Earrings for a Black Day
A Novel
“Don’t be born beautiful, but be born fortunate,” the Russian people say, believing that fate exists.
Lena Petrova was born beautiful.
Growing up in a small Russian village in the 1970s, Lena believes her life will unfold like a fairy tale. Then her father disappears without a word. Her first love is sent to a war no one is allowed to talk about. And on graduation day, Lena receives her family’s last treasure, a pair of antique earrings, the only trace of a noble past the Revolution tried to erase, along with a warning: keep them for a black day.
Lena doesn’t yet understand what a black day is. She will.
As the Soviet Union crumbles around her, with empty shelves, ration coupons, and zinc coffins coming home from Afghanistan, Lena sets out alone with nothing but her pride, her beauty, and the earrings. But in a collapsing country, beauty is not a gift. It is a target.
Betrayed by those she trusts and hunted by men who take whatever they want, Lena crosses paths with a battle-scarred officer torn between loyalty and conscience, a general who profits from the chaos, and an American who offers her a way out. But escape and freedom are not the same thing, and the price of both may be everything she has left.
“This spell-binding love story tore down the mythic Iron Curtain for me.”Wanda S. Parrott, Amazon reviewer
“A compelling, romantic story of a young Russian girl’s life, angst, and glory set against the background of political turmoil and intrigue of Russia’s emergence from communism. A page-turner, providing a glimpse of Russian life that could only be fashioned from experience. For both the story and the historical perspective this is a must-read.”Michael Schad, Amazon reviewerBuy on Amazon
- Publisher
- Monterey Press, second edition, 2026
- Paperback ISBN
- 979-8-9958396-4-4
- eBook ISBN
- 979-8-9958396-5-1
- First edition
- iUniverse, 2010. Finalist, National Indie Excellence Book Awards, 2011