Lost Roses: A Novel

Sofya is arguably the central protagonist of the novel; as a cousin to the tsar, she has grown up in a life of respect and privilege. Within the royal family, though, she is a peripheral figure, a position that allows the author the freedom to invent a wholly fictional life that nonetheless intersects with the lives of famous historical figures. Sofya displays compassion towards others, such as when she feels outraged at the death of the flower delivery girl and arranges a funeral for her. She also shows kindness to Varinka after Agnessa throws her out of a dining room meal. However, Sofya isn’t initially conscious of how sheltered her life has been. She is contrasted against her family members, being more modern and aware than Agnessa but more traditional and conservative than her younger sister Luba.

Like Eliza, Sofya’s journey is shown through the lens of motherhood. Once she loses all of her other family members to the political uprisings around them, she focuses all her energy on reconnecting with her son. To Sofya, Max represents the home and hope that she had lost. In order to reach him, however, she is forced to unlearn her way of living. Sofya moves from a life of luxury and security to one of sleeping in abandoned barns and surviving on the bare minimum of nourishment. Rather than eroding her, this experience reshapes her into a stronger and braver version of herself. Along the way, she illustrates her dynamic trajectory in several ways. The most intense and dramatic is the episode in which Sofya is attacked by a bandit and defends herself by shooting him twice, killing him. Earlier in the novel, she felt faint at the sight of blood; by this point, she has sufficiently grown to feel confident in her actions and even to embrace them as a new, heightened state of being.

Another example of her transformation is when she sells her hair in order to support herself independently and help the abused workers at the doll factory. Previously, her hair was a source of pride and a point of envy among some of her family members; this physical transformation represents both inner transformation and sacrifice as Sofya sheds her old life in order to build a new one. This action also indirectly leads her back to Eliza, bringing a sense of closure and completion to her story.

Although Varinka is at times a sympathetic character, structurally she is the novel’s primary antagonist. Her deepest wish—to care for a child of her own—puts her in direct conflict with Sofya. Unlike Sofya, who is formed by the relationships she has with the women in her life, Varinka is largely shaped by those she has with her absent father and with Taras. She clings to her father’s memory and uses it to absolve herself of responsibility. After her father’s precious samovar is taken from her, she convinces herself that her father has brought Max into her life as a replacement. In contrast to the love and entitlement she feels for her father, her relationship with Taras is filled with threats, manipulation, and fear. The novel alludes to an earlier time, before Taras went to prison, when their relationship was more peaceful; however, the ending reveals that his antagonism and abuse were already present. Varinka spends much of the novel holding onto internalized guilt for his actions, and it’s only at the end of the story, after she’s found a way to move forward and discover real love, that she is able to free herself of this unfounded shame.

Varinka’s need for love is a constant thread throughout the narrative. Her relationship with her mother is one sided, and she feels jealous when her mother makes a new friend and begins having new experiences of her own. In her brief interactions with Sofya and Luba, there is always a sense that Varinka would like to develop a friendship in other circumstances. When the bandits take over the Streshnayva home, Varinka is caught between her political perspective and her instinctive understanding of what’s right. In Max, Varinka finds what she sees as a simplistic, uncomplicated love that is not weighed down by Social and Economic Divides; she is able to love him freely and be freely loved in return. However, she underestimates the deep connection he still has with his blood family. Likewise, Varinka quickly attaches herself to Radimir when he offers her the opportunity to be loved in a different way. When forced to choose between Radimir and Max, she is unable to leave either behind because she has been so deprived of this kind of family belonging and connection. After Max is taken away from her, Varinka is able to move forward into a healthier way of finding and accepting love.