Anastasia and Her Sisters by Carolyn Meyer

Life inside the palace is far from a fairy tale. It seems like a fairy tale existence for the four grand duchesses, dressed in beautiful clothes, traveling from palace to palace. 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’s summer in 1914 and the Romanovs are aboard the Standart, the Russian royal yacht. Ornate Russian DetailĬarolyn Meyer includes some interesting tidbits that readers of any age (her book is geared toward the 12-and-up set) might appreciate: that during the war, the Russian church banned Christmas trees as that tradition hailed from Germany, the country’s opponent in the mess that became World War I, that the quality of those Fabergé eggs bestowed by the czar became somewhat lesser as times became tougher, what became of Anastasia’s teenage crush, Gleb Botkin.There’s a heavy price to pay for royalty in this compelling-and true-story of Anastasia Romanov and her fellow grand duchesses of Russia, from an award-winning novelist. Readers might enjoy ticking off the elements of Russian history they recall-the seasons in different palaces and on boats, the Fabergé eggs the czar gave to his family members, the hazy influence of the holy man cum scoundrel Grigory Rasputin, the efforts to keep Czarevich Alexei’s illness a secret, the failure of British royalty-relatives of Czarina Alexandra-to provide a safe haven for their deposed Russian cousins.

She had a mother who thought the czar ruled by divine right, a father who thought, very wrongly, that Russia would prevail in World War I, and an extended family that could convince neither of her parents about their wrongheadedness.ĭespite their plush surroundings, Anastasia Romanova and her family suffered a grim fate. Readers get a dose of what Anastasia Romanova’s life was like in her last few years as the fourth of five children-four daughters and one hemophiliac son-of Russia’s last czar, Nicholas, and his wife Alexandra. Anastasia Before and After the Revolution

Being a princess seems like a great idea until one learns about what it actually involves-living in what amounts to high-end prisons, always pressured to behave appropriately, never able to socialize with whom one would really like to.Īnastasia and her sisters’ lives were very good-if highly sheltered-until they became very bad. Ciavardini.Ĭarolyn Meyer’s historical fiction, Anastasia and Her Sisters, provides a good introduction to Russia’s ruling family and what they were up to just before the revolution. The Russian revolution was not kind to Anastasia Romanova and her family.

Anastasia and Her Sisters by Carolyn Meyer