Sashenka (Simon & Schuster), by Simon Montefiore

Simon Montefiore wrote the best biographies of Stalin to date, shedding light on a furtive figure whose personality had always been shrouded. With Sashenka, the prodigious biographer applies his insights to fiction with mixed results. With the heft but not the depth of a great Russian novel, Sashenka is the story of an idealistic schoolgirl from a wealthy family who embraces Bolshevism for adventure and to repudiate her parents' dubious values, only to fall into the clutches of the Stalinist prison state she so assiduously supported. Flights of superb description are juxtaposed against clunky dialogue and sloppy writing ("female matron"?). Sashenka is pulp historical fiction, an entertaining page-turner for cold winter nights.