The Pretender

by Mary Morrissy

Berlin 1920, intent on suicide a young woman is saved from drowning, but refuses to speak or give clues about her identity. Two years later she claims to be Anastasia and lives with that conviction until her death in 1984. Morrissy has created a fictional history for Franziska Schanzkowska who successfully donned the mantle of the doomed princess.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Mary Morrissy (born 1957 Dublin) is an Irish writer. Morrissy was educated at the Rathmines School of Journalism. She worked in Australia, and as a sub-editor of The Irish Press. She taught creative writing for the University of Arkansas, and University of Iowa creative writing summer programmes.

She was a Cullman Fellow at the New York Public Library, for her work-in-progress, The Duchess, an imagined autobiography of Bella O'Casey, the sister of Seán O'Casey. In 2008 - 09, she was Jenny McKean Moore "Writer in Washington" at George Washington University, Washington DC.

Her novel "Mother of Pearl" was shortlisted for the Whitbread Prize and longlisted for the Orange Prize in 1996.

Reviews

[Marisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5 stars

The opening was really compelling and pulled me along for the ride, but after that, I started to get a little lost in the book. At first, I didn't understand who Franziska was and how she related to Anastasia Romanov's story, and by the time I did realize, I was kind of bored by the book and didn't much care. I don't know why I didn't like this as much as I'd thought I would. It's written decently, and the plot itself is interesting. Once I got to Franziska's story, I lost interest, and so maybe it's that large portion of her background that made me not like this book as much. I understand it was necessary for that much background to show why "Anastasia" said and did the things she did, but still, I just wasn't that compelled by Franziska or her story. I was far more interested in "Anastasia."

Overall, I'd only really recommend this book for people who are fascinated with the story of Anastasia Romanov and love fictional "what ifs," in a sense.

[Abe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, I find this novel to be very entertaining and informative, especially concerning pre- and post-World War I Europe. However, the storyline becomes slightly distracted with inner monologues and a shuffled timeline.

[Frankie Cronin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very strange book. There were some interesting historical descriptions of life in Europe in the early 20th century and at the time of WWI in Berlin , but I lost the thread at some point when everything jumped back in time.

[Annie Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️
Delicately told, very thought provoking and nice how throughout the book you learn why Sissy’s past has shaped the person she thinks she is. Not ever timeline was as engaging, and sometimes the pace wasn’t right for me.

[منوچهر محور · Rating 2 out of 5]

این داستان بر اساس زندگی واقعی زنی به نام آنا نوشته شده است که اوایل قرن بیستم ادعا کرد شاهدخت روسی آناستازیاست. ادعای او به دلیل توجه روزنامه‌ها و اینکه چند نفر از نزدیکان خاندان سلطنتی او را باور کرده بودند تا سالها مورد بررسی دادگاه‌های آلمان بود. این داستان الهام‌بخش چند فیلم و حداقل دو کتاب بوده است. البته پس از مرگ آنا جسد آناستازیای واقعی پیدا شد و دروغ بودن ادعاهای او ثابت شد.
در این کتاب، نویسنده داستانی برای چرایی اداعاهای آنا ابداع کرده است و سعی کرده تحلیلی روان‌شناسانه از شخصیت او ارائه دهد. داستان پرکشش و آسان‌خوانی است؛ به رمان‌خوانها توصیه می‌شود.

[Helen Maltby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. I was interested in it because I have been fascinated with the story of Anna Anderson since the 1986 TV movie about her. I remember being shocked when it was revealed that she was not Anastasia (I had read several books/articles on the matter).

What I liked about this novel was the way that Morrissy took the very few facts that we have about her life prior to 1920 and developed into a biography. She weaves elements into the story so we can see how the idea or false memories may have been implanted in Franziska's mind. Morrissy created similarities between her early life as a peasant and Anastasia's as a royal princess which means that her flashbacks could have been taken either way.

A good read for anyone interested in the Anastasia/Anna Anderson 'mystery'.

[Peter Burton · Rating 5 out of 5]

It starts a little slowly but eventually became a very gripping and imaginative study of Anastasia/ the pretender.This works from the premise that has been confirmed by DNA that the pretender was just that and not the Tsar's daughter.I knew this before and the book did not suffer one bit - in fact I came to admire even more the author's skill and understanding.

[Liz Bailey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got a bit lost for a while in the storyline and was wanting a bit more insight into each reported stage of her life. I enjoyed the language even though I thought it was unnecessarily flowery at times. Slow and hard work in parts but then she would slap the reader in the face with an unexpected turn of events. To be honest I was glad to have finished it in the end. Next...

[Ethel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story that gripped my imagination at the outset but lost my attention in some sections. Overall I found that I was not that concerned about whether or not the young women in the story was Anastasia or not.