THE MATRYOSHKA DOLL IS A MEMOIR DEPICTING ONE FAMILY’S STRUGGLES AND TRIUMPHS.

Tatiana is the daughter of a Russian Imperial Colonel, Ivan Georgievitch Savin; and finds her family is swept into the ravages of the Russian Revolution and the Civil War that follows. Tatiana’s idyllic life is altered forever. The 1917 Revolution sweeps through Russia setting in motion the political and social reforms that lead to the formation of the Soviet Union. With the downfall of Imperial Russia, Ivan takes his family out of Russia. They journey to Harbin in China with devastating and heartbreaking events across the trail, leaving three children destitute. The terror of Communism comes to Harbin when the Soviet Russian Army liberates Harbin from Japanese rule. Tatiana, now married with children, is about to relive the horrors of Communism once again. They flee to Brazil to start a new and survive the agony of their past.

A decade later, Communism becomes a threat in Brazil. My mother, Tatiana again flees with us to find sanctuary and hope somewhere safe. At the age of fourteen, I leave my beloved Brazil behind, and I am catapulted into an unknown world. This is a chronicle of my own beautiful life in China, Brazil and now in Australia, thanks to my courageous family and the unthinkable sacrifices made to survive…