Scan barcode
gilmoreguide's review against another edition
2.0
(1.5 stars)
Tanya is currently an up-and-coming Russian art specialist at a NYC auction house. When a rare artifact, the Order of St. Catherine, is brought to auction at her firm, her status skyrockets as she maneuvers through the world of oligarchs desperate to own it. In the mid-1700s Sophie Zerbst, an impoverished Prussian princess, married off to a Russian prince, has to maneuver even more skillfully to become Catherine the Great. The two move through parallel storylines in Irina Reyn’s The Imperial Wife. While Catherine had to deal with an odious oaf of a husband in Peter II, Tanya’s marriage is more loving, but seems to have the same imbalances—strong wife not so strong husband. Reyn plays the two women against each other as both try to reconcile their ambitions with their roles as loving spouses.
The rest of this review is available at The Gilmore Guide to Books: http://wp.me/p2B7gG-1MN
Tanya is currently an up-and-coming Russian art specialist at a NYC auction house. When a rare artifact, the Order of St. Catherine, is brought to auction at her firm, her status skyrockets as she maneuvers through the world of oligarchs desperate to own it. In the mid-1700s Sophie Zerbst, an impoverished Prussian princess, married off to a Russian prince, has to maneuver even more skillfully to become Catherine the Great. The two move through parallel storylines in Irina Reyn’s The Imperial Wife. While Catherine had to deal with an odious oaf of a husband in Peter II, Tanya’s marriage is more loving, but seems to have the same imbalances—strong wife not so strong husband. Reyn plays the two women against each other as both try to reconcile their ambitions with their roles as loving spouses.
The rest of this review is available at The Gilmore Guide to Books: http://wp.me/p2B7gG-1MN
rotig813's review against another edition
3.0
I found this story to be okay. Beside the insights to Young Catherine, I really wasn't invested in the characters.
jasmyn9's review against another edition
3.0
The Imperial Wife follows two stories - one of modern Russian immigrant Tanya, and the other of Catherine the Great famous empress of Russia. I feel like these two stories were supposed to be more related than they I found them to be. Instead they came across as two stories that just happen to be told at the same time.
Of the two stories, I found Catherine's to be much more interesting. In all fairness, her life has always fascinated me and I may be a little more biased in that direction to start with. Catherine's story was not complete, but ends as she takes control of Russia. It skips over some her of life, but hits on some very interesting point of time as she adapted to her new life in the Russian court. I loved every page of it.
Tanya's story on the other hand just wasn't is interesting to me. I found myself wanting to rush through it to get to Catherine's. There are some very interesting pieces to her story, and her Russian clients were one of them. However, the relationship with her husband just didn't seem to justify her response in the end. In fact, the whole ending of her story just seemed off to me. I did enjoy the stories of her as a child, growing up and learning about America for the first time, trying to adapt to a new culture - much like Catherine did, and maybe this is why I enjoyed this aspect so much.
Well written, and well researched. I had a hard time connecting to Tanya's story, but with the level of writing done by the author, I'm sure other's will be able to connect very well.
*This book was received in exchange for an honest review*
Of the two stories, I found Catherine's to be much more interesting. In all fairness, her life has always fascinated me and I may be a little more biased in that direction to start with. Catherine's story was not complete, but ends as she takes control of Russia. It skips over some her of life, but hits on some very interesting point of time as she adapted to her new life in the Russian court. I loved every page of it.
Tanya's story on the other hand just wasn't is interesting to me. I found myself wanting to rush through it to get to Catherine's. There are some very interesting pieces to her story, and her Russian clients were one of them. However, the relationship with her husband just didn't seem to justify her response in the end. In fact, the whole ending of her story just seemed off to me. I did enjoy the stories of her as a child, growing up and learning about America for the first time, trying to adapt to a new culture - much like Catherine did, and maybe this is why I enjoyed this aspect so much.
Well written, and well researched. I had a hard time connecting to Tanya's story, but with the level of writing done by the author, I'm sure other's will be able to connect very well.
*This book was received in exchange for an honest review*
barbiegirl1993's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
rubenstein's review against another edition
3.0
There was a slight twist at the end that I enjoy immensely, but overall, The Imperial Wife was just okay. I actually think I would have enjoyed this one more had it been strictly historical fiction and focused solely on Catherine the Great. As it was, I didn't care for Tanya - particularly her marriage drama, that will he/won't he leave her that was ever-present throughout the book.
For the full review and more, head over to The Pretty Good Gatsby!
For the full review and more, head over to The Pretty Good Gatsby!
cansail's review against another edition
4.0
"For a marriage to survive, sometimes the husband has to die." It wasn't until the final twist was revealed that this tantalizing tagline seemed appropriate for both modern and historical storylines. That's part of this book's charm, because the endless parallels between Catherine the Great and present-day Tanya are left to the reader to figure out. While some of the descriptions felt a bit overdone, this is recommended for anyone who enjoys novels that mix past and present, from any period.
johannalm's review against another edition
3.0
The Imperial Wife, Irina Reyn
Second book I've read recently involving, to some degree, Russian Oligarchs buying art. This novel focuses on Tanya, a Russian Jewish immigrant who now heads Russian art at a famous New York auction house. Tanya is putting together a big auction which she hopes will include Catherine the Great's Order of Saint Catherine, as long as she can authenticate the piece's origin. In the meantime, her marriage to her husband, Carl the writer and professor, appears to be falling apart.
Tanya's story is told in tandem with the story of young Catherine the Great, before her marriage to pathetic Peter, up to her ultimate ascension to empress. The reader thinks the Catherine story is from Tanya's husband's novel, but that assumption may change as the story nears its ending.
There are a few big reveals in both stories and a lot of focus spent on the life styles of filthy rich oligarch, which makes this a fun summer read.
Second book I've read recently involving, to some degree, Russian Oligarchs buying art. This novel focuses on Tanya, a Russian Jewish immigrant who now heads Russian art at a famous New York auction house. Tanya is putting together a big auction which she hopes will include Catherine the Great's Order of Saint Catherine, as long as she can authenticate the piece's origin. In the meantime, her marriage to her husband, Carl the writer and professor, appears to be falling apart.
Tanya's story is told in tandem with the story of young Catherine the Great, before her marriage to pathetic Peter, up to her ultimate ascension to empress. The reader thinks the Catherine story is from Tanya's husband's novel, but that assumption may change as the story nears its ending.
There are a few big reveals in both stories and a lot of focus spent on the life styles of filthy rich oligarch, which makes this a fun summer read.
abookishtype's review against another edition
3.0
I supposed that most women will come off the worse when compared to Catherine the Great, as Irina Reyn’s novel The Imperial Wife does by telling the empress’s story alongside the story of a young art specialist in modern New York. To be fair, Tanya Kagan Vandermotter holds her own for much of the novel. I genuinely thought that I was reading twin tales of women realizing their own power over their destinies. Catherine obviously did. Tanya, however, makes a decision at the very end of the book that infuriated me. The ending of this novel made me so angry that I’ve needed almost an entire day before I felt like I could write this post. In an effort to not spoil this book to other readers who may have a different opinion of Tanya’s actions, all I will say about the ending is that I think it undercuts her entire plotline...
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type.
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type.
briannadaisies's review against another edition
2.0
It was pretty good and I liked the concept of Catherine’s story mirroring Tanya’s. Then it ended with Tanya risking going to jail and throwing away her whole career for her spineless bitch ass husband who took credit for her work then left her. She just became the kind of woman she was determined to set herself apart from- the wife who stood by naively because husbands don’t leave their wives. Okay.