The Burning Stone

A girl with an unusual name—Isolda—and, of course, her fate is the most extraordinary. Raised by a Yakut nurse, Iza absorbed love for this harsh northern land along with the milk of her second mother—so unlike the blessed Baltic, from where her ancestors came. Iza’s heart reaches for joy; she knows how to see beauty in the most ordinary things, and it’s not surprising that the world answers her with reciprocity. Her first love, with a fiery-haired gypsy, gives Isolda real happiness. Not everyone likes her bright burning spirit—so Iza is in for hard trials. And the family relic—the “white-burning stone”—will yet more than once be washed by tears…