Heart of Iron by Ekaterina Sedia

I came across Russian born fantasy writer Ekaterina Sedia's alt-history novel, Heart of Iron in a post by the Little Red Reviewer. Sedia has written several novels and Heart of Iron is her latest work. I read the book a while ago and the story is a little hazy. The protagonist Alexandra Trubeskaya, the niece of an influential aristocrat is among the first women to attend university in Russia, much to the chagrin of certain conservatives. She quickly makes friends with another antagonized group - Chinese students including a young man named Chiang Tse. The Chinese students get thrown in prison on trumped-up charges and Alexandra with the help of a British double agent (I think?)  travel overland to China by train to present themselves as ambassadors to the emperor in Beijing (I think?). 

I completely agree with the Little Red Reviewer. This novel had all the elements it needed to be fantabulous, and yet it misses the mark. I can barely remember the story so I am going to let you read the review I've hyperlinked to, to find out the hows and whys. One thing that vexes me is that I can't seem to recall whether the plot was concluded (Did they manage to reach China?) at the end of this book or whether there's an upcoming part two.