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The Grand Duchess of Nowhere
There is one great love in everyone's life.
For Ducky, Princess Victoria Melita, hers was a Romanov cousin, a member of the doomed Russian royal family. Her father is Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Victoria's second son. Her mother is Grand Duchess Marie, the daughter of Tsar Alexander II. Ducky seems doomed to be a pawn on her grandmother's dynastic chessboard.
But Ducky is not so easily controlled. In an era when death is considered preferable to divorce she fights for the freedom to be with the true love of her life. From disgraced exile in Paris to the glitter of St Petersburg and the mud and carnage of the Eastern Front, she forges her own path.
As Russia descends into the chaos of 1917 and the Romanov dynasty falters, Ducky is right at the heart of events.
Exiled once more, she tells us her story.
For Ducky, Princess Victoria Melita, hers was a Romanov cousin, a member of the doomed Russian royal family. Her father is Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Victoria's second son. Her mother is Grand Duchess Marie, the daughter of Tsar Alexander II. Ducky seems doomed to be a pawn on her grandmother's dynastic chessboard.
But Ducky is not so easily controlled. In an era when death is considered preferable to divorce she fights for the freedom to be with the true love of her life. From disgraced exile in Paris to the glitter of St Petersburg and the mud and carnage of the Eastern Front, she forges her own path.
As Russia descends into the chaos of 1917 and the Romanov dynasty falters, Ducky is right at the heart of events.
Exiled once more, she tells us her story.
328 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2014
333 people are currently reading
683 people want to read
About the author
Laurie Graham
41 books139 followersLaurie Graham was first published at the advanced age of 40. Gentle comedy is her style. She is the author of seventeen novels, including the best-selling The Future Homemakers of America and its sequel, The Early Birds
Mother of four, grandmother of many, Laurie is married to a New Yorker and lives in County Dublin, Ireland.
You can visit her website, read what she's up to and say hello at http://lauriegraham.com
Mother of four, grandmother of many, Laurie is married to a New Yorker and lives in County Dublin, Ireland.
You can visit her website, read what she's up to and say hello at http://lauriegraham.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews
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January 26, 2018Interested in Melita, yet not sure the Laurie Graham transport will please...
December 9, 2016
i really enjoyed this book. as with other reviews I did struggle a bit with all the various relationships/kinships of all the characters to each other, with the overriding theme being the Romanovs an how they were related. it is an unusual departure of the story of the Romanovs, this time through the eyes of Ducky, one of Queen Victorias granddaughters, and although I was a bit sceptical of the usage of some of the phraseology and idioms use by Ducky in her narrative- not sure if the characters in that time period would really have used some of the idioms?- I still found it a really absorbing read and it gave me particulary a better insight into the Romanovs.
September 30, 2019
An exceptional book.
I read The Grand Duchesse of Nowhere just after its publication when its publishers had entered it for the Romantic Novel of the Year. Back then, I was embargoed from mentioning it or writing a review. However, I found it a deep and absorbing novel about characters caught in the carnage of war, and split between the conventions of the time, their responsibilities as part of a ruling class, and their own desires for emotional fulfillment.
The best book of that years reads, and one I felt that should have been shortlisted.
I read The Grand Duchesse of Nowhere just after its publication when its publishers had entered it for the Romantic Novel of the Year. Back then, I was embargoed from mentioning it or writing a review. However, I found it a deep and absorbing novel about characters caught in the carnage of war, and split between the conventions of the time, their responsibilities as part of a ruling class, and their own desires for emotional fulfillment.
The best book of that years reads, and one I felt that should have been shortlisted.
June 14, 2021
An excellent book. I enjoy Laurie Graham's books, particularly those about history with a story weaved around key events. This was an enjoyable read covering the large dynasty of Queen Victoria's grandchildren and the Russian revolution. I admit I don't know much about the history of Russia, but I found the story informative and liked the characters.
September 1, 2019
Hatred isn't even a strong enough word to describe just how much I loathed this book. This author doesn't know anything about history or how to conduct the most simple of research into the periods she writes for. Her writing style is lacking and the way quality of writing in this book is abysmal.
The main character of this book (Victoria Melita) is disgusting. She isn't even the princess whatsoever. As a matter of fact, this character has stolen the historical figure's name and is posing as the woman. This is the same with all the historical figures that are being represented in this shit literature. Laurie Graham needs to know that there is a lot more to do in historical fiction that doing a two second google search into the names of the royal family at the time and inserting poorly developed cardboard cutouts of the characters. You can't just write a book about Melita and drop her name into it expecting us to appreciate the fact that it is a historical fiction novel because 'oh look, there's the name of a famous historical figure in it!'
That's not how any of this works. In order to have a historical fiction novel, the author must research into the time their book is set in. If there's any historical figures present in the story, then the author must conduct research into the characters of these historical persons because historical fiction is just like fanfiction. You can't write fanfiction if you don't understand the canon that you are writing for. If you write shitty fanfiction it's because you have no understanding or appreciation for the canon characters and how they are represented in the canon. The true can be said in historical fiction. You can't write historical fiction if you have absolutely no idea or appreciation for history or for the historical figures being represented in your book.
The language of this book was just awful. If I remember correctly in the first ten pages we have two princesses (in the Victorian Age) talking about how babies are made where the man 'inserts his pee pee into you' and 'it creates a baby that you then pop out'.
I want my historical fiction to be well researched with developed characters and a plot line that is just as developed. If it is none of these things then I will hate it. This wasn't a historical fiction novel. This was nothing more than a poorly written joke.
The main character of this book (Victoria Melita) is disgusting. She isn't even the princess whatsoever. As a matter of fact, this character has stolen the historical figure's name and is posing as the woman. This is the same with all the historical figures that are being represented in this shit literature. Laurie Graham needs to know that there is a lot more to do in historical fiction that doing a two second google search into the names of the royal family at the time and inserting poorly developed cardboard cutouts of the characters. You can't just write a book about Melita and drop her name into it expecting us to appreciate the fact that it is a historical fiction novel because 'oh look, there's the name of a famous historical figure in it!'
That's not how any of this works. In order to have a historical fiction novel, the author must research into the time their book is set in. If there's any historical figures present in the story, then the author must conduct research into the characters of these historical persons because historical fiction is just like fanfiction. You can't write fanfiction if you don't understand the canon that you are writing for. If you write shitty fanfiction it's because you have no understanding or appreciation for the canon characters and how they are represented in the canon. The true can be said in historical fiction. You can't write historical fiction if you have absolutely no idea or appreciation for history or for the historical figures being represented in your book.
The language of this book was just awful. If I remember correctly in the first ten pages we have two princesses (in the Victorian Age) talking about how babies are made where the man 'inserts his pee pee into you' and 'it creates a baby that you then pop out'.
I want my historical fiction to be well researched with developed characters and a plot line that is just as developed. If it is none of these things then I will hate it. This wasn't a historical fiction novel. This was nothing more than a poorly written joke.
April 28, 2015
I reviewed this book for novelicious: http://www.novelicious.com/2014/12/re...
Ducky, the titular Grand Duchess, is Princess Victoria Melita – through her father she’s one of Queen Victoria’s many granddaughters but through her mother she’s a granddaughter of Tsar Alexander II. Her story takes you from a minor German princedom to a ringside seat as the Russian revolution gets underway with terrifying consequences for Ducky and her extended family. But it’s also an unusual love story – as Ducky fights back against “Grandma Queen’s” obsession with marrying off her descendants and tries to manipulate royal protocol to get her man.
These machinations eventually take Ducky to Russia and of course the last Empress – Sunny – is another cousin. This means that Ducky is always hovering around the outside of the Imperial inner circle, leaving the reader perfectly placed to get the inside scoop on the dying days of the Romanovs.
Reading Ducky’s story is like having a chat with a friendly (and possibly slightly drunken) old lady that you got talking to at a cocktail party. She’s witty, a little bit indiscrete and not particularly politically astute. I’ve no idea how much of it is truth and how much is invention – but it is wickedly entertaining reading. There’s a large cast of supporting characters – Ducky’s extended family is sprawling, complicated and rife with nicknames. But it’s a testament to Graham’s writing that I only had to refer to the family tree at the front twice – on both occasions near the start of the book.
I’ve read quite a few of Laurie Graham’s novels and my favourites are the ones, like this one, which take a sideways look at history – you know how it is going to turn out but it’s a lot of fun finding out how you get there. But The Grand Duchess of Nowhere more than that – Ducky is not just a not-entirely-disinterested observer of the downfall of the last Tsar, she’s also got an interesting story of her own as she tries to make her mark in the world. This isn’t my favourite Laurie Graham novel – that title still belongs to Gone With The Windsors – but it runs it pretty close.
9/10
Ducky, the titular Grand Duchess, is Princess Victoria Melita – through her father she’s one of Queen Victoria’s many granddaughters but through her mother she’s a granddaughter of Tsar Alexander II. Her story takes you from a minor German princedom to a ringside seat as the Russian revolution gets underway with terrifying consequences for Ducky and her extended family. But it’s also an unusual love story – as Ducky fights back against “Grandma Queen’s” obsession with marrying off her descendants and tries to manipulate royal protocol to get her man.
These machinations eventually take Ducky to Russia and of course the last Empress – Sunny – is another cousin. This means that Ducky is always hovering around the outside of the Imperial inner circle, leaving the reader perfectly placed to get the inside scoop on the dying days of the Romanovs.
Reading Ducky’s story is like having a chat with a friendly (and possibly slightly drunken) old lady that you got talking to at a cocktail party. She’s witty, a little bit indiscrete and not particularly politically astute. I’ve no idea how much of it is truth and how much is invention – but it is wickedly entertaining reading. There’s a large cast of supporting characters – Ducky’s extended family is sprawling, complicated and rife with nicknames. But it’s a testament to Graham’s writing that I only had to refer to the family tree at the front twice – on both occasions near the start of the book.
I’ve read quite a few of Laurie Graham’s novels and my favourites are the ones, like this one, which take a sideways look at history – you know how it is going to turn out but it’s a lot of fun finding out how you get there. But The Grand Duchess of Nowhere more than that – Ducky is not just a not-entirely-disinterested observer of the downfall of the last Tsar, she’s also got an interesting story of her own as she tries to make her mark in the world. This isn’t my favourite Laurie Graham novel – that title still belongs to Gone With The Windsors – but it runs it pretty close.
9/10
February 2, 2020
Laurie Graham’s dry wit and colourful characterisation of the British Royal family into which Princess Victoria Melita was born is so compelling - and please excuse the cliche - I couldn’t put it down.
Known by her large family and her 'Grandma Queen Victoria', as ‘Ducky’, Victoria sees her royal family as if she’s examining them through a looking glass. She loves them all but at the same time is pragmatic and accepting of all their faults, pride and questionable behaviour, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t feel deep emotion, she simply has a very stoic English way of dealing with it.
Her Mother, the Duchess of Edinburgh, a Romanov daughter of the Tsar who saw herself as grander than Queen Victoria, ‘who was after all only the daughter of a duke!’ Ducky recounts her hilarious attempts to upstage the British monarch in throwaway tone and a mental shrug of her shoulders..
Then there are Ducky’s cousins, one of which was Empress Alix of Russia, who was known as ‘Sunny’ Ducky tells us she finds this strange when she never smiled. This sent me looking through old Victorian photographs online and she was right – Empress Alix never did! [Maybe she had prior knowledge of what would happen to her?]
Ducky’s account shows the family of Queen Victoria as individuals with their own problems, prejudices, infidelities, confused paternity and bad judgements. It’s a fabulous story and where we all imagine life must have been an easy dream for royalty, this book shows that nothing is quite as it seems and in our own way we are all teetering on the edge of the abyss. A fascinating and beautifully written story and one which deserves space on a shelf in anyone's library, especially mine!
I received a free copy of this novel from Quercus Books in exchange for an honest review
Known by her large family and her 'Grandma Queen Victoria', as ‘Ducky’, Victoria sees her royal family as if she’s examining them through a looking glass. She loves them all but at the same time is pragmatic and accepting of all their faults, pride and questionable behaviour, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t feel deep emotion, she simply has a very stoic English way of dealing with it.
Her Mother, the Duchess of Edinburgh, a Romanov daughter of the Tsar who saw herself as grander than Queen Victoria, ‘who was after all only the daughter of a duke!’ Ducky recounts her hilarious attempts to upstage the British monarch in throwaway tone and a mental shrug of her shoulders..
Then there are Ducky’s cousins, one of which was Empress Alix of Russia, who was known as ‘Sunny’ Ducky tells us she finds this strange when she never smiled. This sent me looking through old Victorian photographs online and she was right – Empress Alix never did! [Maybe she had prior knowledge of what would happen to her?]
Ducky’s account shows the family of Queen Victoria as individuals with their own problems, prejudices, infidelities, confused paternity and bad judgements. It’s a fabulous story and where we all imagine life must have been an easy dream for royalty, this book shows that nothing is quite as it seems and in our own way we are all teetering on the edge of the abyss. A fascinating and beautifully written story and one which deserves space on a shelf in anyone's library, especially mine!
I received a free copy of this novel from Quercus Books in exchange for an honest review
October 16, 2014
I've never read anything by Laurie Graham before, and to be honest the only reason I picked this up was because the Romanovs and Russian history in generals are great passions of mine.
Initially I found this quite dry and hard going as I flipped back to the family tree every couple of paragraphs. After a while I decided to stop and just go with the flow of the novel, which made a big difference.
Overall a brilliant novel that genuinely bought history to life. Laurie Graham made the historical figures feel real and relevant.
Initially I found this quite dry and hard going as I flipped back to the family tree every couple of paragraphs. After a while I decided to stop and just go with the flow of the novel, which made a big difference.
Overall a brilliant novel that genuinely bought history to life. Laurie Graham made the historical figures feel real and relevant.
January 13, 2015
I initially only read this as I am very much interested in the Romanovs and Russia itself, but I was very much surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. It has started me on another path of interest in the European royal family.
Ducky is a lovable character that I found myself deeply caring about. The courage and belief in love and family shown by her throughout her life is inspirational.
It was very interesting to read a book about the Romanovs from a different perspective, albeit one that made me cringe at times.
An impressive read and one that won't disappoint.
Ducky is a lovable character that I found myself deeply caring about. The courage and belief in love and family shown by her throughout her life is inspirational.
It was very interesting to read a book about the Romanovs from a different perspective, albeit one that made me cringe at times.
An impressive read and one that won't disappoint.
May 5, 2017
I wasn't expecting to enjoy this quite as much as I did, although I do love a good historical novel. I think, apart from being compelling and relatively well-written, I also didn't know a huge amount about the Russian revolution and world war 1 from that perspective so I found it very interesting. But it is a romance at heart... recommended for a great story and an easy read.
December 30, 2018
I cannot rate this book highly enough. I loved every word, every page. It enlightened me to a time in history I knew very little about and am now very intrigued by. All thanks to Laurie Graham. Her story telling is masterful. And after all of that, I feel absolutely bereft that my reading of this book has come to an end.
April 24, 2015
Loved this book. Another slightly irreverent look at a historical period through the eyes of one who saw it all. Like all her other books it made we want to find out more about the time and the history.
May 13, 2019
Cartea asta m-a întristat teribil și m-a făcut cumva mult mai conștientă de faptul că viața poate suferi o turnură neașteptată, una în urma căreia pur și simplu nu mai știi unde te afli și cine ești. Trist, extrem de trist! 😥😥
November 20, 2014
Yet another excellent read form ms. Graham. Set in the Russian revolution, princess Victoria Melita marries into the Romanov family.this book made me laugh and cry in equal measure.
August 6, 2016
Loved it, loved it, loved it. Laurie Graham is one of my favourite authors and this book did not disappoint. She really gets atmosphere of of the era.
August 23, 2016
A fascinating book chronicling the fall of the house of Romanov.
April 2, 2025
I really loved this book!
June 24, 2021
A high 3.5, rounded up.
This book was a lot more than I expected, and therefore i enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. The tagline is: what would you give up for love? This led me to believe that the story would be a grand romance but when I began reading, the romance felt like a sideline to the narrative. I enjoyed that side of the story, but I felt there was much less romance than expected.
That being said, I'm glad it wasn't what i expected. The narrator is more of an observer than a participant, recording her experience of the Royal families of Europe in the changing times in the early 20th century. It gives a unique perspective on WW1 & the collapse of the Romanov rule that I haven't considered before. That all the royal families of Europe were related somehow gives new things to consider when thinking about this area of history and a really interesting and engaging narrative.
There are a LOT of characters in this book, but I think the author does a good job of distinguishing between them to avoid confusion. Each of the characters also has their own little personality which makes them come to life. The descriptions are vivid and the pace is brilliant. It feels very confidential, and I really enjoyed that.
This book was a lot more than I expected, and therefore i enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. The tagline is: what would you give up for love? This led me to believe that the story would be a grand romance but when I began reading, the romance felt like a sideline to the narrative. I enjoyed that side of the story, but I felt there was much less romance than expected.
That being said, I'm glad it wasn't what i expected. The narrator is more of an observer than a participant, recording her experience of the Royal families of Europe in the changing times in the early 20th century. It gives a unique perspective on WW1 & the collapse of the Romanov rule that I haven't considered before. That all the royal families of Europe were related somehow gives new things to consider when thinking about this area of history and a really interesting and engaging narrative.
There are a LOT of characters in this book, but I think the author does a good job of distinguishing between them to avoid confusion. Each of the characters also has their own little personality which makes them come to life. The descriptions are vivid and the pace is brilliant. It feels very confidential, and I really enjoyed that.
January 29, 2018
Great to read a historical novel about one of Queen Victoria's lesser known grandchildren, Princess Victoria Melita (nicknamed Ducky) and her experiences of the First World War and Russian Revolution. Graham includes the full cast of early 20th century royalty including Czar Nicholas II's colourful extended family in Russia and Ducky's sister Queen Marie of Romania. The novel is written in a light, breezy style and can be read in an afternoon. Includes a detailed family tree explaining all the relationships and nicknames among Europe's royal families.
July 28, 2019
Historical fiction would probably be my favourite genre and this did not disappoint. The Grand Duchess of Nowhere, Victoria Melita (granddaughter of Queen Victoria), married her Romanov cousin and moved from Bavaria to Petrograd. This story encompasses WWI and the Russian Revolution but focuses on 'Ducky', as she is known, only touching on the other members of Russian royalty. I did appreciate the epilogue where it covered the latter years. Nice to read about Russia from a perspective other than Nicholas & Alexandra, albeit still the privileged side.
May 10, 2019
I felt like this book took me forever to read, even though it only took 8 days. This wasn’t a bad book, however I just was never able to connect with the main character. I can’t even blame it on lack of action, as it was set during wartime. My main beef was that for a woman who was supposed to be forward thinking and independent and drove an ambulance during the war, she was frustratingly naive about so many other things.
July 6, 2019
This was a very interesting book throwing light on the very confusing Romanoff family and the Russian Revolution although it takes you through the time of Ducky's very I teresting life but it was told with no sparkle the Wikipedia page was more Interesting and gave a feeling of the time. An interesting book and I feel for the family as they fled Russia as much as you can for people surrounded by wealth and privilege a good educational read
February 3, 2020
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I read all I can find on Russian history and especially the Romanovs. The main character is one of queen Victoria's granddaughters Victoria Melita (Ducky) who I knew very little about. Refreshing to read of the lesser known Romanovs. I loved the time period the novel was set in. Written in a very easy to read style and a great story unfolded. My first Laurie Graham book and would recommend it to anyone interested in Russian history.
May 27, 2018
This story follows one of Queen Victoria's grandchildren 'Ducky' and her experiences of the First World War and Russian Revolution. I did sometimes find it difficult to keep to grips with the relationships between everyone in the story, however, the family tree at the front of the book was useful for reference.
December 16, 2018
This book is an easy read but not super compelling. I enjoyed it because I liked the history in the story it tells and also enjoyed the first person narrator. It got me curious about Russian history and the Romanovs. If you aren't someone that finds history or royal families interesting this is probably not the book for you.
December 9, 2020
Another good book from this author. A interesting fictionalisation of an interesting period of history.
It was slightly confusing with all the similar names, but the family tree helped. If you’d listened to this, it must have been very hard to grasp who was who. How Queen Victoria remembered all her relations is anyone’s guess!
It was slightly confusing with all the similar names, but the family tree helped. If you’d listened to this, it must have been very hard to grasp who was who. How Queen Victoria remembered all her relations is anyone’s guess!
July 18, 2017
Couldn't decide 3 or 4 stars. Very light book about one of Queen Victoria's grandchildren and the downfall of the Russian monarchy, but smoothly written and strangely enjoyable, making me look up more information about the characters as they were introduced. Will be trying another of her books.
November 26, 2017
Laurie Graham writes well but as a historical novel it was a bit too light for me - I didn't get enough of the feeling of the country, the times or the people - we just seemed to float through Ducky's life.
September 10, 2020
Good but not great.
I hadn't really realised just how in-bred and widespread the descendants of Queen Victoria were. I had a hard time keeping up with them all in this book, despite the helpful (messy!) family tree in the front of the book. Especially with all the nicknames!
I hadn't really realised just how in-bred and widespread the descendants of Queen Victoria were. I had a hard time keeping up with them all in this book, despite the helpful (messy!) family tree in the front of the book. Especially with all the nicknames!
September 26, 2021
I enjoyed reading about the history of the Romanov and various related royalty. When reading the blurb I expected a grand love story and unfortunately that is not what I found it to be.
Interesting historically but the characters didn’t have an ounce of romance in their body.
Interesting historically but the characters didn’t have an ounce of romance in their body.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews