Minnie and her sister were not typical princesses, growing up poor, sewing their own clothes, and cleaning their own house. Minnie was fiery and precocious and even had no problems denying Queen Victoria what she wanted. I loved main character Minnie from the moment she was introduced as a young girl-known as Princess Dagmar of Denmark-watching her older sister, Alix, marry the Prince of Wales. I felt almost as if I were a member of the royal family when reading this novel, so absorbed was I in their dazzling world of palaces and Fabergé eggs. Even though most readers will likely know about the tragedies leading to taking down the Romanov dynasty, the novel is not depressing. I was unable to put the novel down and would certainly read more of the author’s novels in the future. I wasn’t in the mood for a historical fiction novel when I picked up this book, but I got hooked on it right away. Regardless, it was clear that this Tsarina was a strong woman and I enjoyed watching her growth as a character and her opinions on the catastrophes that repeatedly befell the Romanov family over the years. I enjoyed this atypical princess story, but got a little frustrated with Minnie’s character at times. This book was clearly extremely well researched and I learned so much from it, despite it being historical fiction. I never gave any thought to the mother of Tsar Nicholas II, Tsarina Maria Feodorovna, also known as Minnie. Out of the two Romanov books I read this year-the other being I Was Anastasia- The Romanov Empress was my personal favorite. Gortner sweeps us into the anarchic fall of an empire and the complex, bold heart of the woman who tried to save it. Petersburg and the intrigue-laced salons of the aristocracy to the World War I battlefields and the bloodied countryside occupied by the Bolsheviks, C. As the unstoppable wave of revolution rises anew to engulf Russia, Maria will face her most dangerous challenge and her greatest heartache. Determined to guide him to reforms that will bring Russia into the modern age, Maria faces implacable opposition from Nicholas’s strong-willed wife, Alexandra, whose fervor has lead her into a disturbing relationship with a mystic named Rasputin. Her husband’s death leaves their son Nicholas as the inexperienced ruler of a deeply divided and crumbling empire. When resistance to his reign strikes at the heart of her family and the tsar sets out to crush all who oppose him, Minnie-now called Maria-must tread a perilous path of compromise in a country she has come to love. The winds of fortune bring Minnie to Russia, where she marries the Romanov heir and becomes empress once he ascends the throne. Barely nineteen, Minnie knows that her station in life as a Danish princess is to leave her family and enter into a royal marriage-as her older sister Alix has done, moving to England to wed Queen Victoria’s eldest son. Narrated by the mother of Russia’s last tsar, this vivid, historically authentic novel brings to life the courageous story of Maria Feodorovna, one of Imperial Russia’s most compelling women who witnessed the splendor and tragic downfall of the Romanovs as she fought to save her dynasty in the final years of its long reign. Published by Ballantine Books on July 10th 2018īuy on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or įor readers of Philippa Gregory and Alison Weir comes a dramatic novel of the beloved Empress Maria, the Danish girl who became the mother of the last Russian tsar.Įven from behind the throne, a woman can rule. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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