History from a Woman's Perspective- A Book Blog

The Tsarina’s Daughter Author: Carolly Erickson Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: St. Martin’s Press Release Date: 2008 Pages: 332 Source: My State Public Library  Synopsis: From the bestselling author of The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette comes a dramatic novel and powerful love story about the last Russian imperial family.      It is 1989 and Daria Gradov is an elderly grandmother living in the rural West. What neighbors and even her children don't know, however, is that she is not who she claims to be—the widow of a Russian immigrant of modest means. In actuality she began her life as the Grand Duchess Tatiana, known as Tania to her parents, Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra.      And so begins the latest entrancing historical entertainment by Carolly Erickson. At its center is young Tania, who lives a life of incomparable luxury in pre-Revolutionary Russia, from the magnificence of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg ...

  The Last Grand Duchess Author: Bryn Turnbull Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Harlequin Release Date: March 1, 2022 Pages: 400 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: This sweeping novel takes readers behind palace walls to see the end of Imperial Russia through the eyes of Olga Romanov, the first daughter of the last tsar.      Grand Duchess Olga Romanov comes of age amid a shifting tide for the great dynasties of Europe. But even as unrest simmers in the capital, Olga is content to live within the confines of the sheltered life her parents have built for her and her three sisters: hiding from the world on account of their mother’s ill health, their brother Alexei’s secret affliction, and rising controversy over Father Grigori Rasputin, the priest on whom the tsarina has come to rely. Olga’s only escape from the seclusion of Alexander Palace comes from the grand tea parties her aunt hosts amid the shadow court of Saint...

Empress Alexandra: The Special Relationship Between Russia’s Last Tsarina and Queen Victoria Author: Melanie Clegg Genre: History, Nonfiction, Biography Publisher: Pen and Sword History Release Date: 2020 Pages: 208 Source: Netgalley/Publisher in exchange for an honest review. Synopsis: Melanie Clegg takes a fresh and intimate look at the close relationship that existed between the last Empress of Russia and her grandmother Queen Victoria.      When Queen Victoria’s second daughter Princess Alice married the Prince Louis of Hesse and Rhine in 1862 even her own mother described the ceremony as ‘more of a funeral than a wedding’ thanks to the fact that it took place shortly after the death of Alice’s beloved father Prince Albert. Sadly, the young princess’ misfortunes didn’t end there and when she also died prematurely, her four motherless daughters were taken under the wing of their formidable grandmother, Victoria. Alix, the youngest of Alice’s daughters and al...

The Romanov Empress by C.W. Gortner Publication Date: July 10, 2018 Ballantine Books Hardcover; 448 pages Genre: Historical Fiction Source: This book was given to me by Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours in exchange for an honest review.   Synopsis: Even from behind the throne, a woman can rule.      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.      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. The winds of fortune bring Minnie to Russia, where she marries the ...

Little Mother of Russia: A Biography of Empress Marie Feodorovna (1847-1928) Author: Coryne Hall Genre: Nonfiction, History, Biography Publisher: Holmes and Meier Release Date: 2006 Pages: 416 Source: My State Public Library Synopsis: Princess Dagmar, daughter of King Christian IX of Denmark and sister Queen Alexandra of England and King George I of Greece, was betrothed to Tsarevitch Nicholas of Russia, a love match on both sides. Tragically, he died just months before their wedding. Out of duty she married his brother in 1866, and so fifteen years later this poor, obscure princess was raised to the heights of the Russian imperial throne when her husband became Alexander III, after the assassination of his father. Her son was Nicholas II, the last Tsar.      More tragedy was in store. Her husband died in his prime and two of her sons died young. During the First World War, her advice unheeded, the Tsar took command of the army and she could only w...

The Romanov Bride: A Novel Author: Robert Alexander Genre: Historical Fiction Publisher: Viking Release Date: 2008 Pages: 336 Source: Personal Collection Synopsis: As the Russia of Nicholas and Aleksandra rushes full speed toward catastrophe, The Romanov Bride follows the lives of two revolutionary souls, that of Grand Duches Elisavyeta (or Ella), sister of the tsaritsa Aleksandra, and that of Pavel, a simple village man yearning for more. The life of Grand Duchess Elisavyeta begins like a fairy tale - born a princess of Germany, she marries the Grand Duke Sergei of Russia and enters the most lavish and magnificent court in the world, that of the mighty Romanovs, where she is renowned for her sumptuous fashion, jewels, and beauty, not to mention her kind heart. Her husband, however, possesses no such grace, and he rules Moscow as he does his wife, with a cold, hard fist.      For Pavel and his bridge, though, living in Sankt Peterburg means sharing a crowded ce...