Thank you, everyone, for your interest in my writing and novel, A Thousand Kisses!
This week, I’m including an excerpt from the novel. It takes place after Hélène left her young daughter, Lili, in Barisis, in 1909, and travelled to Saint-Pétersbourg to become a governess. On the long train journey, she met two other young women from France who were also seeking governess jobs in Russia. One, Marie, would become a life-long friend and confidante: she and Hélène would eventually live together in Saint-Pétersbourg, in 1917, flee Russia just before the final Russian Revolution, and journey to England together. In the research I did for this part of the novel, I was able to find a 1902 German travel guide to St Petersburg (translated into English) which really helped bring the train experience to life for me (and Hélène!).
Here is the excerpt, which describes when the three women transferred from the train that brought them from France, crossed the frontier into Russia, and continued on the Russian train to Saint-Pétersbourg:
‘At the currency exchange office nearby, Hélène bought some roubles and ordered a plate of stew and a hot cup of tea at the buffet, and saved two seats for the other girls who joined her shortly after.
“Mon Dieu, what a process,” laughed Marie. “Thank goodness we all passed inspection with no difficulties,” as she imitated the stern face of one of the officers.
“Did you see the man who had to pay a fine for that gold necklace he had in his pocket?” asked Odette.
“Surely he wouldn’t have been trying to hide it to avoid paying a duty when it was made so clear you couldn’t bring in anything other than personal items,” said Hélène.
“What a commotion it caused! It made me so nervous my hands were shaking by the time they called my name.” Hélène looked at Odette sympathetically.
“I know. Even with the information the agency in Paris gave me outlining the frontier crossing, the process was terribly confusing and intimidating,” said Hélène.
“But we’re almost there! Did you see the Imperial eagle on top of that fence by the stream? Ladies, we’re about to enter the Russian Empire!” Marie said with a flourish.
“I’m so exhausted but excited at the same time!”
“What I’d do for a café au lait and a croissant right now,” moaned Odette.
“Well, there’s only tea from that kettle thing. But at least this meal is hot and – what do you suppose the meat is in this stew?” They all grimaced but continued to eat ravenously, agreeing that whatever it was, the meal was acceptable, but not as tasty as anything they would have eaten in France.
“The Cyrillic writing is going to be so difficult to understand. Thank goodness the numbers on the currency are the same, at least I’ll know how much I’m spending when I go shopping for a fur!” And they laughed together at the absurdity of Marie, or anyone in their situation, buying something so extravagant.
“I think the most difficult thing will be getting used to the Julian calendar,” said Hélène. “As soon as we cross the border, the calendar will go back 13 days. It’s almost as if we’ll be re-living the last 13 days. Isn’t that strange?”
The Russian train finally pulled into the station, and everyone got on board to continue the journey. The girls managed to find seats together and soon got bored with the never-ending forests in this vast land, so different from the pastoral countryside and quaint villages of France. They entertained each other with stories of their childhoods and, when they stopped in a station, tried to decipher the Cyrillic letters in towns like Kovno, Dvinsk, Ostrov, Pskov, Gatchina, using a guidebook that Marie had bought in Paris. After another exhausting day, they finally reached the Warsaw station in Saint-Pétersbourg in the late evening.
“I understand we can hire a horse-drawn kareta, that’s what they call a fiacre here,” said Marie. “So let’s look for one of those to take us to Mme Ivanov’s. Isn’t it great that we’re all staying together in the same house and will be able to explore Saint-Pétersbourg together?”
Even though it was August, there was an early fall chilliness in the evening air that made Hélène pull her sweater more tightly around her shoulders and reach into her travel bag for the woolen coat she had bought in Châlons.’
The photo is the Imperial eagle of the Russian Empire which Hélène and her friends were so excited to see when they crossed the border into Russia.