My Mother’s Secret – Toby A. Smith

“I found the beginning of the novel somewhat tedious, wading through conversations about the philosophical foundations of Communism, most of which seemed less like believable dialog and more like an author forcing content she considers essential. I also felt her examples of citizen paranoia were more heavy-handed than necessary.”

As my Soviet born readers know, the paranoia was, if anything, understated in order to come off as believable to American readers!

In any case, a sincere thank you to Toby A. Smith for her ultimately thoughtful and beautifully written review. Much, much appreciated!!!

Read the entire thing at: https://tobyasmith.com/2025/08/23/my-mothers-secret-by-alina-adams-independent-book-review-historical-fiction-soviet-union/