She was at the heart of the most important events of the twentieth century, still trying to find her own way to happiness. Its fate, more dramatic and surprising than the plot of the best novels, could serve as a script for at least a few Hollywood blockbusters. And her origin has become a curse.
Little Svetlana was missing nothing. She was called the Kremlin princess. In her childhood and adolescence, she enjoyed luxuries that even other citizens of the communist empire could not dream of. Brought up in the luxury of the Kremlin, among people who loved her, she did not know that soon her life would become a nightmare, and that her dearest father would be considered the greatest criminal in history.
She was the beloved child of a great leader. This love, however, led to a tragedy. Toxic family relationships pushed her distraught mother to commit suicide. People from the immediate vicinity disappeared without a trace in mysterious circumstances. When Stalin found out about Svetlana's secret meetings with the famous film screenwriter Alexei Kapler - her first great love - he sentenced his beloved daughter to 10 years in a labor camp.
Svetlana Alliluyeva - daughter of Joseph Stalin. She will have to struggle with this stigma throughout her life. At the age of almost 40, in 1967, after a daring escape from the country, she asked for political asylum in the US and condemned her father's criminal rule and the Soviet system of power.
Dear daddy or bloody dictator? The photo comes from the promotional materials of Rosemary Sullivan's book "Stalin's Daughter" (photo:EAST NEWS / LASKI DIFFUSION).
“I am no longer under the illusion that I will ever be able to free myself from this patch - that I will cease to be Stalin's daughter. [...] Parents are not chosen, but I wish my mother had married a carpenter "- she used to say.
In Rosemary Sullivan's book, Stalin's Daughter, we discover the backstage of life not only of the dictator's daughter, but above all of a flesh-and-blood woman struggling with the hardships of everyday life - complicated feelings that connect her with her family and children, and above all with her father.
The story of Alliluyeva is told in accessible, colorful language, without losing historical credibility. The author used the archives of the Soviet authorities, the KGB and the CIA, to which she was granted access.
You can find a touching story of a woman whose father was a monster in Rosemary Sullivan's book, “Stalin's Daughter. The unusual and turbulent life of Svetlana Alliluyeva "(Znak Horyzont 2017).
The Canadian author's book is a biographical novel of the highest order. It is not just about historical credibility. It is far from a boring academic study. Sources, letters or accounts are woven into a dynamic story. The way the narrative is conducted keeps us in suspense due to the amazing events in the heroine's life. Sullivan creates a complicated psychological portrait of Svetlana, faithfully recounting her fate.
Stalin's Daughter allows us to discover one of the most remarkable biographies of the 20th century. Illustrated with numerous photographs, it shows Svetlana's life without retouching. Rosemary Sullivan has written a captivating book that will appeal not only to biography lovers. It should be reached by anyone who loves original and well-told stories.
Svetlana Alliluyeva at Kennedy Airport in New York - for the first time on American soil. The photo comes from the promotional materials of Rosemary Sullivan's book "Stalin's Daughter" (photo:AP Photo).
"Stalin's Daughter", a biography of Svetlana Alliluyeva, based on in-depth research and interviews with surviving witnesses to history, is captivating like a dramatic novel full of surprising twists. Raised in the Kremlin, in the Tsar's fortress, Svetlana often repeated that she would rather be the daughter of a carpenter, but "parents are not chosen." Aware of her father's crimes, the victims of which also fell to her closest relatives, Stalin's daughter tried desperately to free herself from her fatherly embrace all her life.
Rosemary Sullivan writes with deep empathy, sensitivity and subtlety. He is a top class biographer.
Ewa Stachniak , author of "Empress Night" and "Catherine the Great"
Political intrigue, the past that shapes the present, paralyzing, omnipresent fear and a great will to fight. All this makes the story about the life of Svetlana, Stalin's daughter, to be read with bated breath.
Magdalena Kordel , author of bestsellers such as:"Angel for Rent" and "Uroczysko"