tongue.Įmpress Elizabeth has named her nephew Crown Prince Peter Fyodorovich and seeks a bride for him. He trains her to watch through spyholes, pick locks, find concealed drawers, trail others, and remain invisible herself. At first, Varvara works long hours as a seamstress, but then catches the eye of Count Bestuzhev, Chancellor and spymaster. When her mother dies, Varvara's father begs Empress Elizabeth to take his fifteen-year-old daughter in on the event of his own death, which follows soon afterwards. ![]() Varvara grows up in Poland, her father a bookbinder. Her story is told through the eyes of Varvara, a palace servant who becomes the princess's tongue (spy) and confidante. Petersburg as teen Princess Sophie from Zerbst). In The Winter Palace: A Novel of Catherine the Great, Eva Stachniak does an outstanding job of portraying a young Catherine (from the day she arrives in St. The Winter Palace: A Novel of Catherine the Great by Eva StachniakĬatherine the Great makes an intriguing historical subject. ![]()
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