{"product_id":"parallel-lives-a-love-story-from-a-lost-continent-hardcover","title":"Parallel Lives: A Love Story from a Lost Continent - Hardcover","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eIain Pears\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBest-selling novelist and art historian Iain Pears enchants readers with the real-life romance between Larissa Salmina, a Russian art curator, and Francis Haskell, a British art historian. His fabulous book brings into sharp focus the strange world of the Soviet Union, and the even stranger world of a certain variety of the English elite. It seeks to show how leaving the Soviet Union was a sacrifice for her and how it was the English man, not the Russian woman, who was set free because of their meeting.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLarissa was born in northern Russia, the daughter of a Soviet army officer from a noble family who survived the siege of Leningrad by eating cats' tails and being evacuated over the ice. Francis was the grandson of an Iraqi Jew, forever feeling out of place in his adopted country of England. \u003cem\u003eParallel Lives\u003c\/em\u003e is the story of how these two star-crossed lovers met, instantly understand each other, and were prepared to risk heartbreak, and in her case, retribution, to be together.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEscaping Leningrad, teenage Larissa lived in the Urals surrounded by Spanish revolutionaries, and after the war rose to become the youngest commissar in the Soviet Union and keeper of Italian drawings at the Hermitage. She took the Russian contribution to the Venice Biennale in 1962 and lost it on the journey. She briefly absconded with her supervisor's corpse, developed a useful sideline in forgery, and stole (\"I didn't steal it. I liberated it\") a Matisse from the Italian government. Francis was a distinguished art historian, comfortably at home in King's College Cambridge. But he was lonely, self-doubting, and had all but abandoned hope of falling in love. Larissa swept away all the years of anguish in one meal.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIain Pears, who was neighbors with Larissa and Francis in Oxford, knew both his principal characters well. In telling Larissa and Francis's love story, he is also capturing the Europe of a bygone era: a world of dancers, exiles, and the occasional spy, of artists, aristocrats, and academics. It is a tale of a world we have lost.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eBack Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cstrong\u003ePraise for Iain Pears\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cem\u003eThe Dream of Scipio\u003c\/em\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A thrilling journey through history, into the human heart and soul.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e-- Geraldine Brooks, \u003cem\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"[Iain Pears] invests his complex story with piquancy, irony, and humor. There is much to ponder here, from Neoplatonic philosophy to anti-Semitism to public duty. . . . Eye-opening.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e-- \u003cem\u003ePeople\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A multilayered tale of moral choice, love, danger and loss.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e-- John Crowley, \u003cem\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"An adventure and achievement.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e-- \u003cem\u003eSan Francisco Chronicle\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A dazzling triptych of love and ideas . . . Pears leaves us with a dream, not only of destruction, but of immense and unexpected heroism.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e-- \u003cem\u003eBoston Globe\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cem\u003eStrone's Fall\u003c\/em\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Pears is a bold storyteller with ambitions beyond the confines of genre.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e-- Clare Clark, \u003cem\u003eGuardian\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Mr. Pears's assured command of period history, language, lore, and attitudes is formidable.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e-- \u003cem\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"[Pear's novels are] entertainment in the best sense: thrilling, compelling, ambitious and smart.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e-- Carmela Ciuraru, \u003cem\u003eLos Angeles Times Book Review\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003cem\u003eArcadia\u003c\/em\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"[Iain Pears] is a great writer of ideas and intellectual adventure.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e-- Scott Bradfield, \u003cem\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"The most striking thing about Pears's writing--his plots and ideas are complex, but his style is simple and clear. . . . Fantastic fun.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e-- Bryan Applebaum, \u003cem\u003eSunday Times\u003c\/em\u003e (UK)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 288\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.02 x 9.29 x 6.35 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e August 05, 2025\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51978187407661,"sku":"9781324073772","price":28.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0938\/3185\/6429\/files\/Rfrl_pqp849781324073772.webp?v=1775800912","url":"https:\/\/ishookbooks.com\/products\/parallel-lives-a-love-story-from-a-lost-continent-hardcover","provider":"iShook Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}