The Tsarina's Daugter - Carolly Erickson

the tsarina's daughter
carolly erickson
c. 2008

336 pages
completed 6/23/2009

read for: what's in a name challenge

*may contain spoilers*

The Tsarina's Daughter tells the story of the last of the Romanovs, Tsar Nicholas and Tsarina Alexandra, and their five children, Tsarovich Alexei and the Grand Duchesses Olga, Tatiana, Marie, and Anastasia, through the eyes of Tatiana. From the beginning we learn that Tatiana has managed to escape the fate of her family, as another woman took her place during the last of her family's days in Siberia, and now as an old woman living in Canada has decided to share her story.

I loved this book. LOVED IT. I don't know much about the Romanovs other than the very basic facts and what little truth can be gleaned from that one animated Anastasia movie (which is obviously not much). I didn't realize it had ended during the middle of World War I, or how really awful things were in parts of Russia. And it was surprising to read that all the turmoil was really only happening in parts of Russia, like St. Petersburg and Moscow. So it was an interesting read.

I liked that in this book it was Tatiana who got away, as opposed to Anastasia as the legend usually goes. I wonder what made the author make this unusual choice of daughters.

I found parts of this story extremely frustrating just because Nicholas and Alexandra were appalling in this book. They were so out of touch and so ineffective as rulers. I don't know if this is what they were really like, but the way they were portrayed in this book makes it almost impossible to sympathize with them.

One thing I was a bit dissatisfied with was the character of Constantin. I liked him so much, and we spent so much time exploring his relationship with Tatiana, that is seemed very sudden when their relationship ended. I liked Michael, too, but I was already invested in Constantin.

5/5