AGAINST A CRIMSON SKY

Author: James Conroyd Martin ISBN: 0312326823 8/2006 HISTORICAL Publisher: ST. MARTIN'S PRESS
Time Period: Napoleonic Wars 1794 - 1814

The year is 1794, and the beautiful and resilient Countess Anna Maria Berezowska has narrowly escaped death amidst the chaos caused by the violent dissolution of Poland at the hands of its neighbors who feared its democratic Third of May Constitution. When Anna returns to her family estate, she is reunited with her longtime love, the handsome and proud Lord Jan Stelnicki. The two young lovers are united in marriage even as their beloved Poland is ripped apart. As the couple struggles to raise a family in the face of an uncertain future, Anna’s capricious cousin, Zofia, returns with a surprise of her own. Although Zofia’s past schemes still resonate, Anna’s doubts turn to fear as Jan’s patriotism draws him to the battlefield. Offering new hope for a conquered Poland, Napoleon Bonaparte comes calling, pleading for Polish money and soldiers to fight the very countries that have wiped Poland from the map. While many Poles place faith in Napoleon, believing he will return to them an independent Poland, others doubt his commitment, seeing only a man obsessed with personal glory. With the aid of new Polish legions—Anna’s friends and family among them—Napoleon battles his way across Europe in an effort that culminates in the doomed 1812 winter march into Russia. Against this backdrop, Anna and Jan valiantly fight to hold on to a tenuous happiness, their country, and their very lives.

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

AGAINST A CRIMSON SKY is a saga spanning over a twenty year period that picks up where its predecessor, PUSH NOT THE RIVER, left off. Though I haven't read that first book by James Conroyd Martin, the author gives just enough backdrop into the lives of the characters in AGAINST A CRIMSON SKY, that I was able to follow along and roughly deduce how each one's life had evolved into the place it now occupies. Also, although a bit hesitant to plunge into a book with so many unfamiliar names and geographical locations to pronounce (i.e. Polish and Russian names), Martin's addition of a glossary and pronunciation key in the beginning of the book was thoughtful on his part and immensely helpful. The story's unique setting and the rich historical detail Martin interjects into it, are alone enough to have me rate this book as a Top Pick.

Most stories that I read that share this time period of the Napoleonic Wars, are usually from the viewpoint of the English and their allies against the French. Here, however, the perspective is from the opposite viewpoint, as the only hope the Polish people have of becoming a liberated Poland seems to lie at the feet of the little French general, Napoleon Bonaparte. As Jan, like many other Polish soldiers, listens to the little man's promises and his coaxing words to join in the battle alongside the French against the Russians, the harsh brutality and realities of war are pushed aside and replaced with patriotic duty.

Always filled with the hope of a new beginning and his country's restoration, Jan finds himself drawn more and more into the war and onto the battlefield and longer away from his family. Back home, in his absence, Anna is left to struggle against a villainous magistrate, a plot by the Freemasons/Brotherhood to crown her youngest son, Tadeusz, as a possible future king of the new Poland, and a past, it seems, that is never to be forgotten, as Anna's long lost cousin, Zofia, returns from the dead. There's enough personal and political intrigue going on, both on and off the battlefield and involving so many different characters, that any lover of historical fiction would find it nearly impossible to put AGAINST A CRIMSON SKY down.

I would recommend AGAINST A CRIMSON SKY to those who are more intrigued by the historical merit of the book, as opposed to the romance in it. In that respect, the characters and their relationships could have benefited from a bit more depth. However, AGAINST A CRIMSON SKY is an excellent book based on true life events that are intriguing, compelling, and rich in a history that's not often written about. Penned in a prose that makes this Dr. Zhivago-like book fast paced but easier to read and follow, I highly recommend it.

Nancy Davis