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Kate Furnivall

Goodreads Author

Born

Penarth, Wales, The United Kingdom

Website

http://www.katefurnivall.com/

Genre

Historical Fiction

Influences

Her Mother ...more

Member Since

December 2012

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Kate Furnivall was raised in Penarth, a small seaside town in Wales. Her mother, whose own childhood was spent in Russia, China and India, discovered at an early age that the world around us is so volatile, that the only things of true value are those inside your head and your heart. These values Kate explores in The Russian Concubine.

Kate went to London University where she studied English and from there she went into publishing, writing material for a series of books on the canals of Britain. Then into advertising where she met her future husband, Norman. She travelled widely, giving her an insight into how different cultures function which was to prove invaluable when writing The Russian Concubine.

It was when her mother died in 2000 that ...more

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Kate Furnivall Annalice, how lovely to hear from you. I am so pleased to know you loved The Russian Concubine - that book is very special to me. As for your question…moreAnnalice, how lovely to hear from you. I am so pleased to know you loved The Russian Concubine - that book is very special to me. As for your question - why did Valentina have to die? Let me try to explain. Lydia and Valentina were bound together by so many deep emotions that Lydia always felt the need to look after her mother, even after Valentina's marriage. So I knew Lydia would never be able to leave China while her mother was still there. And I needed Lydia to leave China to go to Russia to search for her father in the sequel - The Concubine's Secret. So to make up for killing off one of my favourite characters, I then gave her a book of her own - The Jewel of St Petersburg. I love Valentina even with all her faults and she bears the name of my Russian grandmother. I hope you enjoy the rest of her book!
Happy reading, Kate(less)

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Regarding Isabella from your book The Italian Wife, did you do any research on women architects in Italy around that 1930s/Fascist period in the country? There couldn't have been many, I'm guessing.

Kate Furnivall Hi Lara,
Great to hear from you. Yes, I did do research into women architects in Italy in the 1930s and yes, you are right, they were few and far betwe…moreHi Lara,
Great to hear from you. Yes, I did do research into women architects in Italy in the 1930s and yes, you are right, they were few and far between. But officially the Rome School of Architecture was open to them, though very few were accepted. So Isabella had to fight her way to success by being the best!(less)

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Kate Furnivall’s books

Average rating: 3.85 · 45,196 ratings · 4,085 reviews · 25 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Russian Concubine (The Russian Concubine, #1) 3.76 avg rating — 9,951 ratings — published 2007 — 49 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Red Scarf 3.79 avg rating — 5,354 ratings — published 2008 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Jewel of St. Petersburg (The Russian Concubine, #0) 3.91 avg rating — 4,953 ratings — published 2010 — 29 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Italian Wife 3.93 avg rating — 4,192 ratings — published 2014 — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Betrayal really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 3,688 ratings — published 2017 — 14 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Survivors really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 3,235 ratings — published 2018 — 13 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Girl from Junchow (The Russian Concubine, #2) 3.91 avg rating — 3,195 ratings — published 2009 — 21 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The White Pearl 3.80 avg rating — 2,658 ratings — published 2011 — 13 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Liberation 3.91 avg rating — 2,390 ratings — published 2016 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Shadows on the Nile 3.56 avg rating — 1,731 ratings — published 2012 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Kate Furnivall's Blog

The Survivors

Published by Simon & Schuster 2018

*** PICKED AS A BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE MAIL ON SUNDAY ***

‘Directly I saw him, I knew he had to die.’

Germany, 1945. The war has ended and Klara Janowska and her daughter Alicja have walked for weeks to get to Graufeld Displaced Persons camp. In the cramped, dirty, dangerous conditions they, along with 3,200 others, are the lucky ones. They have survived and will

Series by Kate Furnivall

The Russian Concubine (3 books)
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Kate Furnivall (Goodreads Author)

3.83 avg rating — 18,099 ratings

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Kate Furnivall wrote a new blog post The Jewel of St. Petersburg Published by Little, Brown 2010 * THE Sunday Times TOP TEN BESTSELLING AUTHOR * Russia, 1910.Young Valentina Ivanova charms St Petersburg’s aristoc Read more of this blog post »
Oct 17, 2023 12:06AM · like

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Quotes by Kate Furnivall (?)

“She always paid attention to fingers rather than faces because they told so much more. People remembered to guard their faces. They forgot their hands. Her own were small, though strong and supple from all the hours of piano playing, but what use was that now? For the first time she understood what real danger does to the human mind, as flat white fear froze the coils of her brain.”
― Kate Furnivall, The Jewel of St. Petersburg

tags: brain, faces, fingers, human-mind, piano

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“The sight of you brings joy to my heart and makes my blood thunder in my veins. I know not how long I will be allowed to stand here. So there are words I must say. That you are the moon and the stars to me, and the air I breathe. To love you is to live. So if I die.... I will still live in you.”
― Kate Furnivall, The Russian Concubine

tags: love

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“Water was a state of mind. If you think it your friend when you swim in the river or wash away the dirt, why call it your enemy when it comes from the heavens? From the cup of the gods themselves.”
― Kate Furnivall, The Russian Concubine

8 likes

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