Book Launch: Chrissie Bellbrae -The Romanov Secret

Join us at Torquay Books for an evening to celebrate the publication of ‘The Romanov Secret’. Chrissie will give a brief talk, followed by an audience Q&A, and will wrap things up with drinks at the Torquay Wine Store.

A celebrated artist’s painting holds clues to long-held family secrets and lives under threat, long after the fall of the Russian Empire.

1898: When the legitimacy of Grand Duchess Tatiana Romanov’s marriage to the Tsar’s brother comes into question, her son’s claim to the Imperial throne is challenged too. But the Romanov dynasty desperately needs an heir, and their fate lies in the hand of the tyrannical Russian ruler. As revolution strikes the streets of St Petersburg and members of the Imperial family disappear, Tatiana must find a way to protect her son from mortal danger.

1982: Fashion Buyer Jean Campain has never forgiven her artist mother Aurora for making her relinquish her child. When Jean inherits the Archibald prize-winner’s previously unknown self-portrait she is compelled to interpret its hidden symbolism— and face the events that tore her family apart. But a conflicting account of the circumstances reveals Aurora’s dark deception, spiralling Jean into a breakdown, and threatens an end to her dream of family unity. 

The Romanov Secret is an enthralling story of maternal love and treacherous deceit transporting readers from the lavish palaces of St Petersburg to the lush vineyards of the Mornington Peninsula.