Author: Ian McDougall
ISBN: 1-4196-5187-0
Publisher: BookSurge LLC

It's hard to properly categorize this beautifully written novel. On one level, it's a thriller with scenes of document forgery and terror attacks on a tourist ship. On another level, it is a love story infused with Russian history set amidst a tour of the Volga. Ultimately, it's about the secrets that hold a family together or tear it apart. In short, there's something for everyone. For those who love Russia (or simply aspire to learn more about this fascinating country), there's no easier way than immersing yourself in "Getting Matushka Out."

The "matushka" (an affectionate Russian name for mother) of this story belongs to Nick Bell (nee Nikolai Mikhailovich Beletsky), the son of a former Soviet official who left his children in London to be raised as Brits (complete with forged British passports), while he and his wife (the matushka) returned to Russia to live. To ensure the safety of his children, Nick's father arranged for their care in Britain, while demanding that the children never seek contact with them.

Readers join the story as Nick, now an Oxford scholar, is serving as a guest lecturer aboard a Russian cruise ship plying the Volga. It is there that he determines to seek out his mother and bring her back to Britain to live, no matter how dangerous the endeavor. While aboard ship, Nick also falls in love with the tour manager, Dotty, and encounters a host of interesting travel companions to whom he provides nightly lectures related to their travels.

The real heart and soul of the story, however, can be found amidst the tour sites and lectures delivered by Nick each evening. Readers are introduced to history, politics, and the driving forces of the Russian spirit through the lectures and events encountered along the Volga journey. The cruise travelers have their own agendas, as well as their own dramas to act out, and each minor character has a personality as real and interesting as the main players in the story.

Author Ian McDougall writes of what he knows well, and it shows. McDougall not only has served in the same functions as his main character, Nick, but was also a BBC correspondent in Russia and Eastern Europe, among other places. This background enables him to bring much to the tale of one Briton trying to regain his Russian family.and soul.

The above review was contributed by: Christine Zibas. Christine has spent all of her life in love with books, and most of her life working with words. She has a B.A. in Political Science from Western Illinois University and did advanced studies in politics and publishing at WIU, Oxford University, George Washington University, and Stanford. 

For many years Christine was an editor in the think tank world, editing books and reports on international relations and military studies. She worked at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. and the Johns Hopkins Foreign Policy Institute, where she served as director of publications. In London she was the editor at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.