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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
This novel is about a man confessing to his granddaughter how he served the Romanov family. The man talks about the Imperial family's daily life in the House of Special Purpose. The novels give a background history of the family and how they lost power. In the beginning, it felt like a history lesson, but towards the end, the twists made this book very unique. I noticed this book was written around the time the bodies of Anastasia and Alexei were discovered. This historical event could have led to the novel. I highly recommended it if you're are a history buff.
This is without spoilers and trust me the end is the best part of the book.
This is without spoilers and trust me the end is the best part of the book.
By the end of the book, I wanted to give this a three, because it was well thought out and had me guessing back and forth for the last 100 pages at least, about the kitchen boy. But the pacing, although somewhat necessary in order to set the scene, was just too slow and the amount of details felt superfluous. They were important by the end, it paid off by the end, but I put down the book at least three times and took two months to read it. Only reason why I didn't abandon it is because I very rarely not finish a book.
So with all that I'll say, I liked the novel well enough, if you're able to slug through the very lengthy descriptions, you might enjoy it.
So with all that I'll say, I liked the novel well enough, if you're able to slug through the very lengthy descriptions, you might enjoy it.
I started this book during a trip to Europe, read it on the plane home and promptly lost it. I was about to buy another copy (3 months later) when it resurfaced! I had been left wondering about the tragic saga of the Romanov family, imprisoned during the Russian revolution and later executed. (and if that is a spoiler, then so is the sinking of the Titanic!)
This is the story of their last days as told by a 14 year old boy who worked in the kitchen and smuggled out messages from the Romanovs to a nearby convent. His relationship with the family and knowledge of what happened later are told in novel form in this book. There are actual copies of the smuggled notes in archives which have been opened to the public and which form the basis for the book.
I enjoyed the narrative, the format and especially the last twist. Nobody knows for sure what happened, and there is much speculation out there. I'm not sure why dna tests haven't been done, or maybe they have and they are not publicized? I'm off to do some additional internet research on this family. I remember news stories from maybe 20 years ago, about a survivor, but they are fuzzy in my head.
This is the story of their last days as told by a 14 year old boy who worked in the kitchen and smuggled out messages from the Romanovs to a nearby convent. His relationship with the family and knowledge of what happened later are told in novel form in this book. There are actual copies of the smuggled notes in archives which have been opened to the public and which form the basis for the book.
I enjoyed the narrative, the format and especially the last twist. Nobody knows for sure what happened, and there is much speculation out there. I'm not sure why dna tests haven't been done, or maybe they have and they are not publicized? I'm off to do some additional internet research on this family. I remember news stories from maybe 20 years ago, about a survivor, but they are fuzzy in my head.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The best thing that anyone could come up with was that the twist at the end was interesting. But it couldn't make up for the rest of the book, which was thin and repetitive.
This has been on my to-read list longer than I am willing to admit. Wow, I wish I had read it earlier. The parallel narrative, the twists, the unreliable narrator, and the history - all add up to a great story.
Leonid Sednev, the kitchen boy to the Romanovs during their time in the Ipatiev House, was the only survivor of that fateful night. Falling into oblivion afterward. After his wife May's death, he sits down with a tape recorder to record his story for his only remaining relative, his granddaughter, in order to preserve his memory.
From the beginning I knew there was a secret even deeper repressed than just the fall of the Romanovs. His dear May had a vast collection of Fabergé eggs an item Alexandra Fyodorovna, Tsarina collected. The couple's only child, a son had hemophilia, a disorder that the Tstarevich Alexei Nikolaevich had. And what happened to the missing remains of Tsarevich Alexei and Grand Duchess Maria? It just didn't add up.
Well, I don't mean to gloat, but I was correct. Not all was there that met the eye. Although there was a twist that even I didn't see. I got so engrossed in the families living conditions and means to escape that I forgot about the elderly man in 1998 and my impatience for the story's ending raised each time he pressed the stop button on his recorder. Even though their demise was known from the beginning, it does not deter the reader from pursuing the conclusion. It was a bit like reading Anne Frank's Diary, you know that she is taken to the concentration camps and believes everyone is good at heart, but you still have to read what she has to say. Granted, this was a fictitious portrayal but had the same effect.
Like Anne Frank's Holocaust, I have always held a great fascination. with the Romanovs. Perhaps because of the political essences, but I think it is more about their fall from grace and security, their fairy tale of a life to end in the House of Special Purposes, ushered down 23 steps to meet assassins in the basement. But most of all I find their lives intriguing because after almost 100 years their deaths are just as mysterious as they were on July 17, 1918
From the beginning I knew there was a secret even deeper repressed than just the fall of the Romanovs. His dear May had a vast collection of Fabergé eggs an item Alexandra Fyodorovna, Tsarina collected. The couple's only child, a son had hemophilia, a disorder that the Tstarevich Alexei Nikolaevich had. And what happened to the missing remains of Tsarevich Alexei and Grand Duchess Maria? It just didn't add up.
Well, I don't mean to gloat, but I was correct. Not all was there that met the eye. Although there was a twist that even I didn't see. I got so engrossed in the families living conditions and means to escape that I forgot about the elderly man in 1998 and my impatience for the story's ending raised each time he pressed the stop button on his recorder. Even though their demise was known from the beginning, it does not deter the reader from pursuing the conclusion. It was a bit like reading Anne Frank's Diary, you know that she is taken to the concentration camps and believes everyone is good at heart, but you still have to read what she has to say. Granted, this was a fictitious portrayal but had the same effect.
Like Anne Frank's Holocaust, I have always held a great fascination. with the Romanovs. Perhaps because of the political essences, but I think it is more about their fall from grace and security, their fairy tale of a life to end in the House of Special Purposes, ushered down 23 steps to meet assassins in the basement. But most of all I find their lives intriguing because after almost 100 years their deaths are just as mysterious as they were on July 17, 1918
Gruwelijke geschiedenis, maar een roman waar je kippenvel van krijgt!
Although small, a book filled with secrets, truths and sorrow. It explaines the last weeks of the Russian Tsar and his family. The story is told in 1998 by their kitchen boy, the one person who survived the tragedy. But what is percived to be the truth never is and when the book finally concludes, the entire story is turned up side down and in side out. There are so many things to be sid abou this book, but if I do so, I will have ruined everything for anyone planning to read the book themselves. So I can only say one thing in conclusion - just read it!
