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This eBook first published in Great Britain by William Collins in 2016
Copyright © Anna Pasternak 2016
Anna Pasternak asserts the moral right to
be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record for this book is
available from the British Library
Cover image © Ullstein Bild/Getty
Interior images courtesy of the author unless otherwise attributed
Map and family tree © Martin Brown
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Source ISBN: 9780008156787
Ebook Edition © August 2016 ISBN: 9780008156800
Version: 2017-03-27
In loving memory of my mother,
Audrey Pasternak
Writers can be divided into two types: meteors and fixed stars. The first produces a momentary effect: you gaze up and cry ‘Look!’ – and they vanish forever. Whereas fixed stars are unchanging, they stand firm in the firmament, shine by their own light and influence all ages equally; they belong to the universe. But it is precisely because they are so high that their light usually takes so many years to reach the eyes of the dwellers on earth.
Arthur Schopenhauer
It is not for nothing that you stand at the end of my life, my secret, forbidden angel, under the skies of war and turmoil, you who arose at its beginning under the peaceful skies of childhood.
Yury Zhivago to Lara, Doctor Zhivago
CONTENTS
Prologue: Straightening Cobwebs
1. A Girl from a Different World
2. Mother Land and Wonder Papa
Acknowledgements and Note on Sources
PROLOGUE
It is almost impossible, by today’s