The story of the Romanovs, the last Imperial family of Russia, is a tale that seems to hold a morbid fascination. The imprisonment and horrific execution of the whole family at the hands of the Bolsheviks continues to enthrall historians and writers almost a century after the event. In three novels Robert Alexander’s vivid imagination brings the tragic end of the Romanov dynasty to life.

The first novel in this three novel series is "The Kitchen Boy". Alexander, who attended Leningrad State University, says he got interested in the story of the last Tsar and his family after he read the last pages in Empress Alexandra’s diary, written shortly before the murder of the whole family. Of course, she had no hint of what was about to transpire. On that day in 1918 she wrote that their kitchen boy, Leonid Sednyov, was suddenly taken away by the Bolsheviks. This odd fact caught Alexander’s attention. Research showed that Leonka, as the family called him, was taken across the street to the guardhouse and lost to history. All the rest of the servants, held in the house with the Romanovs, were killed with the family. The possibility of a survivor occurred to Alexander.

"The Kitchen Boy" is a "what if" book. Leonka was born in 1904. What if there was a survivor? What if he lived to a ripe old age? What would he tell about the mysteries that surrounded this climactic event? This is the premise of "The Kitchen Boy"—a wonderfully written historical novel.

Alexander’s second book, "Rasputin’s Daughter" again returns to the machinations surrounding the last Imperial family. Grigori Rasputin was the notorious "holy man" who managed to worm his way into the confidence of Empress Alexandra. Nothing more than an illiterate peasant Rasputin passed himself off to the Empress as a holy man and healer. With her husband gone to the Eastern Front of the Great War, Alexandra was left to govern the motherland. Frantic about the health of her hemophiliac son, Alexei, and lost without her husband, the Empress became more and more dependent on the advice of the enigmatic priest, who promised to heal her son. In the book a special commission set up to investigate the forces that led to the fall of the House of Romanov, interrogates Rasputin’s oldest daughter Maria. The book is told through her eyes. Once again, the history of this tumultuous period comes to life.

The final book, "The Romanov Bride", is one I’ve downloaded from OverDrive. Grand Duchess Elisavyeta is "The Romanov Bride". Her husband Sergei was the brother of the Tsar and the Governor General of Moscow. Ella, a sister to the Tsarina, lived a lavish lifestyle until the assassination of her husband. Following his death, the grief-stricken widow sold her valuables and built a convent, which served as a hospital as well as a home for orphaned children. Not widely known outside Russia, the Russian Orthodox Church declared Ella a saint and "new martyr of the Bolshevik yoke". The book juxtaposes the privileged life of the Grand Duchess with the hardscrabble life of fictional revolutionary Pavel.

As I listened to "The Romanov Bride", I thought what a enjoyable way to study history. Robert Alexander’s books are authentic and historically accurate. The library currently has copies of both "The Kitchen Boy" and "Rasputin’s Daughter". "The Romanov Bride" is available on OverDrive Downloadable Audiobooks.

:: Go to Library Home ::

Scottsbluff Public Library :: 1809 Third Avenue :: Scottsbluff, NE 69361 :: 308-630-6250