In my eyes she had always been old, always been mine, always been Granny
Dan. But in another time, another place, there had been dancing,
people, laughter, love. . . . She had had another life before she came
to us, long before she came to me. . . .
She was the cherished grandmother who sang songs in Russian, loved to roller-skate, and spoke little of her past. But when Granny Dan died, all that remained was a box wrapped in brown paper, tied with string. Inside, an old pair of satin toe shoes, a gold locket, and a stack of letters tied with ribbon. It was her legacy, her secret past, waiting to be discovered by the granddaughter who loved her but never really knew her. It was a story waiting to be told. . . .
The year was 1902. A new century was dawning as a motherless young girl arrived at a ballet school in St. Petersburg, Russia, at the age of seven. By age seventeen, Danina Petroskova had become a great ballerina, a favorite of the Czar and Czarina, who welcomed her into the heart of the Imperial family. But events both near and far away shook the ground upon which she danced. A war, an extraordinary man, and a devastating illness altered the course of her life. And when revolution shattered Russia, Danina Petroskova was forced to make a heartbreaking choice—as the world around her was about to change forever.
She was the cherished grandmother who sang songs in Russian, loved to roller-skate, and spoke little of her past. But when Granny Dan died, all that remained was a box wrapped in brown paper, tied with string. Inside, an old pair of satin toe shoes, a gold locket, and a stack of letters tied with ribbon. It was her legacy, her secret past, waiting to be discovered by the granddaughter who loved her but never really knew her. It was a story waiting to be told. . . .
The year was 1902. A new century was dawning as a motherless young girl arrived at a ballet school in St. Petersburg, Russia, at the age of seven. By age seventeen, Danina Petroskova had become a great ballerina, a favorite of the Czar and Czarina, who welcomed her into the heart of the Imperial family. But events both near and far away shook the ground upon which she danced. A war, an extraordinary man, and a devastating illness altered the course of her life. And when revolution shattered Russia, Danina Petroskova was forced to make a heartbreaking choice—as the world around her was about to change forever.
Granny Dan is a relatively short book filled with so much
emotion that some longer books could not fill. It could be described as a matryoshka
doll, a story within a story.
For a decade Danina Petroskova’s world has been that of
ballet under the direction of Madame Markova. When she becomes ill she is handed
over to Dr. Obrajensky who makes arrangements for her to recover in one of the
royal family’s guest houses. Here a friendship blooms into a love affair that
neither the young ballet dancer, Danina, nor the married doctor can fight nor
deny.
The book makes you to take a moment and think about the
people in your own life. It leads to the question “do we ever really know the
people in our lives” as a granddaughter discovers the other life of her lovable
grandmother that she never knew about.
After reading this book you will be more than happy to go to
your grandparents’ for holidays.
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