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Summary
Summary
The next in the bestselling trilogy -the drama of a grand duchess and the peasant who determines her fate
As the Russia of Nicholas and Alexandra rushes toward catastrophe, the Grand Duchess Elisavyeta is ensconced in the lavish and magnificent Romanov court. In the same city, but worlds apart, Pavel is a simple village man in search of a better life. When his young wife, Shura, is shot and killed by tsarist soldiers during a political demonstration, Pavel dedicates his life to overthrowing the Romanovs. Pavel's underground group assassinates Elisavyeta's husband, the grand duke, changing her life forever.
Grief-stricken, the grand duchess gives up her wealth and becomes a nun dedicated to the poor people of Russia. When revolution finally sweeps in, Elisavyeta is the last Romanov captured, ripped from her abbey in the middle of the night and shuttled to Siberia. It is here, in a distant wood on a moonlit night, that Pavel is left to decide her fate.
The Romanov Bride is Alexander's fullest and most engaging book yet. Combining stunning writing with a keen talent for storytelling, Alexander uncovers more compelling Romanov drama and intrigue for his many readers and all fans of historical fiction.
Author Notes
Robert Alexander is an author who attended Lenigrad State University and later worked for the U.S. Government traveling extensively. For over 20 years he was a partner in a very successful St. Petersburg company that operated a warehouse and customs clearance center and dental clinic. He was motivated to write his first book when he was followed by the KGB. Since then he has written over 24 books, including children's fiction, mysteries, and historical novels. He has also written for television and auhtored popular mystery games. His first historical novel of revolutionary Russia, The Kitchen Boy, was a New York Times bestseller, and is being produced for film.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
In this robust historical set during the Romanov twilight, Alexander (The Kitchen Boy) chronicles the careers of two emblematic individuals--the real-life Grand Duchess Elisavyeta ("Ella"), sister of Alexandra, the last tsarina, and the fictional Pavel, a young revolutionary. The author's extensive knowledge of Russia allows him to invigorate the narrative with telling details that bring the aristocrat Ella, who eventually became an Orthodox saint, convincingly to life. His depictions of workers' miseries, from the breadlines to sausage made from cat, are especially strong. Pavel takes part in key events affecting Ella--such as the planning for her husband's assassination--as well as in the street violence that metastasizes into the Bolshevik Revolution. Quick-cutting between the two characters' perspectives gives readers the opposing viewpoints of nobility and proletariat, emphasizing the obliviousness of each group to the other. As in Doctor Zhivago, coincidence abounds and some scenes and themes call to mind that classic, but this is a compelling journey through momentous events that wraps up with a fine, deeply moving finale. 6-city author tour. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
A grim follow-up to Alexander's other novels about the twilight of the Romanovs (Rasputin's Daughter, 2006, etc.). In this reverent account of the life of Grand Duchess Elisavyeta (known as Ella), her point of view alternates with that of Pavel, a peasant turned Red turned Gulag detainee, whose path crossed Ella's at crucial points in her doomed existence. A German granddaughter of Queen Victoria, Ella marries Sergei, the uncle of Tsar Nikolai II. Ella's sister Alexandra weds the Tsar. Grand Duke Sergei, a homosexual, rebuffs his wife's affections--the childless couple adopts Sergei's niece and nephew. "Alicky and Nicky," Tsar and Tsaritsa, are mostly offstage, although Nicky's loosening grip on his realm is all too apparent. In 1905, a large contingent of peasants and clerics marches peaceably on the Palace to beg the Tsar for economic relief. Soldiers fire into the unarmed crowd, killing hundreds, including Pavel's pregnant wife. In despair, Pavel joins the revolutionaries. An attempt on Sergei's life is thwarted by Pavel's reluctance to kill Ella and the children. But an assassin's bomb eventually catches Sergei alone. Ella forswears her opulent life to found a religious order. She establishes a convent hospital in Moscow to serve the poor. Pavel secretly trails her, marveling at her selflessness and daring as she ventures into Moscow's seamier slums. Just as conditions for the underclass are improving--Nicky's ministers have instituted reforms while wiping out thousands of communists--along comes World War I. During the February 1917 uprising, Ella's convent narrowly escapes destruction, but she rejects all offers of asylum and continues to aid the war-wounded, sick and hungry. After the October 1917 revolution, Ella's arrest is inevitable. Pavel follows Ella to Siberia as her guard, and they exchange their life stories, but death is on the horizon. Although the regime's free fall is vividly brought to life, the two principals are more archetypal than real. Still, a moving testament to a saintly woman's sad end. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
This passionate yet poised third installment of the author's series of historical novels about the end of the Russian monarchy, which include The Kitchen Boy (2005) and Rasputin's Daughter (2006), brings from the vault of history the life of the Grand Duchess Elizabeth ( Ella ), who was born a princess of Hesse and married into the doomed Romanov dynasty. Widely considered one of the most beautiful royal ladies in the Europe of her day, Ella wed Grand Duke Sergei, who served as governor-general of Moscow, and found herself thrust into a spectacularly opulent world, the Russian imperial regime being the most gilded in Europe. But Ella always remained the good, caring person she had been as a child. The novel's format takes the form of alternating first-person narrations, by Ella, as her world slides into revolutionary chaos, and by the young peasant Pavel, who, drawn into the revolutionary movement, embarks on a path that will directly intersect with the Grand Duchess', with fatal results.--Hooper, Brad Copyright 2008 Booklist
Library Journal Review
As in his nationally best-selling The Kitchen Boy and Rasputin's Daughter, Alexander here melds historical fact with fictional speculation. Chapters alternate between the perspectives of Pavel, a peasant, and Elisavyeta (Ella), the German-born granddaughter of Queen Victoria, sister-in-law to Czar Nicholas and the privileged wife of Grand Duke Sergei Aleksandrovich, a Romanov. In 1905, czarist soldiers fire at a group of peaceful protesters, and Pavel's young bride is among the murdered. Determined to avenge her death and eliminate the aristocracy, Pavel becomes a dedicated revolutionary. When he assassinates Sergei, Ella's life takes a dramatic turn: she sells her worldly possessions, establishes a convent, and perseveres by helping Moscow's poor. Then, seized in the night, she comes face to face with Pavel in the distant woods of Siberia. Pavel's accounts, though sometimes bogged down by stock revolutionary phrases, reveal how ideology as well as riches can blind individuals. Similarities in Ella's and Pavel's situations provide one of many discussion points, which will draw the interest of book clubs; public libraries will also want copies for historical fiction fans.-Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State Univ., Mankato (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
