Oligarch's Wife, The

A wonderfully rich and vibrant novel which tells the story of one of Russia's post-Communist Oligarchs and the two women who marry him, from impoverished boyhood, through unimaginable power and wealth, to the moment when he finally overreaches himself.

Pavel Ivanchenko's life begins in poverty and violence, but he is destined to become one of the richest men in the world: one of the post-Glasnost Oligarchs. He starts his business life trading illegal vodka on the freezing, grimy streets of Kargasok, he ends up buying most of the steel in the old Soviet Union, believing that he can buy, sell, or destroy anything or anyone – especially women. This is principally the story of two of those women: one English, one Russian, who become friends as girls in Moscow, and whose lives then become entwined through their turbulent relationships with the Oligarch. From Moscow to London and the French Riviera, back to St Petersburg, from the grinding boredom of extreme poverty, to the surreal stage sets of fabulous wealth, the story leads us deep into the heart of an unknown and fascinating world, with a larger-than-life man – part hero, part villain – at its centre.

Author Profile

A former Moscow correspondent for The Times, Anna Blundy has lived and worked in Russia on many occasions, doing a variety of things, from singing in a blues band in the early 90s and making coffee for the ABC News Bureau, to interviewing Mikhail Gorbachev live in Russian on Radio Svoboda in 1998. She wrote a single girl column for The Times magazine in her twenties and now writes a column for them about Italy, where she lives. She has worked as a correspondent for CNN and SKY and is a regular guest on American ABC's political discussion show World View from London. She is the author of the critically acclaimed memoir of her father David Blundy (killed in El Salvador by a sniper when she was nineteen) and of five novels about war correspondent, Faith Zanetti. She is married with two children and lives in a hilltop village in Tuscany.

Reviews

This wildly romantic and powerfully atmospheric novel takes us from the cramped, steaming kitchens of Nowhereski, Siberia, to the presidential suites of the world's best hotels. Like all rags-to-riches stories, the rags are the best bit. I enjoyed it so much I wanted to read it again, instantly.,Fast-paced … a thrilling story about power and love … A gripping read.,A classy and compelling read with an ending that does not disappoint.