I received this from Netgalley.com in exchange for a review.

Told from three different viewpoints, this story sweeps back and forth from Russia and America as WW 1 marches through Eliza, Sofya and Varinka's lives.

I really liked The Lilac Girls but was kind of disappointed with this one. I had a hard time finding the pacing of this story and was never truly vested with any of the characters.

2.5 rounded up to 3☆

I devoured Lilac Girls and couldn't wait to read Lost Roses, its intelligent and emotional prequel. Set in the turbulent times of 20th Century Russia, cosseted between WWI and the Russian Revolution we witness the indomitable spirit of three women. Eliza Ferriday, mother of Caroline the real life daughter who was highlighted in the first book, Sofya Streshnayva her dear friend who was related to the czar and Varinka, a Russian peasant who was employed to be a nanny to Sofya's son Max. Eliza focuses on setting up a charity and helping the female Russian emigres who have made it to the USA. In the meantime, Sofya's life is surrounded by Bolsheviks and peasants raging against the aristocracy and burning and pillaging the homes. Varinka commits an atrocity against Sofya which rounds out the second half of the book. This whole description is simplistic as the fruit of the book and its vivid historical details carry the reader on a train ride that envelops the reader. I would give this a 4.5 as there were some details I felt should have been fleshed out more and others I found problematic. However, fans of Lilac Girls should gobble this up.One does not have to have read Lilac Girls before, but I really feel that the two of them should be read sequentially to fully take advantage of the author's strengths.

I am just as in love with this book as I was the first. I seem to be reading a lot of material from this time period and I can honestly say that this is one of the best that I have read so far. I can't wait to see what she writes next!
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I loved this novel. At first, I had a hard time getting into this book, but soon I found I couldn't put it down. Wonderful story about three women and how their lives are entwined. I also love that it is a prequel to Martha's first book.

Well researched and all consuming, Martha Hall Kelly's newest novel brings to life characters in three beautifully woven story lines in an unforgettable and complex period of world history. Highly recommended!

4.5 stars
If you read and loved Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly, as I did, you will want to read the prequel, Lost Roses. I can honestly say I enjoyed this book just as much as Lilac Girls. You don’t have to have read Lilac girls first to fully appreciate Lost Roses. I always feel I learn so much with historical fiction novels and when the story is especially interesting it is an added bonus. Lost Roses is set in the time of WWI around 1916 to 1918. The main geographical area is in Russia during the rein of the the Tzar and the Bolshevik revolution. There are some gruesome events where the aristocracy were driven out of their homes and murdered. There are three main young women characters in this book. Eliza, who is Caroline Ferriday’s mother in Lilac girls, Sonya is Eliza’s Russian aristocratic friend, and Varinka who is a poor peasant girl who worked for Sonya’s family. The story of Sonya and her family’s suffering during the revolution was based on true events. This was an excellent and well researched novel. I would also suggest that the Author’s Note at the end should not be overlooked.
I received an Advanced readers copy of Lost Roses from Netgalley and the publisher. This is an unbiased review.

We first met Caroline Ferriday in Martha Hall Kelly’s outstanding book Lilac Girls, which tells the story of three separate women and how their lives intertwined during World War II. This novel, Lost Roses, is the prequel and centers around Caroline’s mother, Eliza, and her effort to help her friend, Sofya Streshnayvas, during the Bolshevik uprising during World War 1. Eliza works tirelessly to not only assist the women from Russia who have lost their homes but to help her friends that are in need.

As in her first novel, the storytelling technique keeps you turning pages. Each chapter is told in the first person by a different woman in which the story encompasses. You witness the goodness and the atrocities that each face. You are invested in their lives and feel their pain and suffering. As each chapter ends, you are left in suspense not knowing what will befall them.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who loved Lilac Girls and anyone who has an interest in World War I and the forgotten brutalities that were committed and hidden. It can be read and appreciated by teen to adult. This author leaves you wanting more!!

I’m so sorry. I just could not get into this book. Though it was well written. I realized I have no interest in turn of the century Russia.

Last year I read Lilac Girls by this author and thought it was the best book I had read in a long time. Then, this book appeared on NetGalley by the same author about the early life of one of the characters in Lilac Girls. I immediately requested it and was caught up in the lives of Eliza, Sofya, and Varinka and the people in their lives during the tumultuous years of World War I. Eliza is an American who becomes best friends with Sofya, a girl of Russian royalty. The Red Army takes over Sofya's estate in Russia but she manages to escape a little later. She has to leave her son, Max, in the care of Varinka, a peasant girl who was hired to take care of him. Varinka also manages to escape with Max and grows to love him as her own son. The story evolves around these characters, their lives, and Sofya's search for Varinka and Max. Again, the author did her research and based the characters on real people.

I really enjoyed this book - a prequel to Kelly's Lilac Girls about Caroline's mother Eliza. This story centers around the relationship between Eliza, Sofya (her friend in Russia), and Varinka (Sofya's nanny) and their lives throughout the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia during WWI. Kelly does an amazing job researching her characters and the setting of her books and makes periods of history come alive. I loved how she interwove the characters we met in Lilac Girls so you could see what happened in their lives before we met them. I highly recommend her books and can't wait for the next prequel set during the Civil War.

This is a historical novel of life beginning in World War 1 Russia from the vantage of both aristocracy and peasants from 1914 through 1920. The author develops the characters in a most dynamic way; you learn first hand the horrible trials and tribulations the people or Russia went through as their homeland and all they knew was taken away from them by the Bolsheviks. You actually feel like you are in Russia, Paris, and New York as you follow the characters through this saga. One appreciates how the wealthy in this country took care of the White Russians and how life had changed so drastically for so many. It is a wonderful lesson in history. I would recommend it highly.

This heartbreaking World War 1 book is told by 3 different perspectives. Eliza living in the US doing everything in her power to help, Sofya living in Russia and is a Romanov cousin, and Varinka Sofya's servant. I love Ms. Kelly's historical books as she gives you multiple points of view as to the suffering of the wars. At the beginning of the book you see the beauty and splendor of Russia then the devastating effects of the war. The characters are so very real, strong women who do everything they need to for survival. I received an advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Ballantine Books. All opinions are my own.

I can’t say enough good things about this novel. The three person narrative gives depth to the characters, history, and plot points that add another layer of experience for the reader. The historical details made me feel like I learned so much, all through my great feeeling for the characters and their various plights. Hall Kelly is superb at making you feel and think about humanity in a new way through the lens of history, all while caring deeply for her characters. So, so good - my favorite book since LILAC GIRLS.

I have been on a real historical fiction kick lately and this one did not disappoint! Martha Hall Kelly has a writing style that just sucks you in from the first page. Same with Lilac Girls! I can’t get enough of her writing ! Her characters are so well written and defined they feel real and her writing and scene building make her stories come alive they just hold you captive and make you want more! Please keep writing books!!!!! She describes other times and places so well I feel like I’m there!

This book deals 1914 time frame and joins the stories of three women during the war and how each coped with the dangers and hardships they encountered. When war is declared by Austria and the Russian imperial dynasty is attacked, three women's lives become entangled and show how friendship can endure. Eliza, an American, escapes back to her life in America, while her friend Sofya and her family flee to their country estate in Russian. The third character, Varinka, is hired as domestic help for Sofya. Eliza loves her friend Sofya and can not find out what has happened to her but her friendship with the Russian royal provides her with a passion to help other Russian immigrants by providing shelter and jobs to transition them to a life in America. Sofya's family is captured and her son is taken away. What has happened to him and she seeks him through out her journey's during the war.
This book is a almost a prequel to the Liliac Girls and set a generation earlier with Eliza providing Caroline a role model in helping others affected by the war.

This book started off slow at first but then all of a sudden it grabbed me and I did not want to put it down. The story begins in 1912 when Sofya and her sister Luba are spending time with Eliza Ferriday, Sofya's longtime friend and cousin while their father is honeymooning with their new stepmother, Agnessa. The story then moves to 1914 when the Russian Revolution begins. Each chapter features either Eliza, Sofya, or Varinka, a peasant girl who becomes nanny to Sofya's son Max, while the story travels between the United States, Russia and Paris. Numerous characters and subplots make this a fascinating read with the story ending in 1920. If you loved the Lilac Girls as I did, you will certainly love this book. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this wonderful book.

I’m always a little worried about reading a follow-up book or a sequel (or prequel) to an amazing book. I want it to be just a good but I have been let down several times. But not with Martha Hall Kelly!! This book will not disappoint her readers.

With Lilac girls, she wrote about 3 women during World War 2. They each lived through the same war but from different life’s. With Lost Rose, she did the same thing but it was based during World War 1. You will fall in love with the 3 women and learn about their struggles. Nobody’s life was unchanged during or after the world. You see the struggles of the poor and also the rich.

This story was also based on true historical events. Kelly’s amazing writing and research did not go unnoticed. This book is just as well written as Lilac Girls and you won’t be disappointed.

I had to read the author's first book "Lilac Girls" before I started this book, so that I could have the background and full story to do a good review of this book. I enjoyed Lilac Girls a great deal, and I enjoyed this book just as much.
Lost Roses follows 3 women through the time period in Russia where the Bolsheviks were overthrowing the tsar and it became the Reds (peasants/commoners), against the Whites (wealthy nobility).
Sofya was a person of nobility who suffered great losses during this time period, and who ultimately fled Russia for safety. Varinka was a peasant girl in Russia who benefits a great deal when the tsar is overthrown, and Sofya's family is taken captive. Eliza Ferriday's character is based around the real person, who was part of a well known family of woman who were very active abolitionists and activists for emigres, and really anyone who needed help.
Throughout the book the characters lives intertwine in more ways then one, and all the women face great challenges in their own lives that they must rise above. The book helps to offer a good perspective as to this time period and the struggles of the Russian emigres, and the work of the Woolsey/Ferriday women.

I enjoyed her earlier book, “Lilac Girls”, and learning the story of Caroline Ferriday (who I’d never heard of). I was excited to read a book featuring Caroline’s mother, Eliza. I was thoroughly caught up in the stories of the three main characters. They live on different continents (separated by a war) yet their stories are intertwined. This book speaks to the strength and resilience of women. Someday I hope to visit the Ferriday’s historic home in Connecticut. I look forward to Martha Hall Kelly’s next book. Her subjects are captivating!

3.5 Stars

Thank you Netgalley for an early copy of Lost Roses, in exchange for an honest review.

I was very excited to receive a copy of Lost Roses, the prequil to Martha Hall Kelly's Lilac Girls which I enjoyed a lot. Like Lilac Girls, she tells the story of three women one of whom is Caroline's mother, Eliza living in New York, Sofya an aristocrat and Varinka a peasant girl both in Russia. The novel is set during WW1 as the lower classes in Russia begin to revolt and turn against the wealthy socialites. Sofya and her family are swept into the danger as their family home becomes overrun with rebels and they are taken captive. Varinka, a nanny for Sofya's son Max, cares for the child who was not apprehended in the raid. Eliza is desperate to help her friend, Sofya, while assisting other Russian refugees in the States.

I enjoy the historical detail that Martha adds to her novels and how she portrays both real and imagined women in a captivating way. It was interesting to see the mother of a character I was familiar with and how her own behaviors shaped those of her daughter. I struggled the most with Varinka who I saw as more of a villain and lacked much sympathy for her or her plight. The story took me longer to get into then usual but enjoyed more of the dramatic scenes.