Lieutenant's Lover, The

Harry Bingham is definitely one of the best authors out there and is definitely does not get the recognition he deserves. Although none of his subsequent work has ever reached the greatest masterpieces of all time level that his debut novel The Money Makers did, all of his novels are always exceptionally high in quality. The historical period piece which is The Lieutenant's Lover is no exception. Compared to Bingham's other previous two sensational period pieces Glory Boys and The Sons of Adam I'd actually rate this as the best of the three. If you haven't discovered Bingham yet, pick up this or one of his other historical period pieces or better yet his financial thrillers Sweet Talking Money and one of the greatest novels ever written, the masterpiece The Money Makers. The Lieutenant's Lover starts of in as the Russian Revolution begins, when the workers overthrew their aristocratic employers and took their houses and possessions for themselves. This book follows the lives of Misha a young officer in the army whose father is one of the most successful businessmen in St Petersburg, resulting in coming home to a house which has been stripped bare, contains numerous squatters who smirk at him with contempt and contains his mother and siblings barricaded into a corner of the old servants quarters where they are living in fear for their lives. In contrast Tonya has always come from the other side of life, her father is a railway worker but spends most of time drunk so even though she is only a young girl Tonya is forced to fend for her brother and grandmother and barter on the black market for firewood, food and everything else they need to survive. This book follows the lives of these two inspirational characters, as they meet, fall in love and are ripped apart by a revolution neither of them believes in. As decades pass which include World War II, their lives are never easy but neither one has ever forgotten the other or ever intends to stop looking.