Sir Hugh Walpole

The Secret City Sir Hugh Walpole

Set at the time of the Russian revolution (for clarity, the second one, not the first). Anything, to grab me as either a plot, or a central thread, or even a connection really as to what this book was about. Divided into three sections, the book follows many lives intertwined by different arrivals in Petrograd, Russia, and a family already living there. There is vague mention of a 'monster sighting' beneath a frozen river. there is political intrigue. . . there is a love story. . . and there is the revolution. But sadly, none of these themes ever emerges victorious over the others in captivating a reader's interest. Sir Hugh Seymour Walpole, CBE (13 March 1884 - 1 June 1941) was an English novelist. A prolific writer, he published thirty-six novels, five volumes of short stories, two plays and three volumes of memoirs. His skill at scene-setting, his vivid plots, his high profile as a lecturer and his driving ambition brought him a large readership in the United Kingdom and North America. A best-selling author in the 1920s and 1930s, his works have been neglected since his death.