The Pearl: A True Tale of Forbidden Love in Catherine the Great's Russia

Douglas Smith's The Pearl does that thing that we expect of all good histories: it transports you to an alien world that is at turns alluring and repellent but always fascinating. Working through the entwined lives of two individuals utterly remarkable for their time - one a nobleman whose riches boggle the mind and the other a serf who became a legendary opera star - Smith gives us a series of lovingly constructed glimpses of the complex interplay between taboo and tradition, excess and deprivation, high and low culture, and court and countryside in 18th-century Russia. While the tale of the romance between the Count and his peasant-born diva captivates, the parts of the book that stood out for me were those when the author imagines for us the astonishing theaters that Sheremetev constructed and the spectacular productions that were staged in them. In The Pearl Smith shows us long-vanished spaces where all of the marvelous contradictions of Russia collided.

One of the few times I have actually longed to see a story spring from it's pages on to the big screen. "The Pearl" is a fantastic book, history written in vivid detail, which paints a picture of what it was like for a Russian serf girl to go from the unknown to become the star of the operatic stage, and the great love of Nicholas Sheremetev, contemporary of Catherine the Great. The story is filled with descriptions of the unfathomable wealth and power of the Russian aristocrats. The history of the building of grand theaters and their conscripted operatic and symphonic companies is fascinating. How wonderful it would be to see the actual theaters and grand houses restored to their former glory, sparkling on the big screen. As I read about the experiences of Praskovia, "The Pearl", I felt the former serf's life must have been in turns exhilarating and profoundly lonely. How strange it must have felt to be at one moment the grand dame of the Russian stage, adored by her many fans, and at the next, all alone, terribly isolated because of her relationship with Nicholas, the artistocrat. I was most struck by the deep love Nicholas and Praskovia seemed to have for one another, despite the social conventions of the time. The death of Praskovia clearly marked the end of Nicholas' life as well. Nicholas seems to have been blinded by his grief over Praskovia's death, to the great detriment of his son, Dmitry. It will be a long time before I forget the terrible letter he wrote for his son to read when he came of age. Poor Dmitry seems to have spent his entire life trying to make ammends for the despair he unknowingly caused his father. What a story! What a history! I recommend this book highly.

Douglas Smith has written a thoroughly readable, immaculately researched tale detailing the life of the talented opera singer Praskovia (aka "The Pearl")--who was born as a serf, but raised to become one of the serf "intelligentsia" (whose job it was to entertain the aristocrats), rose too become an singing star, and eventually entered into a long-term forbidden relationship with her master, Nicholas Sheremetev, whom she eventually married in secret. Against the lush backdrop of Tsarist Russia, the story is not just a tale of "forbidden love" (as indicated by the quasi-salacious subtitle of the book) but also a fascinating piece of psycho-social history that details again and again the essential contradictions of a talented and passionate woman living a life trapped within a strict social system that officially relegated her to a position of slavery, with no official hope of ever getting out of that position. The tale is made all the more gripping for the sympathetic portrait it draws of Sheremetev, who bucks social and class convention and pursues his love for Praskovia, in sharp contradiction to the mores of the Russian nobility. The biggest challenge Smith faced in writing this book was probably the lack of historical data about Praskovia's life. Thus, much of what he describes about, say, her separation from her family and move to the "Big House" is extrapolated from what is generally known about serf upbringing. Luckily, Smith, an internationally known expert in the Russia of Catherine the Great, is up to the task and masterfully manages to fill in details based on his extensive research of the social lives of serfs, without falling into the trap of simply fictionalizing her life. Overall, Smith is a virtuosic writer, balancing a historian's need for well-researched detail with a novelist's flare for the telling description, the clear narrative thread, and the emblematic moment or detail that reveals a larger psychological or social truth. In particular, the "serf theater" interlude sections are masterfully written. Truly fascinating stuff. I got hooked at the beginning, and with each chapter it became harder to put the book down. Highly recommended!

I loved this book! As a student of Russian Literature over thirty ago, this wonderful novel offered me an opportunity to revisit the beautiful and complex history of Zsarist Russia. The story was compelling, and I found myself unable to put it down. The attention to historical detail, which was obviously very well researched, brought the beauty and grandeur of that unique time and nation vividly to life. I learned a great deal about the Russian theatre and it's importance in the evolution of theatre as we know it today. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves history, and a good love story.

Douglas Smith has written a fascinating book. The Pearl tells the tale of Nicholas Sheremetev, Russia's richest noble, who secretly marries Praskovia Ivanovna, his serf and the star of his "serf theater". The book reads like a novel with characters straight out of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, but bears all the signs of great history -- thorough research, good judgment, a sense for the times and characters, and deep insight into the social and political forces at play. This work of dual biography and social history is also a joy to read.