The book's uncomplicated language and sensitive treatment of political issues make it an excellent, vibrant introduction to the cause and effects of Tsar Nikolai's fall.

The author sharply contrasts the luxurious conditions Katya enjoys in her early adolescence with the meagerness of her life five years later at the revolution's end.

Tracing each stage of Katya's enlightenment through intimate first-person narrative, Whelan brings immediacy to the historical events, offering well-rounded depictions of characters and vivid descriptions of their surroundings. On the other hand, Katya does not condone the violent reaction to oppression that is sweeping across her beloved country. Gloria Whelan manages to take the fly-on-the-wall approach one step further in her latest piece of historical fiction. Later, her exposure to country peasants forces her to realize that her own noble family is partially responsible for the peasants' suffering. Guided by her revolutionist friend, Misha, she witnesses the exploitation of workers in the city. Still, the heroine cannot completely support the tsar's treatment of his people. Petersburg home, though not her older cousin Misha, to join her mother, a lady in waiting in the household of Tsar Nicholas II, but the ensuing years bring world war, revolution, and undreamed of changes to her life. The royal couple and their children are like a second family to Katya. Angel on the Square Gloria Whelan HarperCollins, 2001 - Russia - 293 pages 13 Reviews Reviews aren't verified, but Google checks for and removes fake content when it's identified It is a. Book 1 Summary: In 1913 Russia, twelve-year-old Katya eagerly anticipates leaving her St. The novel opens in 1913, just before Katya goes to live with Tsar Nikolai II, when her widowed mother becomes lady-in-waiting to the Empress.

Whelan ( Homeless Bird) shows both sides of the Russian revolution in a sympathetic light in this absorbing saga of an aristocratic girl.

Angel on the Square by Gloria Whelan