Granny Dan by Danielle Steel

 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.

 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.

Cleopatra's Descendant

The book has you hooked from the first page. Its interesting and enchanting.
the story is about, as the title says, Cleopatra's daughter, Selene. it focuses on her life after her parents' death in Rome where she is raised by her her father's ex-wife Octavia.
Captivating and Pure Genius

“The story I always wanted to read! If you love I, Claudius, you’ll love this book!” 
—Margaret George, New York Times bestselling author of The Memoirs of Cleopatra
“Michelle Moran has already made Ancient Egypt her own fictional domain. With this compelling novel of the legendary Cleopatra’s daughter, she now stakes a claim to Ancient Rome, too.” 
—Sharon K. Penman, New York Times bestselling author of Devil’s Brood 

“Cleopatra’s Daughter is historical fiction at its finest. With her exquisite attention to detail and her beautifully crafted characters, Michelle Moran does not just visit the past–she resurrects it.” 
—Deanna Raybourn, bestselling author of the Lady Julia Grey series
“No one captures the immediacy and rich detail of the ancient world quite like Michelle Moran.” 
—bestselling author Robin Maxwell 

“From the tragic fall of Cleopatra’s Alexandria to the treacherous hills of imperial Rome, Michelle Moran spins a captivating tale of the daughter of Egypt’s most famous queen, a princess whose courageous determination to survive is as exciting and dramatic as the time in which she lived.” 
—C. W. Gortner, author of The Last Queen