I loved Lilac Girls and I loved Lost Roses! Martha Hall Kelly has become one of my favorite authors. Her writing is superb, her characters strong and her stories are extremely interesting and compelling. Eliza and Sofya’s characters were remarkable and their chapters always ended before I was ready to quit reading about them. Varinka is very unlikable but I kept holding out hope for her. Kelly does a wonderful job merging the Ferriday women’s true stories with her fiction.

Many thanks to the publishers at NetGalley for the advanced reader’s copy in exchange for a review. It would have been so hard to wait until Lost Roses was published to read it!

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced reader copy. Another hit for Martha Hall Kelley! I really enjoyed this novel based on the mother of one of her characters from Lilac Girls and two girls in WWI era Russia. I love the different voices the author uses, but this also made the book very similar to her first novel. I did find some of the book slow and the writing a little clunky at times, but I did learn a lot and I found myself unable to put this book down. I’m looking forward to the next one!

Lost Roses is Caroline's (from Lilac Girls) mother's story. A story of Eliza, Sofya, and Varinka. Eliza is a privileged American, her friend Sofya, is an aristocratic Russian and Varinka is a Russian peasant. The story of three very strong women who never lose sight of how to survive during WWI and how they can help others. The women are very compelling and the book is rich in the history of that period in Russia and America history. I feel that you don't have to read Lilac GIrls to thoroughly enjoy Lost Roses, but I can't think of a single reason why you wouldn't read both! Thanks so much to Martha Hall Kelly, the publisher and Net Galley for the opportunity to read the advanced copy.

I loved this author's first account of the Ferriday family, Lilac Girls, but it took a while for this book to actually engage me. In all honesty, if I wasn't reviewing this tale of WWI, I'm not sure I would have continued reading. That being said, I am glad I persisted as it did pick up and become clearer as I read on. The friendship of Eliza and Sofya is something to be celebrated as war and personal loss took it's toll on each of their lives. Their indomitable spirits and strength in a time of great adversity are a reminder of just how great (and easy) we have it in modern day America. For those who enjoy reading about the first world war, this is a worthy read and full of insights of how it was on the home front and for those not actually engaged in the fighting in Europe. I'd rate it at 3 1/2 stars, but am happy to round up to 4 stars. Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy to review.

Not as good as Lilac Girls, but still very enjoyable. I liked how the author showed the stark difference between living in America during a war vs. living in Russia. The chance encounters in France made things a little less believable (the world isn’t that small), but I really respect the research that went into writing this piece. I look forward to her next book!

Readers of The Lilac Girls fell in love with Caroline Ferriday and her determined spirit. Where did this spirit stem from and what stories fueled the passions of Caroline? Lost Roses answers all these questions and more. Martha Hall Kelly’s devotion to historical accuracy gives readers an insight into the otherwise unknown story of immensely courageous women who sought to right the wrongs and protect women whose lives were very nearly destroyed by anti-Semitism. Brilliantly written, this gripping story is a must read on many levels!

This was a lovely journey and prequel to Lilac Girls. Lost Roses is written very much in the same vein as Lilac Girls. Lost Roses follows three ladies during the Russian revolution and WWI with a much stronger emphasis on the former. The three women are Eliza (Caroline’s mother who we were introduce to in Lilac Girls), Sofya, Eliza’s friend from Russian royalty, and Varinka, a Russian villager and Sofya’s son’s nanny. Like Lilac Girl’s, these three women have intersected lives and hardships as the Russian revolution rages on and Russian royalty becomes more endangered every day. Martha Hall Kelly’s writing is so powerful and it was a joy to read a novel from this time period. So many historical fiction books have been written about WWII and I was happy to see WWI get a little love. I will say it’s a slower burn than Lilac Girls but around half way through I plowed through to find out what would happen to each of these ladies.

I absolutely loved this wonderful book. I have become such a huge lover of historical fiction in recent years, and the fall of the Russian monarchy is if infinite interest to me. Around the 100 year mark since the Great War it seems a lot of historical fiction is being published from this era and I am enjoying reading about it from the perspective of various nations. This beautiful book gave us insight to some of the American, Russian and French experience, though some amazing characters - all fierce women. I havent one negative thing to say about this book, I adored Sofya, Eliza and Luba, and I loved reading their story. I am now off to devour Lilac Girls!

Good historical detail, but the characters are flat. Perhaps too many were real people? Other books by Kelly are far better, both in plot and character development.

Lost Roses by Martha Hall Kelly

April 2019
Historical fiction
Random House Publishing

I received a digital copy of this ARC from NetGalley and Random House in exchange for an unbiased review.

I am thrilled to be reviewing this new novel by Martha Hall Kelly. I absolutely loved her book The Lilac Girls and have often recommended it to others. The Lilac Girls featured a real-life heroine, Caroline Ferriday, during WWII. In Lost Roses, the author’s second novel, the story takes us back to WWI and Caroline’s mother, Eliza Woolsey Mitchell, during WWI.

Again, Martha Hall Kelly delves deep into the history and people of the time period. She only scratched the surface it seems with her first novel, The Lilac Girls, revealing the remarkable story of Caroline Ferriday. It should come as no surprise that this remarkable woman was reared by a lineage of courageous women. Lost Roses is based on the research and history of Caroline’s mother, Eliza Woolsey Mitchell, a staunch abolitionist and philanthropist in NYC. She advocated and assisted the “White Russian” émigrés who were former Russian aristocrats who lost everything when the Bolsheviks seized power in 1918.

This historical novel is well researched with many of the characters developed from the stories of actual people. Lost Roses occurs during 1914-1921 during WWI focused on life in United States, France and Russia as narrated by Eliza, Sofya and Varinka whose lives ultimately converge.

A forever friendship was formed at Brillantmont School in the Swiss Alps when Eliza and Sofya meet. The distance of Eliza living in NYC/Paris and Sofya living in Russia does not prove to be an obstacle in their loyalty to each other. Sofya delivers her son Maxwell unexpectedly while visiting Eliza just prior to the social uprising in Russia. Once settled back in Russia, the family ultimately hire Varinka to assist with the child care of baby Max. Varinka lives with her ailing Mamka in a questionable living situation after her father dies and leaves Taras in charge. Taras soon reunited with an old cell mate, Vladi, from prison and become involved with looting and chaos of overthrowing the tzar.

The three women’s lives eventually collide in devastating ways. The remarkable strength and courage of women to manage difficult life circumstances is explored. The decisions and choices people make have lasting effects on everyone. There are many unsavory and despicable characters who allow the brave to shine. It’s not a surprise that the author is already working on her third novel focusing on Eliza’s mother, Jane Newton Woolsey during the Civil War.

If you loved The Lilac Girls, be sure to read Lost Roses! Lost Roses is the prequel and tells the story of Eliza Ferriday, Caroline's mother. The story is told from the viewpoints of Eliza, Sofya, a cousin to tsar Nicholas, and Varinka, a poor Russian woman. I love the multiple viewpoints because I was able to understand each character's reasons for decisions made. Martha Hall Kelly did an incredible job of describing the Russian splendor before the fall and the devastation and violence after. I fell in love with each of these beautiful characters!

LOST ROSES by Martha Hall Kelly

A gift from Netgallery in exchange for this review.... Martha Hall Kelly is great at getting the details of. Historical Fiction right. If you loved THE LILAC GIRLS, you need to read LOST ROSES!

This novel is a prequel to TLG and takes place around WWI in the United States and Russia. Caroline Ferriday from THE LILAC GIRLS appears here as a precocious and borderline-neglected child. In Russia, Eliza's friend Sophya and her family are caught up in the Bolshevik Revolution.

These smart women help each other along with other exiled Russians, I really enjoyed the Tsarist setting and even brief cameos from Nicholas II's daughters. This author details how women think, outsmart men and use their beauty if necessary. I highly recommend this book.

A good Historical story about WWI and how the Russian people were treated and what the they had to endure. Even after the war.
Read a lot about WWII this was a good incite to what happened in WWI.
Great drama,angst,emotions and history.
If you like History and want to know what happened During and after WWI you have to read.
Really learned something I didn't know.
Voluntarily reviewed.

I liked this book. After Lilac Girls, it was not a disappointment. It was slow going at the beginning and I had a challenging time getting into it, but once I invested decent time, I could enjoy and get into the story. I liked the historical aspects, the friendships developed, the angst that must have been felt my society in Russia mid-1900's. Toggling between NY and Russia/Europe made for a more interesting story than just one locale. Good book. Again, after Lilac Girls, it's a worthwhile read.

i received this book as an ARC from NetGalley for an honest review of the book, Lost Roses. This is a very interesting and well developed story. Martha Hall Kelly wrote this book as a prequel to her wonderful book, Lilac Girls. This story alternates between speakers , a rich NY debutant, Eliza Farraday, her dear friend in Russia , Sofya and a peasant girl, Varinka. The story evolves around the Russian Revolution when The Tsar and the entire Romanov Family were killed. The story takes place between 1912 and 1921 n Russia, France and America. I enjoyed the story and didn’t want it to end.

I thoroughly enjoyed Lilac Girld so I was very confident that I would love Lost Roses by Martha Hall Kelly. Lost Roses is the prequel to the Lilac Girls. It is the story of three strong women during WWI and the Russian Revolution. The story is told in the three different viewpoints of Eliza, Sofya and Varinka. They describe the hardships and the despair they suffer. I do not feel that it would be necessary to read the Lilac Girls first. I would highly recommend this book!

This a wonderfully written historical novel. Most of the setting is during WWII but continues to the beginning of WWII. The women in this novel are fighting for freedom themselves and their families. Their lives intersect, through the story, in America, Paris, and Russia. The story shows the strength of friendship and the fortitude it took for these women to overcome so many daunting obstacles. Thanks to #netgalley for the early preview. Readers of The Alice Network, Lilac Girls, and The Lost Girls will no doubt love where this story takes you.

I am sorry to say that this was just a chore to get through. I really did not like any of the characters and there were many times that I was lost about who was who. For instance, when Eliza is talking in the beginning of the book, we have no idea that she is married with a child. At some point a few pages (or a hundred, who knows) in she is talking about Henry and Caroline. Then, even later, we discover that she is married to Henry and Caroline is her daughter.

Timing is off throughout the book. It seems as if whoever was assisting Ms Kelly edit, they fell asleep while reading.

Because I enjoyed Lilac Girls so much, I really wanted to like this. I just couldn't.

I do thank Netgalley and Ballentine Books for this advanced readers copy.

“Poor lost roses. Like us, I suppose.” This quote describes two Russian sisters, Luba and Sonya, once wealthy with connections to the Russian royal family. The other main character is Eliza, a wealthy New Yorker.
This novel is inspired by actual events based around World War 1. Rather than a sequel to Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly, this is a prequal and there will be a third book going even further back in time.
Dissolution of the Russian royal ruling party sets the stage for this novel. There is much turmoil, murder and loss of thousands of lives.during the war.
The story is about Eliza and Sonya, friends since childhood, their separation due to the war and their attempts to stay in touch between Russia and New York.
The characters are well defined, some to be liked and others to hate for their unbelievable cruelty.
A rose is symbolic. Can it survive?
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From the author of Lilac Girls comes a powerful and emotional story of two women bound together by friendship, even when war threatens to tear them apart. On the cusp of the Russian Revolution, Sofya and her family find themselves held captive in their own home. Able to break free, Sofya makes her way to Paris where Russian emigres are migrating, in the hopes of making contact with her American friend Eliza. On the other side of the Atlantic, Eliza is worried when she stops receiving letters from Sofya, and fears the worst. In response, she starts helping other Russian families find security as they make their way to America.