The great mystery of one of the Romanov heirs surviving the brutal execution at the hands of the Bolsheviks on July 16, 1918 has captivated many over the years.  Even Disney made a movie in 1997 with its own twist on the story. Several women claiming to be the Grand Duchess Anastasia have all been proven to be imposters since the advent of DNA analysis, even Anna Anderson.

Anderson was institutionalized in 1920 after a suicide attempt, and didn’t speak for a few years.  When she did start talking, she told people she was Anastasia.  Supporters helped her financially and a cousin or two of the Romanovs believed her.  However, Olga Alexandrovna, Nicholas II’s sister, didn’t believe Anderson was Anastasia said, “My telling the truth does not help in the least, because the public simply wants to believe in the mystery.”  She was right, no matter what the truth.

Gill Paul has taken this piece of history and devised an alternative story with a dual narrative plot, one taking place in 1914 and the other in 2016.

In 1914, Dmitri Malama, a Russian soldier, met Grand Duchess Tatiana, while he was convalescing from an injury at Tsarskoe Selo. The two fell in love.

In 2016, Kitty Fisher finds out her husband was having an affair and leaves England for a cabin left to her by her great-grandfather. 

What could these two-story lines have in common?  Plenty.

Historical fictions novels have that rare quality of giving the reader a glimpse into a different time, but with today’s understandings and nuances.  I love reading them. 

In the beginning of the novel, the tension of the 1914 narrative was tempered by the future story.  We hoped beyond hope that the ever-increasing danger that the Romanov family face will be different than we know it to be.  As the inevitable happens, the tension in the future story starts to increase. 

Paul stayed close to the facts regarding the deaths of the Romanov family and their burials, with the one obvious exception, as well as many other aspects.

We enjoyed reading this book in book club.  The members that love history talked about the Romanovs and the Anastasia imposters as well as the revolution.  We also talked about the narrative being split between 1914 and 2016.  The novel “Sarah’s Key,” also had a dual narrative and we absolutely loved that book. (See review to the right.)

Rating: 8