Leaping the Fire

by Ingrid Scott

The tsarist empire is tottering - the line between decadence and squalor is blurred. Siina, a child awed by the spectacle of the protest, marches with her mother to Palace Square in Petersburg. Hundreds are massacred. Her mother almost dies but back home in Prnu she gives Siina a camera.As an adult, Siina's fascination with Petersburg, its brilliant art and subversive ideas, draws her back there. As Bolshevism rises and war shatters the world, Siina is seduced by the excesses and power of the rulers. Is it possible to love two men of opposing ideals? Her principles were once absolute, but her aristocratic lover can give her the means to survive. Her Estonian sweetheart is mysterious, idealistic. Spies are everywhere. Her photographs must now show the truth. Will her sweetheart flee Russia with her to stand for what they once promised one another and fight for their homeland?