254 ratings | 121 reviews | avg rating:4.76

Eva Stachniak’s Followers (476)

Eva’s Bookshelves

to-read (44)
currently-reading (1)
read (254)
books-by-my-friends (9)

Eva’s Friends (373)

Kasia

809 books | 35 friends

BookishCorgi

6,492 books | 2,683 friends

Samantha

2,671 books | 942 friends

Alyson

1,180 books | 44 friends

Astrid

2,616 books | 203 friends

Christine Nolfi

394 books | 4,245 friends

Lady Alexandrine

4,712 books | 275 friends

Michael Poeltl

393 books | 1,075 friends

More friends…

Eva Stachniak

Goodreads Author

Born

Wroclaw, Poland, Poland

Website

http://www.evastachniak.com

Twitter

twitter.com/evastachniak

Genre

Literature & Fiction, Historical Fiction

Member Since

November 2008

edit data

Eva Stachniak was born in Wrocław, Poland. She moved to Canada in 1981 and has worked for Radio Canada International and Sheridan College, where she taught English and humanities. Her debut novel, Necessary Lies, won the Amazon.ca/Books in Canada First Novel Award in 2000. Her first novel of Catherine the Great, The Winter Palace, has been included in the Washington Post 2011 list of most notable fiction and was a #1 international bestseller.
Stachniak lives in Toronto. Her latest novel is The School of Mirrors (2022). ...more

Learn more
Ask the Author

To ask Eva Stachniak questions, please sign up.

Combine Editions
Eva Stachniak’s books

Average rating: 3.55 · 19,308 ratings · 2,269 reviews · 6 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Winter Palace (Catherine #1) by Eva Stachniak (Goodreads Author), Beata Poźniak (Goodreads Author) (Narrator) 3.60 avg rating — 14,399 ratings — published 2012 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The School of Mirrors 3.50 avg rating — 2,232 ratings — published 2022 — 19 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Empress of the Night (Catherine, #2) 3.07 avg rating — 1,574 ratings — published 2013 — 29 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Chosen Maiden 3.84 avg rating — 684 ratings — published 2017 — 11 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Dancing with Kings 3.24 avg rating — 262 ratings — published 2004 — 23 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Necessary Lies 3.49 avg rating — 158 ratings — published 2000 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Eva Stachniak…

39 posts
Eva Stachniak's Blog: On the absence of stories...

Inspiration for The School of Mirrors

The King's Midwife A History and Mystery of Madame du Coudray by Nina Rattner Gelbart

On the Canadian paperback release of The School of Mirrors here is my interview with Nina Rattner Gelbart whose research inspired my novel:

I’ve stumbled across The King’s Midwife; A History and Mystery of Madame du Coudray when I was researching my latest novel The School of Mirrors and needed some information on French midwifery in the 18th century. The book captivated me at once. Here wa Read more of this blog post »

3 likes · Like • 2 comments • flag

Published on January 20, 2023 08:22

View all 39 posts »

Series by Eva Stachniak

Catherine (2 books)
by

Eva Stachniak (Goodreads Author)

3.55 avg rating — 15,972 ratings

Eva is Currently Reading

Eva Stachniak is currently reading

The School of Mirrors

by Eva Stachniak (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Jun 28, 2021 12:55PM

rss
Eva’s Recent Updates

Eva Stachniak rated a book it was amazing Eastbound by Maylis de Kerangal	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
One of the best books I have read this year. Slim and powerful, a story of two fugitives. A Russian conscript and a French woman who is escaping a difficult relationship with her Russian love take the same trans-Siberian train... a masterpiece.
Dec 10, 2023 08:38AM · 4 likes · like · see review
Eva Stachniak rated a book it was amazing Asking for a Friend by Kerry Clare (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 10, 2023 08:37AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Asking for a Friend by Kerry Clare. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Asking for a Friend by Kerry Clare <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Eva Stachniak and 1 other person liked April Mandusic's review of Asking for a Friend: "I loved how absolutely relatable so many of the scenes are for any woman, especially a mother. It was like Kerry was reading my mind at some point when she described so many fears and insecurities a mother or a friend could feel at any given point. I" Read more of this review »
Oct 22, 2023 07:04AM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Asking for a Friend by Kerry Clare. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Asking for a Friend by Kerry Clare <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Eva Stachniak and 3 other people liked Rochelle's review of Asking for a Friend: "Asking for a friend is a beautiful book about friendship, love, and loss. The book centers around two best friends, Jess and Clara. We meet them at university, and we see them become best friends. The author did a great job of exploring the realities" Read more of this review »
Oct 22, 2023 07:02AM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Asking for a Friend by Kerry Clare. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Asking for a Friend by Kerry Clare <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Eva Stachniak and 2 other people liked Joanne Gallant's review of Asking for a Friend: "I recently read an article where Greta Gerwig said she was only interested in telling stories about women. I felt this deeply, since those stories are what I’m mostly interested in as well. ASKING FOR A FRIEND ticks off all the boxes of a story I lov" Read more of this review »
Oct 22, 2023 07:02AM · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Asking for a Friend by Kerry Clare. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Asking for a Friend by Kerry Clare <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Eva Stachniak is currently reading Asking for a Friend by Kerry Clare (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 22, 2023 07:00AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Asking for a Friend by Kerry Clare. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Asking for a Friend by Kerry Clare <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

More of Eva's books…

Quotes by Eva Stachniak (?)

“Where does destiny end and choice begin?”
― Eva Stachniak, The Winter Palace

tags: choice, destiny

21 likes

“Life is a game and every player is cheating.”
― Eva Stachniak

tags: life

15 likes

“Don't stare into mirrors. It's easy to get lost in there.”
― Eva Stachniak, The Winter Palace

12 likes

See all Eva Stachniak's quotes »

Polls

January 2014 - Group Read: What would you like to read in January?
(Theme: Innovative, inspirational, strong female character)

The Winter Palace: A Novel of Catherine the Great - Eva Stachniak

27 votes, 19.9%

The Aviator's Wife - Melanie Benjamin

15 votes, 11.0%

The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver

12 votes, 8.8%

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer

12 votes, 8.8%

The Winthrop Woman - Anya Seton

11 votes, 8.1%

The Signature of All Things - Elizabeth Gilbert

10 votes, 7.4%

Legacy - Susan Kay

9 votes, 6.6%

Illuminations: A Novel of Hildegard von Bingen - Mary Sharratt

9 votes, 6.6%

The Twentieth Wife - Indu Sundaresan

8 votes, 5.9%

Hild - Nicola Griffith

8 votes, 5.9%

Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald - Therese Anne Fowler

7 votes, 5.1%

Green Darkness - Anya Seton

4 votes, 2.9%

The Peerless Four - Victoria Patterson

2 votes, 1.5%

Band of Angels - Julia Gregson

2 votes, 1.5%

136 total votes

6 comments

More...

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
Historical Fictio...: HF releases you're looking forward to in 2012	8	72	Dec 08, 2011 12:00PM
Book Haven: I am Currently Reading (2011)	1551	1014	Jan 27, 2012 11:12AM
The Seasonal Read...: Spring Challenge 2012: Completed Tasks -DO NOT DELETE ANY POSTS IN THIS TOPIC	2297	776	May 31, 2012 09:02PM
European Royalty: July 15 - Sept 15: The Winter Palace	3	46	Jul 29, 2012 12:44AM
Historical Fictio...: Around the World Challenge (Aug 1 - Sept 30, 2012) - Report Points Here	118	237	Oct 03, 2012 06:53PM
Historical Fictio...: Top Historical Reads in 2012	45	212	Jan 07, 2013 05:40PM
Bookworm Bitches : Books Read in January 2013	40	223	Feb 04, 2013 09:15AM

More…

Eva’s Quotes

“The joy of writing.
The power of preserving.
Revenge of a mortal hand.”
― Wisława Szymborska

tags: writing

87 likes

“I exist not to be loved and admired, but to love and act. It is not the duty of those around me to love me. Rather, it is my duty to be concerned about the world, about man.”
― Janusz Korczak, The Warsaw Ghetto Memoirs of Janusz Korczak

68 likes

“I never realized that a child is capable of remembering so well and of waiting so patiently”
― Janusz Korczak, Loving Every Child: Wisdom for Parents

22 likes

“By forty, is there anyone who hasn’t had to recognize that happiness, as understood by youth, is illusory? That the best one can hope for is an absence of too many tragedies and that the road through the inevitable grief be, if not smooth, then steady?”
― Robin Black, Life Drawing

7 likes

“How fortunate we were who still had hope I did not then realise; I could not know how soon the time would come when we should have no more hope, and yet be unable to die”
― Vera Brittain, Testament of Youth

tags: death, hope

69 likes

More of Eva’s quotes…