Bitter Before Sweet

Imperial Russia, 1864: Irina Orlova and Antonina (Tonya) Volkonskaya are daughters of two of St Petersburg's elite noble families. Best friends since childhood, they have been bonded like sisters by their shared background - both overlooked in favour of their elder brothers by absent parents, both accomplished, educated and decorous. Naturally, they know their duty will be to marry to strengthen their families' position. But both women are driven by their private passions.

Tonya's future seems assured when society's premier heart-throb Grigory asks for her hand, but when her brother invites his old Army comrade Nikolai to stay, why does she find herself reflecting on the nature of love itself?

Irina has had to be the model of composure and good judgement for her two brothers in the aftermath of their parents' tragic death, but everything seems turned upside down by the arrival of Konstantin, an anarchic tutor hired to teach her younger brother.

Spanning multiple years, and taking in the epic scale of 19th century Imperial Russian society, Bitter Before Sweet is a historical saga which follows the women as they navigate this difficult, glamorous, romantic, and oppressive world, and struggle to take control of their destiny.