Kirochnaya Ulitsa (previously Ulitsa Saltykov-Schedrin), the street where my characters Tatiana and Alexander met. The yellow buses remain unchanged since the war.
With Papa at the Romanov funeral in the courtyard of Peter and Paul’s Cathedral.
Our driver Viktor with my father.
Flanked by Lida and Radik Tikhomirov outside their dacha.
Eating vanilla ice cream on a bench in the Summer Garden. They were out of crème brûlée.
The final photo of the trip, of Papa and me at Radik’s dacha.
My new house and flowers in Texas.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
PAULLINA SIMONS is the author of Tully and The Bronze Horseman, as well as ten other beloved novels, a memoir, a cookbook and two children’s books. Born in Leningrad, Paullina immigrated to the United States when she was ten, and now lives in New York with her husband and an alarming number of her once-independent children.
PRAISE FOR PAULLINA SIMONS
Tully
“You’ll never look at life in the same way again. Pick up this book and prepare to have your emotions wrung so completely you’ll be sobbing your heart out one minute and laughing through your tears the next. Read it and weep—literally.”
Company
Red Leaves
“Simons handles her characters and setting with skill, slowly peeling away deceptions to reveal denial, cowardice and chilling indifference . . . an engrossing story.”
Publishers Weekly
Eleven Hours
“Eleven Hours is a harrowing, hair-raising story that will keep you turning the pages late into the night.”
Janet Evanovich
The Bronze Horseman
“A love story both tender and fierce” (Publishers Weekly) that “recalls Dr. Zhivago.” (People Magazine)
The Bridge to Holy Cross
“This has everything a romance glutton could wish for: a bold, talented and dashing hero [and] a heart-stopping love affair that nourishes its two protagonists even when they are separated and lost.”
Daily Mail
The Girl in Times Square
“Part mystery, part romance, part family drama . . . in other words, the perfect book.”
Daily Mail
The Summer Garden
“If you’re looking for a historical epic to immerse yourself in, then this is the book for you.”
Closer
Road to Paradise
“One of our most exciting writers . . . Paullina Simons presents the perfect mix of page-turning plot and characters.”
Woman and Home
A Song in the Daylight
“Simons shows the frailties of families and of human nature, and demonstrates that there’s so much more to life, such as honesty and loyalty.”
Good Reading
Bellagrand
“Another epic saga from Simons, full of the emotion and heartache of the original trilogy. Summer reading at its finest.”
Canberra Times
Lone Star
“Love is never grander than that in Paullina Simons novel . . . I just can’t get enough of her writing.”
Good Reading
ALSO BY PAULLINA SIMONS
FICTION
Tully
Red Leaves
Eleven Hours
The Girl in Times Square
Road to Paradise
A Song in the Daylight
Lone Star
The Bronze Horseman
Tatiana and Alexander
The Summer Garden
Children of Liberty
Bellagrand
NON FICTION
Tatiana’s Table
CHILDREN’S BOOKS
I Love My Baby Because
Poppet Gets Two Big Brothers
PHOTO CREDITS
All the pictures (internal and back cover) taken of young Paullina alone or with parents are by Anatoly Studenkov. Every single one.
The picture of my mother from 1958, I don’t know. It’s lost to posterity.
The photo of me dressed up holding my son’s hand, by Kevin Ryan.
The photo of me with my grandparents, by Elizabeth Handler.
The photo of me in August 1998 with my parents, by Elizabeth Handler.
The photos from Leningrad of me with my dad, are by Viktor Smirnoff.
The rest of the photos are by Paullina Simons.
BACK AD
COPYRIGHT
HarperCollinsPublishers
First published in Australia in 2015
by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia Pty Limited
ABN 36 009 913 517
harpercollins.com.au
Copyright © Paullina Simons 2015
The right of Paullina Simons to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her under the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000.
This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
HarperCollinsPublishers
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Unit D1, 63 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand
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2 Bloor Street East, 20th floor, Toronto, Ontario M4W 1A8, Canada
195 Broadway, New York NY 10007, USA
ISBN: 978 1 4607 0183 6 (ebook)
National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data:
Simons, Paullina, 1963– author.
Six Days in Leningrad / Paullina Simons.
Subjects: Simons, Paullina, 1963 – Travel – Russia (Federation) – Saint Petersburg.
Saint Petersburg (Russia) – Social conditions.
Saint Petersburg (Russia) – Economic conditions.
Saint Petersburg (Russia) – Description and travel.
813.546
Cover design by HarperCollins Design Studio
Front cover image by shutterstock.com