How Long to Read Twenty Letters to a Friend

How Long Does it Take to Read Twenty Letters to a Friend?

It takes the average reader 4 hours and 34 minutes to read Twenty Letters to a Friend by Svetlana Alliluyeva

Assuming a reading speed of 250 words per minute. Learn more

Description

In this riveting, New York Times-bestselling memoir—first published by Harper in 1967—Svetlana Alliluyeva, subject of Rosemary Sullivan’s critically acclaimed biography, Stalin’s Daughter, describes the surreal experience of growing up in the Kremlin in the shadow of her father, Joseph Stalin. Svetlana Iosifovna Alliluyeva, later known as Lana Peters, was the youngest child and only daughter of Joseph Stalin and Nadezhda Alliluyeva, his second wife. In 1967, she fled the Soviet Union for India, where she approached the U.S. Embassy for asylum. Once there, she showed her CIA handler something remarkable: A personal memoir about growing up inside the Kremlin that she’d written in 1963. The Indian Ambassador to the USSR, whom she’d befriended, had smuggled the manuscript out of the Soviet Union the previous year—and returned it to her as soon as she arrived in India. Structured as a series of letters to a “friend”—Svetlana refused to identify him, but we now know it was her close friend, Fyodor Volkenstein—this astounding memoir exposes the dark human heart of the Kremlin. After opening with Stalin’s death, Svetlana returns to her childhood. Each letter adds a new strand to her remarkable story; some are wistful—romanticized recollections of her early years and her family—while others are desperate exorcisms of the tragedies that plagued her, such as her mother’s suicide and her father’s increasing cruelty. It is also in some ways a love letter to Russia, with its ancient heritage and spectacularly varied geography. Candid, surprising, and utterly compelling, Twenty Letters to a Friend offers one of the most revealing portraits of life inside Stalin’s inner circle, and of the notorious dictator himself.

How long is Twenty Letters to a Friend?

Twenty Letters to a Friend by Svetlana Alliluyeva is 272 pages long, and a total of 68,544 words.

This makes it 92% the length of the average book. It also has 84% more words than the average book.

How Long Does it Take to Read Twenty Letters to a Friend Aloud?

The average oral reading speed is 183 words per minute. This means it takes 6 hours and 14 minutes to read Twenty Letters to a Friend aloud.

What Reading Level is Twenty Letters to a Friend?

Twenty Letters to a Friend is suitable for students ages 12 and up.

Note that there may be other factors that effect this rating besides length that are not factored in on this page. This may include things like complex language or sensitive topics not suitable for students of certain ages.

When deciding what to show young students always use your best judgement and consult a professional.

Where Can I Buy Twenty Letters to a Friend?

Twenty Letters to a Friend by Svetlana Alliluyeva is sold by several retailers and bookshops. However, Read Time works with Amazon to provide an easier way to purchase books.

To buy Twenty Letters to a Friend by Svetlana Alliluyeva on Amazon click the button below.