Winner of the Wales’ Book of the Year 2009 and the ITV Wales Readers’ Choice Award 2009.
“an epic novel... you can almost smell Russia.” BBC Arts
“...one of the highlights in the history of the novel in Wales.”The Welshman
“This is a novel with a huge international appeal.” BBC Cymru
“a substantial, perceptive and highly readable novel.”Barddas
Originally published in Welsh in 2008, Wil Roberts’ Petrograd was reprinted within eight weeks, winning Wales’ Book of the Year in 2009, as well as ITV Wales Readers’ Choice Award 2009.
It’s the summer or 1916 and the Alexandrov family prepare to embark on their annual holiday, accompanied by an army of staff primed to cater to their needs.
Teenage, precocious Alyosha Alexandrov has never known anything but a life of privilege. He spends his days avoiding study and pursuing pretty young maids. But Russia is poised on the brink of epochal political upheaval and within a year Alyosha is separated from family, security, and the innocence of youth.
Set against the backdrop of the Russian Revolution and its aftermath, spanning the turbulent years from 1916 to 1924, Petrograd is a vast, ambitious novel from an award-winning writer. The first in a trilogy, and winner of the Wales Book of the Year Award (Welsh Language), it tells the compelling, convincing story of the Alexandrov family as they each struggle to adapt to the ravages of war and revolution.