''Sumptuous, sexy and haunting. I adored this novel'' SANTA MONTEFIORE. Starving men and women stalk the streets of St. Petersburg. <b>Revolution is brewing.</b> Yet in the Imperial court of Nicholas II and the lavish palaces of the aristocracy, there is <b>unimaginable luxury and extravagance.</b> Into this world of stifling splendour come <b>two sisters</b>. Princesses Anastasia and Militza from Montenegro are famed for their <b>wild beauty and mystical powers</b>. They befriend the isolated Tsarina Alexandra and use their <b>psychic gifts</b> to help in her increasingly desperate quest to produce a male heir. In one doomed last throw of the dice, the princesses introduce <b>Rasputin</b> to the Russian court. Forgotten by history, these extraordinary sisters played a frustrating role in the fate of the <b>Romanov family ¿ a true story of love, lust, power and betrayal</b>. <b>''I couldn''t put it down'' CLAUDIA WINKLEMAN. ''Brilliant'' CANDACE BUSHNELL. ''A rip-roaring read'' DAISY G