Fiction recommendations on the Romanovs

[OlgaNRomanovaFan]

It sounds interesting! I'll have to have a search for it.

[Divia]

I'm a little surprised by the lack of historical fiction there is about Russia.
I have yet to find a book on Catherine the Great(for adults)

Russia is filled with interesting stories yet everyone always seems to focus on England.

I think there is a market to be tapped into.

I've started reading Summer Day is Done, and have struggled. I hope it gets better.

[Holly]

Could anyone tell me what My, Anastasia is about and if it is worth buying?
                                                                  - Holechka

[TennPat]

As an adult I found Plowman's 'God Save the Czar' very interesting. It has a sequel 'My Kingdom for a Grave' .I have them both in my collection. You might try alibris.com for them.

[s.v.markov]

Do you mean 'Three Lives for the Tsar' by Stephanie Plowman, or 'God save the Tsar' by Susanna Hoe? And what is the sequel about?

[Princess_Olishka]

Could anyone tell me what My, Anastasia is about and if it is worth buying?
                                                                  - Holechka

Ooh, I think there are two books both entitled My Anastasia. One is by Sharon Stewart. It's about this young, peasant girl named Dunia who escapes her village in Siberia. I think her parents treat her very badly. She meets Rasputin (and perhaps Ania Vyrubova) who introduces her to the Imperial Family. As time goes on, Dunia and Anastasia become the best of friends and then the storm of the revolution gathers up. Dunia shares the Romanovs' imprisonment and on the night of July 16th, 1918 she is sent to a house across from the Ipatiev House. She hears gunshots, but that's all I can remember reading about the book. You can click here for more.

The other My Anastasia is by Michael Page. I don't know much about that book at all except I think it's more for adults. Anastasia survives the execution and is accompanied by others, and during the way she falls pregnant by one of the men who she got to know during the way (sounds a bit like the story of Anna Anderson to me!).

Could anyone please tell me what God Save The Tsar is about?

And the author of Alexei and Me is Greer Firestone.

Angel On The Square was pretty good. I'm currently reading The Summer Day Is Done and so far, it's pretty good

[s.v.markov]

Thanks for all this very helpful information, and the reviews. In answer to the last question, the author of 'God Save the Tsar' carries on the hoax that the grim task of the cremations in the forest was just a diversion, while seven shadowy figures were being spirited away as part of an international plot for their safety. The rest of the book is about their subsequent adventures. Written before the discovery of the bones !!

Another question : someone wrote on the thread that the reason he/she likes 'The Summer Day is Done' so much is that it 'portrays the Romanovs (especially the GD's and Alexei) as I like to think of them'. Is that how most of us judge historical fiction on the Romanovs? That it fulfils our own wishful thinking about how they really lived, acted, spoke, related to one another etc...?

[CorisCapnSkip]

Here are a few reviews by someone who seems to have read quite a lot:  http://www.amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A3OX2VHZB4FYC9/002-5816879-1636035?_encoding=UTF8

Besides those mentioned there is another fiction book, "The King's Commissar" by Duncan Kyle.  Anyone read that one?

[Alixz]

The House of Special Purpose by Christopher Hyde was rather good in my opinion. It explores the scenario of what if the murder of the IF had been filmed and how would affect the world etc. I recommend it.

The Romanov Prophecy actually made me join here at the AP. After having read it, I was eager to start reading about the Romanovs again. Its companion, The Amber Room, was also quite entertaining. I recommend both, but one should be aware of the fictional elements in the stories.

I just finished  The House of Special Purpose by Hyde and I found that the ending was very good.  The middle bogs down as bit as I think that Hyde had nothing to say and had to keep saying nothing to keep the book going to be long enough.

The Epilogue is interesting, though, and Hyde brings in the true historical figures of the time.  It is definitely an "historical fiction" novel.

I paid $1  USD  for it and I wouldn't pay more, but I did enjoy that ending.  I guess I wasn't paying a lot of attention through out the book because it was a little boring in the middle so I didn't catch the hints that I would normally get to figure out who and what the author was getting to.

For fun, I would recommend it.

[Ilana]

...and not to blow my own horn (but of course I will, it's called being shameless) The Royal Mob I believe, is a good picture of the Hessian daughters, particularly Victoria Milford Haven, and their lives...

[Suzanne]

Here are my favourite novels that evoke the court of Nicholas II

http://www.royalhistorian.com/historical-fiction-roundup-3-novels-set-at-the-court-of-emperor-nicholas-ii-of-russia/

[bestfriendsgirl]

Glad to see the inclusion of The Lost Crown. It is aimed toward younger readers and I wish I could put a copy of it in every middle school library in America - these kinds of books are what inspire our future women historians.

[Kalafrana]

'Three Lives for the Tsar' is a book for teenagers written from the standpoint of one Andrei Hamilton, a Russian prince of cosmopolitan ancestry whose family are close to the court. It goes from Andrei's birth in 1894 up to 1914. 'My Kingdom for a Grave' takes the story up to 1919, and includes Andrei's involvement in a plot to rescue the Romanovs from Ekaterinberg.

Ann

[Sarushka]

Glad to see the inclusion of The Lost Crown. It is aimed toward younger readers and I wish I could put a copy of it in every middle school library in America

I wish you could, too!

[Vanya Ivanova]

I have just finished reading 'The Lost Crown', and I must say I thinks its a stunning achievement. Sarah Miller pulls together all the disparate information about the Tsar's four daughter's and then brings it alive with sensitive and dramatic prose.

It may be aimed at younger readers and written in the format of a novel but I defy anyone to find a more comprehensive and meticulous biography of the four Grand Duchesses.

Thea