Book Blurb
There’s a heavy price to pay for royalty in this compelling—and true—story of Anastasia Romanov and fellow grand duchesses of Russia, from an award-winning novelist.It’s summer in 1914 and the Romanovs are aboard the Standart, the Russian royal yacht. Tsar Nicholas, Tsaritsa Alexandra, their four daughters, and the youngest child, Tsarevitch Alexei, are sailing to Romania to meet Crown Prince Carol and his parents. It seems like a fairy tale existence for the four grand duchesses, dressed in beautiful clothes, traveling from palace to palace. But it’s not.
Life inside the palace is far from a fairy tale. The girls’ younger brother suffers from an excruciatingly painful and deadly blood disease, and their parents have chosen to shield the Russian people from the severity of the future tsar’s condition. The secrets and strain are hard on the family, and conditions are equally dire beyond the palace walls. Peasants chafe under the burden of extreme poverty and Tsar Nicholas’s leadership power weakens. And when the unthinkable happens—Germany declares war on Russia—nothing in Anastasia’s world will ever be the same.
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Toot's Review by Stacy Sabala
This story is written according to Anastasia Romanov’s point of view. She remembers how life was like before her parents were removed from their palace and banished. Anastasia tells the story of what life was like as the daughter of the Tsar of Russia and what her mother was like. She included the palaces, the people and the intense scrutiny that the girls were taught to withstand. She and her sisters must hold themselves above reproach. The family dynamics that were revealed in this story were fascinating.
The story includes what it was like for her family when Germany and Austria declared war on Russia in 1914. The author shows how confused Anastasia and Maria were being the younger two girls. They were usually kept in the dark. Anastasia was resourceful and figured out other ways to learn information she desired. What she discovered was confusing and heartbreaking at times. Knowing how the story would end, I found it fascinating how the author took the story of the royal family and wrote a book that would interest younger readers. It’s an excellent young adult story. I would encourage my students to read it. I give it a 4 out of 5.
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