The Black Maria

When your choice is between freedom and love

Moscow, 1935. People live in constant fear – fear of each other, fear of being denounced, and fear of Stalin's secret police. 

Maria has a devastating secret. She marries a Party activist, not out of love, but as a means of forming a new identity and escaping her past. Her existence is safe – but dull. Until the day she meets Dmitry.

Dmitry is an artist, whose work allows him a standard of living above the average Muscovite. But Dmitry feels straitjacketed by what he's allowed to paint. He aspires to paint the female form. But when Maria offers to pose for him, he refuses – until he falls in love with her.

Dmitry's artistic aspirations and Maria's yearning for a new life force them to risk everything in the name of love and freedom. But will it destroy them? 

Historical fiction with heart and drama.

Part of The Love and War Series, novels set during the 20th century's darkest years.