Several years ago, my book club read Robert Alexander's novel about the final days of the Romanovs The Kitchen Boy. Not a big book, but it's stayed with me. It was especially poignant that while I was reading the book, a discovery made in Russia was announced that negated the ending of the novel. How I wished it might have been true! Coming after Rasputin's Daughter, The Romanov Bride (#160) is the third and final novel in Mr. Alexander's Romanov triology.
This book tells the story of the Grand Duchess Elizavyeta, granddaugher of Queen Victoria, who married Grand Duke Sergei of Russia. Her younger sister Alicky goes on to marry Tsar Nicholas II, making Elizavyeta a well-connected and powerful woman in the Imperial Court. Her life should have been a fairy tale, but the reality was far from it. Childless, her life is never until her own control until Grand Duke Sergei is assassinated by a Bolshevik bomb just outside their home. Grief-stricken, Elizavyeta retreats from the world of pomp and glitter to found a religious community devoted to the care of the poor, sick and orphaned. But the continuing political unrest in Russia makes her a target because of her German heritage and Romanov name.
The Romanov Bride intertwines two narratives: that of the Grand Duchess and Pavel, the Bolshevist who is determined to end the Romanov line. Both sides command sympathy in this story, but ultimately it is Elisavyeta who triumphs through her character and her integrity. Her death, and those of several of her Romanov relatives at the same time, is usually treated as a footnote of history. This book focuses the spotlight on someone whose story is well worth illuminating. Highly recommended.
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