House by the Dvina: A Russian Childhood - Tapa dura

The House By the Dvina is the riveting story of two families, separated in culture and geography, but bound together by a Russian-Scottish marriage. It includes episodes as romantic and dramatic as any in fiction: the purchase by the author's greatgrandfather of a peasant girl with whom he had fallen in love; the desperate journey by sledge in the depths of winter made by her grandmother to intercede with Tsar Aleksandr II for her husband; the extraordinary courtship of her parents; and her Scottish granny being caught up in the abortive revolution of 1905. Eugenie Fraser herself was brought up in Russia but was taken on visits to Scotland. She marvellously evokes the reactions of a child of two totally different environments, sets of custom and family backgrounds. The characters on both sides are beautifully drawn and splendidly memorable - especially her beloved 'Babushka', her Russian grandmother, whose inner strength and resourcefulness were of heroic proportions. With the events of 1914 to 1920 - the war with Germany, the Revolution, the murder of the Tsar, the withdrawal of the Allied Intervention in the north - came the disintegration of the country and of family life. The stark realities of hunger, deprivation and fear are sharply contrasted with the day-to-day experiences, joys, frustrations and adventures of childhood. The reader shares the family's suspense and concern about the fates of its members and relives with Eugenie her final escape to Scotland. In House By the Dvina, Eugenie Fraser has vividly, poignantly and often amusingly portrayed the way of life that finally disappeared in violence and tragedy.

Eugenie Fraser was the daughter of a Russian father and a Scottish mother. She was born and educated in Russia and, until the outbreak of the First World War, paid frequent visits to her grandparents in Scotland. After the fall of the Archangel with the accompanying destruction of the way of life, her mother decided that they would return to Scotland. Later, upon marrying a young man from Broughty Ferry, she and their twin sons divided her time between Scotland and India, where her husband worked. Upon retiring, they returned to Scotland and settled in Edinburgh.