An unexpected offer from the Empress of Russia sends Valerie Marsh to the romantic and opulent city of St Petersburg where she is torn between two cultures and two different passions: Pyotr Silakov, a handsome young officer in the Tsar's household, and Grigorii Rasputin, the Tsarina's holy man, and friend. But what will become of Valerie when revolution comes and the glittering world of her royal hosts, a thousand miles away from her secure home in London, is not as safe as it seemed?