Let the Dead Bury the Dead

An urgent,immersive alternate history set in an imperial Russia on the brink of disasterfollowing a surprising cast of characters seeking a better future as Saint Petersburg struggles in the wake of NapoleonΓÇÖs failed invasion. Saint Petersburg1812. Sashaa captain in RussiaΓÇÖs imperial armyreturns home in the wake of NapoleonΓÇÖs defeat to his loverGrand Duke Felixthe disgraced second son of the tsar. Their reunion is interrupted by the arrival of Sofiaa mysterious outsider Sasha suspects may possess strange powers. Felixinsisting that Sasha’s old-fashioned superstitions belong in fairytalestakes Sofia into his confidence. On her incendiary adviceFelix confronts his father about the peopleΓÇÖs suffering in the warΓÇÖs aftermathto disastrous resultssetting him on a collision course with a vocal group of dissidents: the Koalitsiya. Meanwhilethe Koalitsiya plot to gridlock Saint Petersburg with a citywide strike. One of their lieutenantsMaryaalso falls under Sofia’s spell andallied with Felixfinds herself in the middle of a battle. As SofiaΓÇÖs beguiling influence grows and rising tensions threaten the tsarΓÇÖs peaceSashaFelixand Marya must choose between their ideals and the people they love. Allison Epstein intercuts this exuberant alternate history with fractured retellings of Eastern European folk stories that are equal parts deadly dark and slyly illuminating. Vividly written and deeply immersiveLet the Dead Bury the Dead reminds us that the concerns of the past aren’t quite as far behind us as we like to believe.