Object of Virtue A Novel [Paperback]

A dazzling debut about the power of family and the pain of betrayal set within Manhattan's Fifth Avenue apartments, the opulent mansions of the new Moscow, and the pre-revolutionary palaces of Saint Petersburg.

Sasha Ozerovsky is a young expert in Russian art at Leighton's, an exclusive Manhattan auction house. When a dealer arrives from Moscow with an exquisite 1913 Fabergé figurine, Sasha immediately recognizes a rare masterpiece. But in the high stakes art world, the price of an object is tied to its history. If Sasha can determine for whom the bejeweled piece was made and where it has been hiding for the past century, its value -- and Sasha's career -- will soar.
But as Sasha moves between New York's high society and Russia's new rich, he discovers that the piece once belonged to his family, and he must face questions about their past that he never dared to ask.
Superbly plotted and evoking the elegance of Russia's gilded age,Object of Virtueis an enthralling tale that explores what happens to a family torn between vanity and virtue.Nicholas B. A. Nicholsonis an expert in Russian Decorative Arts. He was a specialist with Christie's Russian Works of Art Department and was the American Coordinating Curator of the blockbuster exhibition Jewels of the Romanovs: Treasures from the Russian Imperial Court. He lives in New York City. Visit his website at www.nicholasbanicholson.com.Chapter One

Early one January morning, Alexander Ozerovsky drew on his brown suede gloves as he stood near a crowded bus stop. He stared up the stretch of Fifth Avenue north of Ninety-sixth Street and paid no attention to the other New Yorkers who looked at him with interest as they waited for their bus. He stood with them, and yet apart from them at the curb: aloof and impeccably dressed.

Though Sasha (as everyone called him in the Russian manner) was not unusually handsome, he had a physical presence that attracted attention. Hisló: