The Secret History of Moscow - Ekaterina Sedia It does help to have either a knowledge of Russian Fairy Tales or a source to look them up in when reading this book.That said, this is a good book. Sedia tells the story of Galina who is looking for her missing sister. It is wonderful to read a fairy tale influenced novel where the women actually get along and where sisters like each. Kate Crackernuts is another fairy story where the sisters are friends and not rivals. Sedia does an excellent job of mixing fantasy and real people. Her idea that the myths of city go underground is an interesting one. It makes me wonder what lies beneath the city of Philadelphia. Betsy Ross sewing the flag, perhaps? Sedia presents an archeology that is less about place and more about culture. This might be why there is not a true sense of Moscow (though I've noticed this in the work of Sergei Lukyanenko as well.