Spirited Zina and her secretive grandmother, Baba Valya, own a tearoom on rue Daru in Paris, where they have lived quietly since Zina’s mother’s untimely death. By day, the women serve tea, mostly to members of the bustling Russian émigré community, but when dusk falls, they divine fortunes and perform séances for their loyal clientele.
Then the charming Princess Olga and her brother arrive, searching for knowledge about the disappearance of their father, the exiled Grand Duke, cousin of the last Tsar of Russia. Zina, eager to learn more about the spirit world and her powers, performs the séance. She is able to summon the Grand Duke, but to her horror, he starts to haunt the shop, and he seems to know something sinister about her mother’s death.
As Zina delves into her family’s hidden past, dark secrets are unearthed, threatening the home and tearoom Zina and her grandmother have worked so hard to build, not to mention their very lives.
In The Fortune Tellers of Rue Daru, Olesya Salnikova Gimore pulls you into this intriguing and mysterious novel by creating rich and complex characters, characters that are steeped in the culture of Russia and have spiritual gifts that allow them to aid others.
From the very start, Zina is engaging, the mysteries that surround her, the death of her mother as well as the Grand Duke lead her to dark secrets and eventually sinister truths. I love the abilities of both Zina and her grandmother, the lives they have built and the family love between them. Even in the face of dark spirits, both women are courageous and strong.
If you like historical supernatural mysteries, this novel is intriguing and mysterious as the nature of Zina’s powers pulled me deep into the novel. I love how the truth is revealed and Zina comes into her own. I especially liked the family and love between Zina and her grandmother. This was an emotional and powerful story.
Rating: 5 out of 5 tarot cards.
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