The Beginning of Spring Penelope Fitzgerald

The Beginning of Spring Penelope Fitzgerald The Beginning of Spring is set in Moscow in the winter of 1913, a time political and industrial change for Russia. Frank Reid – born and raised in Russia, but English by descent – owns and manages a small printing works, part of a business established by his father. As the book opens, Frank learns that his wife, Nellie, has left him suddenly and without any warning. Nellie has taken their three children (Dolly, Ben and Annushka) with her, but subsequently deposits them at Mozhaisk station. Frank is at a loss as to why Nellie has disappeared so abruptly, abandoning the children during her escape. On the children’s arrival home, Dolly (at ten, the eldest of the three) offers her father the following observation, which makes her seem wise beyond her years: