IN BRIEF Asta Scheib Frost und Sonne (Frost and Sun) Hoffmann und Campe, August 2007 320 pp. ISBN: 978-3-455-40078-6 At the start of this historical novel, set during the reign of the last Tsar, Nicholas II, its principal character, Prince Felix Felixowitsch Jussupow, is a carefree, sensitive eight-year-old, growing up as a member of one of the richest families in Russia. At sixteen, however, he embarks on a secret love-affair with a young cavalryman and, as rumours spread, is sent to be ‘cured’ by the now all-powerful Rasputin, with disastrous results. In disgust Felix joins in the failed attempt to murder his tormentor, but by now the Russian Revolution is about to start and soon the Jussopows will be fleeing for their lives. Asta Scheib was born in 1939 in Bergneustadt, Rhineland, has been editor of various magazines and published her first novel in the 1980s. Her fictionalised biography of the Faber-Castell family was an acclaimed bestseller. She lives in Munich. Translation rights available from: Hoffmann und Campe Verlag Tel: +49 40 44188281 Email: valerie.schneider@hoca.de Contact: Valerie Schneider Applications for assistance with translation costs - Germany