Stachniak, Eva,  1952- <br/><br/>
The Winter palace :  a novel of Catherine the Great / 
Eva Stachniak. 
 - Bantam books trade pbk. ed. 
 - New York :  Bantam Books,  ©2012. 
 - 461 pages ;  21 cm 
<br/><br/> Includes Reader's guide. 
<br/><br/> Tells the epic story of Catherine the Great's improbable rise to power--as seen through the ever-watchful eyes of an all-but-invisible servant close to the throne. Her name is Barbara--in Russian, Varvara. Nimble-witted and attentive, she's allowed into the employ of the Empress Elizabeth, amid the glitter and cruelty of the world's most eminent court. Under the tutelage of Count Bestuzhev, Chancellor and spymaster, Varvara will be educated in skills from lock picking to lovemaking, learning above all else to listen--and to wait for opportunity. That opportunity arrives in a slender young princess from Zerbst named Sophie, a playful teenager destined to become the indomitable Catherine the Great. Sophie's destiny at court is to marry the Empress's nephew, but she has other, loftier, more dangerous ambitions, and she proves to be more guileful than she first appears. What Sophie needs is an insider at court, a loyal pair of eyes and ears who knows the traps, the conspiracies, and the treacheries that surround her. Varvara will become Sophie's confidante--and together the two young women will rise to the pinnacle of absolute power. 
<br/><br/><label>ISBN: </label>0553386891 9780553386899 
<br/><br/><label>Source: </label> Random House Inc, Attn Order Entry 400 Hahn rd, Westminster, MD, USA, 21157  SAN 201-3975 
<br/><br/><label>Subjects--Personal Names: </label><br/>Catherine II,  Empress of Russia,  1729-1796 --Fiction.<br/>Catherine II,  Empress of Russia,  1729-1796 
<br/><br/><label>Subjects--Chronological Terms: </label><br/>1762-1796 
<br/><br/><label>Subjects--Topical Terms: </label><br/>Intrigue--Fiction.<br/>Courts and courtiers--Fiction.<br/>Empresses--Russia--Fiction.<br/>Courts and courtiers.<br/>Empresses.<br/>Intrigue.
<br/><br/><label>Subjects--Geographic Terms: </label><br/>Russia--History--Catherine II, 1762-1796--Fiction.<br/>Russia.
<br/><br/><label>Index Terms--Genre/Form: </label><br/>Biographical fiction.<br/>Fiction.<br/>Historical fiction.<br/>History.<br/>Historical fiction.<br/>Biographical fiction.<br/>Historical fiction.<br/>Biographical fiction.
<br/><br/><label>LC Class. No.: </label>PR9199.4.S728  / .W56 2012 
<br/><br/><label>Dewey Class. No.: </label>813/.6