The Crown and the Crucible

A Magnificent Saga of Two Women Amidst Political Conflict and Imminent Change . . . Against the formidable backdrop of prerevolutionary Russia, the lives of two families become inextricably entwined.Anna Yevnova Burenin, a peasant girl from the tiny village of Katyk, must leave the home she loves to work in a prince's palace in St. Petersburg, bringing only her family's heritage of faith with her.Anna's future is altered forever when she is thrust into the presence of the high-minded, spoiled Princess Katrina Fedorcenko. And even as Anna's own life is changed, her faith has a transforming influence over the willful young princess.But the aristocracy cannot be isolated forever from the forces that buffet the mighty Russian Empire. While the grand dukes and duchesses celebrate New Year's at the tsar's legendary Winter Palace, revolution brews and war in the Balkans seems inevitable. Both peasant and princess face the prospect of their beloved Russia being torn apart by conflict both within and without.