The Kirov Trilogy Part 1: Anna

Three dramatic stories about the fictional Kirov family, set against the vivid, exotic and sometimes brutal history of Imperial Russia of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Click to view family tree

Begins: 1803
Period: The Napoleonic invasion of Russia

As Paris reels under the turbulent political events of 1803, young English governess Anne Peters finds herself penniless, homeless and alone.

But while France prepares for war she seizes the chance of escape, to a new life in the service of dashing Count Nikolai Kirov,and a new home in the glittering Russian city of St Petersburg.

Thrown into the flamboyant and demanding circle of her new employer and his family, Anne moves between the city’s splendour and the wild, untamed beauty of the Caucasus Mountains, and begins her transformation from Anne Peters into Anna Petrovna.

But as Napoleon gathers his army for the final attack on Imperial Russia, Anna must prepare for a battle of the heart – her forbidden love for a man and a country she may never call her own.

Shortlisted for the 1991 RNA Novel of the Year Award.