Sapphire Skies

by Belinda Alexandra

  His mind drifted to Leonid and Irina and their children, Nina and Anton. Fine people, all of them. They had said that they wanted to know him better. Well, maybe that could happen, he thought. After all, I’ve lived an interesting life.

  He stood and touched the gravestone one more time. He knew that he wouldn’t come to the cemetery again. Natasha wasn’t here. She was in his heart, where she always had been, and where she would always remain.

  ‘I love you, Natasha,’ he said. ‘We will meet again in heaven.’ Then he turned and walked towards the cemetery gate.

  Wait for Me

  To Valentina Serova

  Wait for me, and I’ll come back.

  Wait with all you’ve got.

  Wait, when dreary yellow rains

  Tell you, you should not.

  Wait when snow is falling fast,

  Wait when summer’s hot,

  Wait when yesterdays are past,

  Others are forgot.

  Wait, when from that far-off place,

  Letters don’t arrive.

  Wait, when those with whom you wait

  Doubt if I’m alive.

  Wait for me, and I’ll come back.

  Wait in patience yet

  When they tell you off by heart

  That you should forget.

  Even when my dearest ones

  Say that I am lost,

  Even when my friends give up,

  Sit and count the cost,

  Drink a glass of bitter wine

  To the fallen friend —

  Wait. And do not drink with them.

  Wait until the end.

  Wait for me and I’ll come back,

  Dodging every fate.

  ‘What a bit of luck,’ they’ll say,

  Those that would not wait.

  They will never understand

  How amidst the strife,

  By your waiting for me, dear,

  You had saved my life.

  Only you and I will know

  How you got me through.

  Simply — you knew how to wait —

  No one else but you.

  Konstantin Simonov, 1941

  AUTHOR’S NOTE

  Sapphire Skies is a fictional story set against a historical background. While I was inspired by the glamorous Soviet female fighter ace Lydia Litvyak, who disappeared in combat and was denied the distinction of Hero of the Soviet Union until her body was discovered in the late 1970s, Natalya Azarova is a fictional character. I found Litvyak a fascinating woman, but I wanted to create a character of my own in order to show what life was like under Stalin, and to invent a fictional mystery with my imagination.

  Marina Raskova was a famous female aviator who formed women’s air regiments during the Great Patriotic War, the most well known of which is the 46th Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment. The members of this highly successful regiment were nicknamed ‘Night Witches’ by the German army because of their tactic of cutting their engines and gliding quietly in for an attack at night. There are many resources, including documentaries and books, about Raskova’s regiments, and if Sapphire Skies has sparked your interest, then I encourage you to learn more about these amazing and courageous heroines.

  Moscow Animals is an organisation that saves dogs and cats from the street and has the space dog Laika on their emblem. You can find out more about them here: www.moscowanimals.org. The rescue and socialisation techniques for stray cats described in this book are based on my experience as a volunteer with the World League for Protection of Animals, Australia. I am very proud to now be the patron of this wonderful organisation: www.wlpa.org. Valentino and Versace are two cats I rescued this way and are now part of the bevy of beautiful felines that keep me company when I write.

  A note about transliteration of Russian words and names

  The system used to transliterate Cyrillic words in this book is mainly the British Standard System. However, where there is a common English spelling, that spelling has been used in preference to strictly observing the system; for example, using Alexander instead of Aleksandr. Similarly if there is a simpler way of transliterating a name than the system provides, that has usually been preferred; for example, Anatoly instead of Anatoliy. (Occasionally I have used the version of the name that sounded most exotic to suit my purpose.) This latitude would not be acceptable in an academic text, but my aim here is to make Russian words and names as easy on the eye and tongue as possible for English-speaking readers, while still giving something of the essence of the Russian language and the culture in which the story is set.

  A thank you to readers

  Sapphire Skies is my sixth book, and as I’ve progressed in my writing career I’ve been very pleased to have collected along the way a loyal following of readers. I want you to know that I think of you all when I am writing and always give each book the very best of myself with you in mind.

  Please feel free to join the friendly community of readers on my Facebook page: facebook.com/BelindaAlexandraAuthor.

  I am also happy to receive mail, but please be sure to write your name and address clearly on your letter so that I can reply to you. It breaks my heart when someone has taken the trouble to write to me but I can’t reply to them because there isn’t a legible address.

  I can be reached:

  C/- HarperCollins Publishers Australia

  PO Box A565

  Sydney South, NSW, 2000

  Australia

  Bless you all!

  Belinda Alexandra xx

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  I would like to thank the wonderful people who helped me with Sapphire Skies. In particular, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my legendary literary agent, Selwa Anthony, for her enthusiastic support and her sage advice. I’m also thankful for the brilliant team at HarperCollins Publishers Australia. In particular: Anna Valdinger; Shona Martyn; James Kellow; Sarah Barrett; Simon Milne; Michael White; Jessica Bramwell; Mary Rennie; Karen-Maree Griffiths; and Kelly Fagan.

  Sapphire Skies has an intricate and detailed plot line and I was fortunate to have the talented Nicola O’Shea as my editor to work with me on it. I’d also like to thank Drew Keys and Pam Dunne for proofreading.

  I’m grateful to the experts and scholars who shared their knowledge with me: Paul Wesley of the Australian Federal Police; Paul Marelic of the Royal Australian Air Force; Irina McCarthy for advice about the Russian language and Russian cultural issues; Professor Konrad Kwiet for answering my questions about Auschwitz. Pauline O’Kane and the staff at Ku-ring-gai Library deserve a special mention for all the assistance they gave me with sourcing research materials.

  Finally, I would like to thank my beautiful friends and family for their constant support and encouragement. I would especially like to thank my husband, Mauro, my father, Stan, and my brother, Paul; and at the risk of sounding a little nutty, I’d also like to thank my cats — Gardenia, Lilac, Gucci, Valentino and Versace — for their excellent and amusing company while writing this novel.

  Thank you all from my heart.

  The World of Belinda Alexandra

  Be swept away …

  Discover the world with

  BELINDA ALEXANDRA

  Passion, secrets, history and intrigue from

  a great Australian storyteller

  White Gardenia

  From the glamorous nightclubs of 1930s Shanghai to the bitter days of Cold War Russia, Anya must roam the four corners of the globe to search for what she values most.

  Wild Lavender

  Simone Fleurier’s sweeping journey from the rambling fields of Provence in the 1920s to the music halls of Paris and jazz-age New York shows that love, like lavender, can bloom in the unlikeliest places.

  Silver Wattle

  The dazzling story of Adéla and Klára, two exceptional sisters searching for success, love and salvation in the Australian film world of the 1920s.

  Tuscan Rose

  As Mussolini’s grip tightens around beautiful It
aly in the 1930s, the young orphan Rosa must discover exactly what she is willing to sacrifice for survival.

  Golden Earrings

  When talented ballerina Paloma delves into her family’s history she unravels the secrets of the past and discovers a shocking story of passion, betrayal and flamenco in the Spanish Civil War.

  ‘Mama, Mama,’ I said to myself, ‘keep safe. You will survive, and I will survive, until we can find each other again.’

  In a district of the city of Harbin, a haven for White Russian families since Russia’s Communist revolution, Alina Kozlova must make a heartbreaking decision if her only child, Anya, is to survive the final days of World War II.

  White Gardenia sweeps across cultures and continents, from the glamorous nightclubs of Shanghai to the harshness of Cold War Soviet Russia in the 1960s, from a desolate island in the Pacific Ocean to a new life in post-war Australia. Both mother and daughter must make sacrifices, but is the price too high? Most importantly of all, will they ever find each other again?

  Rich in incident and historical detail, this is a compelling and beautifully written tale about yearning and forgiveness.

  ‘Depicts vividly the powerful lifelong bond between

  mothers and daughters’ — Paullina Simons

  ‘Captivating’ — Daily Telegraph

  ‘A passionate and powerful family saga’

  — Australian Women’s Weekly

  ‘Nothing is wasted, Simone. The love we give never dies.’

  At fourteen, Simone Fleurier is wrenched from her home on a Provençal lavender farm and sent to work in Marseille. Her life there is hard and impoverished, but Simone discovers the music hall and a dream: to one day be a famous dancer and singer.

  But when war threatens, Simone makes a decision that will lead to great danger — yet ultimately prove that love, just like wild lavender, can grow in the least likely of places …

  Belinda Alexandra has created a tale of passion and courage that moves from the backstreets of Marseille to the grand music theatres of Paris, from the countryside of Provence to decadent pre-war Berlin and jazz-age New York.

  Wild Lavender is a feast for the senses that will live on in the imagination long after the book is closed.

  ‘Filled with glamour, heartbreak, drama and suspense’

  — The Age

  ‘Rich in detail, and the story fairly rattles along’

  — Choice magazine

  A dazzling novel about two exceptional sisters, set in the Australian film world of the 1920s.

  In fear for their lives after the sudden death of their mother, Adéla and Klàra must flee Prague to find refuge with their uncle in Australia. There, Adéla becomes a film director at a time when the local industry is starting to feel the competition from Hollywood.

  But while success is imminent, the issues of family and an impossible love are never far away. And ultimately dreams of the silver screen must compete with the bonds of a lifetime …

  Silver Wattle confirms Belinda Alexandra as one of our foremost storytellers. Weaving fact into inspiring fiction with great flair and imagination, this is a novel as full of hope, glamour and heartbreak as the film industry itself.

  ‘An absorbing story of hope and despair, loyalty

  and love’ — Woman’s Day

  ‘Readers are kept on their toes … and it’s a

  worthwhile wait’ — Courier-Mail

  ‘Keeps you involved and caring … an engrossing read’

  — MX

  A tale of sacrifice and reward, of beauty and horror … and of redemption.

  A mysterious stranger known as ‘The Wolf’ leaves an infant with the sisters of Santo Spirito. A tiny silver key hidden in her wrappings is the one clue to the child’s identity …

  When Rosa turns fifteen, she must leave the nuns who have raised her to become governess to the daughter of an aristocrat and his strange, frightening wife. Their house is elegant but cursed, and Rosa — blessed with gifts beyond her considerable musical talents — is torn between her desire to know the truth and her fear of its repercussions.

  Meanwhile, the hand of Fascism curls around beautiful Italy, threatening her citizens. In the face of unimaginable hardship, will Rosa’s intelligence, intuition and her extraordinary capacity for love be enough to ensure her survival?

  ‘A wonderful story that had me reading until the early

  hours of the morning’ — Good Reading

  ‘Impeccable research into the terrible times of Mussolini’s

  Italy makes this story of sacrifice and salvation

  unforgettable’ — Woman’s Day

  ‘You who judge me: come! Let me tell you a story …’

  Paloma Batton is the granddaughter of Spanish refugees who fled Barcelona after the Civil War. A disciplined student with the School of the Paris Opera Ballet, Paloma lets little get in the way of her career until she receives a mysterious pair of golden earrings. She begins exploring her Spanish heritage and becomes fascinated by ‘la Rusa’, a woman who rose from poverty to become one of the great flamenco dancers of modern times before committing suicide.

  As Paloma begins to unravel the secrets of the past, she discovers more than one person who had good reason for wanting la Rusa dead, including Paloma’s own grandmother.

  Golden Earrings is a story that moves between two great cities: Barcelona in the lead-up to the Civil War and Paris in the 1970s. It is the story of two women and the extremes to which they are willing to go for love. It is a story of great passions — and great betrayals — where nothing is quite as it seems.

  ‘Totally enthralling’ — Herald Sun

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Belinda Alexandra has been published to wide acclaim in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Holland, Poland, Norway, Russia, Spain, Turkey, Hungary and the United States. She is the daughter of a Russian mother and an Australian father and has been an intrepid traveller since her youth. Her love of other cultures is matched by her passion for her home country, Australia, where she is a volunteer carer for the New South Wales Wildlife Information Rescue and Education Service (WIRES). An animal lover, Belinda is also the patron of the World League for Protection of Animals (Australia).

  See Belinda Alexandra on Facebook at:

  facebook.com/BelindaAlexandraAuthor and at:

  harpercollins.com.au/authors/50018805/

  Belinda_Alexandra/index.aspx

  COPYRIGHT

  HarperCollinsPublishers

  First published in Australia in 2014

  This edition published in 2014

  by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia Pty Limited

  ABN 36 009 913 517

  harpercollins.com.au

  Copyright © Belinda Alexandra 2014

  The right of Belinda Alexandra to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her under the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000.

  This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  ‘Wait for me’ by Konstantin Simonov used with kind permission from FTM agency, Moscow. English translation by Mike Munford (www.simonov.com).

  HarperCollinsPublishers

  Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia

  Unit D1, 63 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand

  A 53, Sector 57, Noida, UP, India

  77–85 Fulham Palace Road, London, W6 8JB, United Kingdom

  2 Bloor Street East, 20th floor, Toronto, Ontario M4W 1A8, Canada

  10 East 53rd Street, New York NY 10022, USA

  National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data:

  Alexandra, Belinda.

  Sapphire skies / Belinda Alexandra.

  ISBN 978 0 7322 9197 6 (pbk.)

  ISBN 978 1 7430 9
911 7 (epub)

  A823.4

  Cover design by Jane Waterhouse

  Cover images: Woman by George Marks/Getty Images; Soviet Cavalry Marching Through Red

  Square © The Dmitri Baltermants Collection/CORBIS; background images by shutterstock.com

  Author photograph by Elizabeth Allnutt