Stalin's Daughter

'Compassionate and compelling, this is not a political story but a quest for love in the heart of darkness' Simon Sebag Montefiore 'A biography on an epic scale, with a combination of tragedy and history worthy of a Russian novel' Independent 'Superbly well told' Sunday Times Who was Svetlana Alliluyeva? A little girl, her father's only daughter, his "little sparrow"; instructed to bury her secrets in her heart by her mother, who shot herself soon after. An observer as her relatives were mercilessly killed and her first love exiled. A woman who tore through relationships with men, joined and abandoned various religions, and became the most famous defector to the United States. The victim of an inescapable truth: "You are Stalin's daughter. . . . You can't live your own life. You can't live any life. You exist only in reference to a name."

Rosemary Sullivan has written poetry, short fiction, biography, literary criticism, reviews and articles. Her recent books include the critically acclaimed Villa Air-Bel and Labyrinth of Desire. She is a professor emeritus at the University of Toronto, and has been awarded Guggenheim, Camargo, and Trudeau Fellowships. She is a recipient of the Lorne Pierce Medal awarded by the Royal Society of Canada for her contribution to Literature and Culture, and is an Officer of the Order of Canada.