The Friday 56 and Book Beginnings: Blood Red, Snow White

Book Beginnings is hosted by Rose City Reader. The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda's Voice. Grab your current read, turn to page 56 or 56%, and post a few sentences! 

Today I'm reading: Blood Red Snow White by Marcus Sedgwick 

"Beyond the sunrise, halfway to the moon, and so very far away it would make your feet weep to think about it, lies a land vast in size and deep in sadness."  (4% on Kobo) 

"Arthur has seen it many times before, he knows what it means. News, or more often the rumour of news, from the Revolution, from the war with Germany, and lately, from the war against the White Army, faithful to the tsar."  (56% on Kobo) 

It is 1917, and the world is tearing itself to pieces in a dreadful war, but far to the east of the trenches, another battle is breaking out - the Russian Revolution has just begun... 

Blood Red, Snow White captures the mood of this huge moment in history through the adventure of one man who was in the middle of it all; Arthur Ransome, a young British journalist who had first run away to Russia to collect fairy tales. 

Told as three linked novellas, part one captures the days of revolution but retells the story as Russian Fairy Tale, with typical humour and unashamed brutality. Part two is a spy story, set over the course of one evening, as Ransome faces up to his biggest challenge, and part three is a love story, full of tragedy and hope, as every good Russian love story should be.

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