The Tsarina's Daughter

by Carolly Erickson

From the bestselling author of The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette comes a dramatic novel and powerful love story about the last Russian imperial family.

It is 1989 and Daria Gradov is an elderly grandmother living in the rural West. What neighbors and even her children don’t know, however, is that she is not who she claims to be—the widow of a Russian immigrant of modest means. In actuality she began her life as the Grand Duchess Tatiana, known as Tania to her parents, Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra.

And so begins the latest entrancing historical entertainment by Carolly Erickson. At its center is young Tania, who lives a life of incomparable luxury in pre-Revolutionary Russia, from the magnificence of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg to the family’s private enclave outside the capital.

Tania is one of four daughters, and the birth of her younger brother Alexei is both a blessing and a curse. When he is diagnosed with hemophilia and the key to his survival lies in the mysterious power of the illiterate monk Rasputin, it is merely an omen of much worse things to come.

Soon war breaks out and revolution sweeps the family from power and into claustrophobic imprisonment in Siberia. Into Tania’s world comes a young soldier whose life she helps to save and who becomes her partner in daring plans to rescue the imperial family from certain death.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Russia, Fiction, Historical, Royalty, Romance, Romanovs

325 pages, Hardcover

First published September 30, 2008

About the author

Distinguished historian Carolly Erickson is the author of The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette, The First Elizabeth, Great Catherine, Alexandra and many other prize-winning works of fiction and nonfiction. She lives in Hawaii.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/caroll...

Reviews

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not my first "historical entertainment" read by Carolly Erickson and I would have to point out that I knew what would happen. I knew that by the end it would be "I loved it and I wish it could have really happened that way, but it didn't." Plenty of my fellow reviewers are correct in pointing out that (1) the characterization of the Romanov family is all shades of wrong, (2) much of the plot could never have really been fathomable given what we know of the constraints the children actually had to face.

So, why even bother giving it an average rating? Well, CE is quite the writer and she knows how to suck a reader into her world. There is also the fact that I love reading about Russia/Russian Revolution/Romanovs. I was intrigued (a) by the cover, (b) that Erickson chooses Tatiana rather than the heavily mythologised Anastasia,(c) that she paints a "what if one of them got away from the terrible fate that actually accompanied them."

Sure, there were predictable elements. I knew as soon as Tatiana met the peasant Daria what was going to happen. Of course, Tatiana is going to speak like a modern day woman that will leave you wondering in which chapter she will burn her corset. All in all, if in the end this book makes a person want to find out the real story, then I would say that CE has accomplished her mission.

[Megan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Do NOT read this book. It deviates from history so badly it is blasphemous. Anyone who is familiar with Russia's last Tsar and his family will be horrified by how the author portrays them. If you want to read about the last Tsar and his family, read a history book.

[Debbie W. · Rating 1 out of 5]

There were conspiracy theories that one or more of the grand duchesses survived the 1918 assassination of the Romanov family, including Tatiana; however, DNA testing in 2008 concluded that everyone in the family was executed. I like historical fiction, but this one was too out there! Even in this genre, I appreciate when the author sticks to the actual events that have occurred. I guess I should have paid more attention to the plot summary that says this book is more entertainment than history! My bad!

[Lyd's Archive (7/'15 to 6/'18) · Rating 2 out of 5]

A cliché saying for a cliché book: I could not love it.

Trope Check
*Instalove
*breakup due to bad sex
*rich-girl-meets-poor-boy
*hater "Christians"
*heroine's unawareness of potential pregnancies

Full rant
Maybe my expectations were too high because the author was a historian, of maybe I don't get the degree of fiction she wanted to add to history. This book had a lot of potential, and during the first third of the book it seemed to fit my expectations. There was no cliché prologue that goes to 1917 before beginning in 1914 or whenever the way all the YA Romanov books do. Since Erickson used Tatiana instead of Anastasia as a narrator, the story begins earlier than most books do. The voice was not to any degree kiddish or cringe-worthy and it really had me hooked for a good 50 or so pages (I was surprisingly not put off by the escaping-the palace thing.

The following grievances prevented me from giving this 5 stars. Forgive me if I sound snobbish. I've probably read too many books on the Romanovs for my own good.

1. Stereotypes
Michael is a hot exotic hunk who does everything for Tatiana and we never see what he likes in her. He initially seemed too sensible to go after a girl just because she's pretty.
There is a cameo appearance by a bear-training gypsy who, of course, is no good and mocks are unsympathetic heroine. Way to go. Not only to we have cliche romance, we have racism.
Not to mention there is an earlier cameo appearance by an actual historical figure, Queen Victoria's daughter Helena, being a stereotypical hater "Christian" and talking about how her sister Alice went to Hell. Did Helena really act like that? This scene makes no sense. Not only are all the other characters Christian, but the main character shows no signs of weakening faith and the scene is as unnecessary as Parmesan cheese on brownies.

2. Anglicization/ lack of understanding of the Russian language While in all the Romanov nonfiction books I read that featured them called them Kossikovskaya and Kchessinskaya, Erickson insists on calling them Kossikovsy and Kchessinksy. I'm a bit over-zealous about this but hey, take a hint. In addition, the female form of starets is staritsa, the people callled their tsar Batyushka, not Babiushka, which resmebles the words for grandmother and butterfly. The names of Tatiana's fictional commoner lovers are unrealistically anglicized. The Cyrillic for "Constantin" is KOCTAHTиH, which transliterates as Konstantin. Unless he is Romanian, that's what it should be. Michael is also unrealistically anglicized because if he's from the Caucasus, he likely wouldn't know English and would call himself Mikhail instead.
I guess it beats Etanovich (If you didn't like this book, don't read Dreaming Anastasia.

3. Characters A bigger problem is that Erickson's Tatiana is basically a hypocrite. She goes on and on about how terrible her father's ex-mistress Mathilde "Kchessinsky" is but then excuses her own improbable little skirmish because everyone in her family has affairs, but still says all these things about KchessinSKAYA and how terrible she is.

IF SHE SHOWS ALL THIS EDWARDIAN RESTRAINT, THEN WHY DOES SHE GO AROUND THE CITY IN DISGUISE AND "MAKE LOVE" TO A MEDICAL STUDENT BECAUSE THE AUTHOR WANTS HER TO BREAK UP WITH HIM AND END UP WITH A SEXY STEREOTYPICAL EXOTIC HUNK WHO DOES EVERYTHING FOR HER?
Sorry if that was too angry. I was actually screaming about their "love making" when I read this book.


If you want a hot guy named Michael, read Devil's Kiss.

It was totally out of character for both lovers to "make love", especially the second time. Unlike inAnastasia's Secret the first time is un-cliché and only about halfway through the book, I thought maybe she would learn from her mistake and wait until she's known the guy for at least eighteen months, or hopefully, until marriage. Since the Edwardians lacked contraceptives, it seems unrealistic that she can come out ow two affairs without any illegitimate children which would then spoil the secrecy of her romance because everyone would notice her pregnancy.

Miranda sings would say "Dear Lord, forgive her for being porn."


In addition, her more cliché "lovemaking" with Michael happens at the worst time possible. The moment I'm glad she broke up with "Constantin" and think he's the sensible one, they decide to "make love" when their romance has had hardly any chance to develop and it seems totally out of both of their characters.

Tatiana and all her lovers should have taken middle-school sex-ed. Not to mention her sisters are basically cardboard. Whatever happened to Olga and Tatiana as "We Two" in matching outfits running around Cowes together? (In The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra and Alix and Nicky: The Passion of the Last Tsar and Tsarina
4. Unnecessary historical liberties. Olga did not fall in love with anyone named Victor/Viktor. If I remember The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra correctly, she had a wartime crush on Dmitri Shakh-Bagov. Since Olga is not the focus of the book, why does this guy have to exist? It's obvious why Tatiana's relationships with Dmitri Malama and Vladimir Kiknadze are left out of the plot but why not Olga's actual romantic interests?

And that thing called the Bayonet. He reminds me of that really dumb villain in The Secret of Anastasia, the movie I laugh at rather than with.

There are a few other examples that I don't feel like mentioning, but let me say I'm glad their original escape plan failed because it was an all-too-convenient, totally cliché event that comes out of a Disney movie full of plot holes.

And Prince Adalbert doesn't need to exist in this book. I hated how she has not one but two secret, in-the-garden, rendezvouses (that doesn't sound like a word, but you get what I mean). I liked it when I read those scenes, but in retrospect, this book need only be about 100 pages long.

So there. In conclusion, I could not like this book.
This book has been shelved on "I'm-sorry-author" because I did not intend to read this book and give it the hate I did. This is merely my honest opinion.

[Jeanne Beaudet · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is absolutely one of the WORST books I have ever read. I understand that in historical fiction, certain liberties are taken but this one distorts the truth beyond belief:

* Tatiana, Grand Duchess, daughter of the Tsar is best friends with servants and goes beyond the Palace into the slums.

* Dowager Empress Marie is so sinister that she smuggles in Sigmund Freud under the alias Mr. Schmidt in an attempt to have Alexandra committed.

* Tatiana has two affairs. The Romanov daughters were pretty cut off from the world in fact.

* Nicholas attends strip clubs and resumes his affair with the ballerina Mathilde.

* Olga, Tatiana's sister, is mean and spiteful.

* Olga, Tatiana's aunt, helps her have pre-marital sex.

The book is completely disrespectful to the closeness of the last Romanov family. Nicholas may have been a weak ruler, but he was a great family man. This book is an insult to their memory.

What makes the book so disappointing is that I have always enjoyed Carolly Erickson's non-fiction. After this, I am really soured towards the author. I don't know if I can pick up one of her books again.

[Helen Azar · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would like to at least say that this book was an entertaining read, but honestly can't... I am not even sure how I finished it... The second daughter of the Tsar of Russia having two lovers before the age of 18? Gallivanting all over town on her own? Some whimsy in historical fiction is ok I suppose, but this went completely overboard... Many parts of this book basically read like a very bad and corny romance novel. I won't mention any of the other "plots" in case someone still wants to read this, but I am hoping that the reader won't take any of it seriously... None of it has to do with history. Too bad the author had to choose a historical character to run away with her imagination, she would have done better creating a completely fictional Russian girl who lived during the revolution... I would not recommend this book, even for entertainment value... To me it read more like a trashy novel than anything else, and smacked strongly of someone just trying cash in on the current interest in the last Russian imperial family.

[Misfit · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've just bailed at under 50 pages. I know it's fiction or "historical entertainment" as the book jacket says but even if I was in the mood to suspend disbelief -Tatiana making friends with a servant's daughter in the kitchen?? When she put on a peasant dress and left with food to go feed -- I don't even know who and I wall banged it. The writing and storyline were just not compelling enough to keep me going. Get it from the library first if you must, don't waste your money.

[Lisa Lap · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book took me longer than books usually do but I found it enjoyable nonetheless. I'm always fascinated to read "what may have been" in regards to the demise of the Romanov family. Such tragedy that of course my imagination loves to read the possibility someone may have survived - even fictionally.

I have read many different books on this family and again, this account as told my Tatiana the second oldest daughter wrapped me right up into their history again. From all historical accounts, the way the family, especially Nicholas and Alexandra, were depicted in this novel were very realistic and believable. Nicholas was an uncertain leader in war, he often was at a loss for words and direction and it was hard to get him to take direct action. Do I think if he had been a stronger leader his family would have survived? We'll never know, but the revolution was I think inevitable regardless of what choices Nicholas did or didn't make. The joy in this story comes from Tania's personality. Her persistence to be intelligent on what is happening in her country, her desire to help, her compassion to those outside her palace walls and of course her ability to find love in most dire of times. I liked the way Tania was written and enjoyed reading the fictional account of what may have been.

It's sad that the only happy ending Tania, or any of her family can ever have is only fiction.

[Megan Mcgibney · Rating 1 out of 5]

Do NOT read this book. It deviates from history so badly it is blasphemous. Anyone who is familiar with Russia's last Tsar and his family will be horrified by how the author portrays them. If you want to read about the last Tsar and his family, read a history book.

[Natalia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Como lectora, tengo mis gustos más que definidos sobre qué quiero leer. A veces hay casos en los que me atrevo con algo nuevo para saber qué tal es, intentando no solo juzgar un libro por su portada y tomarme el tiempo para disfrutar de lo que leo, analizarlo, para así pensar en cómo transmitir lo que sentí y lo que me pareció. Y puedo decir que, en estos 24 años de lectura, he encontrado libros buenos, así como libros malos. Algunos ni siquiera he podido terminarlos de la poca conexión que hice. Pero, definitivamente, no hay nada peor que encontrarse con un libro engañoso y ese fue mi caso con este.
En el momento en que leí su sinopsis quise leerlo, pero traerlo por encargo salía mucho dinero y no estaba en ninguna parte que conociera. De suerte que lo encontré en una venta de libros de segunda mano. Estaba en buen estado y a un excelente precio, una ganga. Comencé a leerlo con mucho entusiasmo, para llegar al final con el ceño fruncido, algo que no siempre me pasa y que al ocurrir fue una tremenda decepción, como si alguien hubiese jugado con mi confianza de forma cruel. Es lo más parecido que tengo para comparar. Ahora les explicaré por qué.

Hace tres años, hice la reseña del libro “Las hermanas Romanov”, en el cual expresé mi descontento por la crueldad con que les quitaron la vida a estas cuatro jóvenes duquesas, sin tener la menor oportunidad de vivir y experimentar la libertad de una nueva era. Ese fue el motor que me motivó a tener este libro, saber cómo hubiese sido la vida, aunque fuese una sola de ellas, dejando detrás todo el horror de la guerra y la revolución. Y en este libro, “La hija del zar”, en vez de Anastasia, como casi siempre suele ocurrir, Carolly Erickson ha decidido que sea Tatiana, la segunda hija de Nicolás y Alejandra, quien cuente su propia versión.
En primera persona, se nos van narrando sus experiencias como princesa de un gran imperio, junto a sus hermanas, su relación con ellas, el descubrimiento del amor y la sexualidad, al mismo tiempo que descubre el otro lado de la vida a la que siempre ha estado acostumbrada y los cambios que ocurrían en el pueblo que más adelante derivarían en la revolución rusa y posteriormente en la ejecución de la familia imperial, acabando con los 304 años de una de las dinastías que hasta el día de hoy sigue dando de qué hablar. Todos sabemos como terminaron y en cómo teorías posteriores aseguraron que alguno pudo haber sobrevivido a los fatales disparos. Ante esta “perdida de inocencia”, Tatiana se convierte en una joven más observadora, atenta a lo que ocurre a su alrededor, sobre todo en su familia. Se pueden apreciar los conflictos que tenía la familia imperial ante la situación que pasaba el pueblo, las malas cosechas, el hambre y descontento, la mala relación que Alejandra tenía con su suegra María, junto con el desequilibrio emocional que pasaba debido a la enfermedad de Alexei, que tenía que ser escondida a todo el mundo y por eso mismo desarrolló una dependencia absoluta a Rasputin, quien fue muy mal recibido por los demás miembros de la corte rusa, lo débil que a veces era Nicolás como gobernante y su tan sonada relación con Mathilda, la bailarina de teatro imperial y los conflictos de toda la prole de parientes, conformada por todas las familias reales de Europa, según ellos, para así evitar futuras guerras o conflictos. El hecho de que los Romanov sigan siendo una familia que se sigue estudiando y especulando, se le siguen dando historia y novelas que llaman la atención del público, porque se han convertido en un mito más que en una realidad. Muchos misterios siguen sin resolver en torno a ellos, aun cuando se han encontrado pruebas concretas de la muerte de ellos.

El personaje de Tatiana está muy bien logrado y ese es uno de los puntos más fuertes del libro, la parte histórica también es excelente, porque al describir los sucesos que ocurren sin perder el ritmo es un trabajo que un buen escritor o escritora pueden hacer, más aún si se trata del género histórico, donde hay personajes reales, es como caminar por la cuerda floja. Pero al mismo tiempo, al estar tan logrado, hace que los demás miembros de la familia imperial sean meros personajes de cartón, como una copia de lo que se espera que sean y no gente con personalidad propia. Aquí los únicos personajes, además de Tatiana, que parecen estar mejor construidos, son los ficticios con los que va alternando, empezando por Daria, una joven comunista que llega a "esconderse" en el palacio, Mijaíl, un joven del cual Tatiana se enamorará perdidamente, e incluso el “cameo” que hace Sigmund Freud fue más interesante de leer, porque creo que al padre del psicoanálisis le hubiese gustado hacer un estudio exhaustivo del estado emocional de Alejandra.
Creo que el gran problema con este libro es que Carolly Erickson quiso construir una historia especial, pero en el camino se perdió la idea principal o no se atrevió a ir más allá con una perspectiva más neutral acerca de los detalles y rumores que rodearon a los demás personajes. Nos contó una historia que a los que le gustan estas tramas ya se conocen y que sabemos el desenlace. Pasé página por página buscando la tan esperada nueva vida de Tatiana, para encontrarme con que el libro termina poco después de la ejecución, en donde se nos cuenta en un breve epílogo que nuestra joven protagonista se escapó, cambió de nombre, se casó y tuvo hijos con Mijaíl. ¡Un poco más de trescientas páginas para nada!, ¿dónde están los momentos que definían la trama principal?, en unas escasas líneas que terminaron por enojarme. Así es, enojarme. Qué hizo Tatiana, cómo fue su contacto con el mundo exterior, viajar a otro continente, el cambio de épocas junto con el cambio de modas y la experiencia de convertirse en madre, viviendo con una nueva identidad, todo eso que nos prometieron seguirá lo que ha seguido siendo, un misterio y una decepción para mí.

Actualmente, en mi ebook tengo otro libro de Erickson: “El diario secreto de María Antonieta”, pero aún no sé si leerlo. Incluso me tomó tiempo hacer esta reseña, por lo que tal vez recién el próximo año, me atreva a leerlo.

[Desirae · Rating 1 out of 5]

 

Oh man, what a crock of shit.

Here's how I would have loved this novel to be:

*We open on a late summer night in Russia. Two figures are running through the woods, one a wounded Russian soldier, and the other a wounded Grand Duchess Tatiana. Tatiana has been shot, but she's able to flee, the many imperial jewels hidden in the lining of her clothing having protected her from any serious wound.

*They are on foot for many days, and take refuge at farms and local inns. Their names are changed, back stories concocted.

*Eventually they make it to Poland (or hey, maybe China) and Tatiana begins the long journey to understanding and accepting what's happened to herself and her family.

*There's a love story (obviously,) yet there is also misunderstanding and fear as well.

*Tatiana is afraid to come forward, fearing the new and violent Russian government. She's afraid to take refuge with her relatives in England, and Germany, like Russia is too dangerous.

*We end with an old woman on her deathbed, confessing all...

If I had written this novel it would have gone something like that.

I was really disappointed in how boring the story and the characters were (it must be bad if you can make the Romanov's boring) and I truly believe the writer didn't research the royal family at all. True, some of the events match up with the historical account, but these people were, nothing felt right or truthful. Tatiana and her sisters (the obsession-worthy OTMA) were vague shells.

 

[Sarah W. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this novel disappointing and very far-fetched. Not necessarily far-fetched because of the idea of the Grand Duchess Tatiana surviving, but because of numerous other events and depictions in this novel. I have trouble believing Tatiana, as the daughter of the tsar, would have been able to venture into St. Petersburg and stumble on a workers' clinic at a very young age, or that her Aunt Olga would endorse and encourage her affair with an young man when Tatiana was only a young teenager, or that Empress Alexandra might have been confined to a sanatorium by Freud. There is too much historical fiction written about the Romanov family that is simply better and more accurate than this novel. In addition to the flights of fancy, the characters lack in development and emerge as one-dimensional and flat. I try not to get too hung up on inaccuracies when I am reading fiction, but too many can make a novel seem unrealistic and this is the case for The Tsarina's Daughter.

[Diana · Rating 1 out of 5]

I get that this is fiction so it will not necessarily bear any resemblance to the real events of the decline of the Romanov family, but this went beyond the pale. The writing was very disappointing and almost like reading a high school report where the writer feels the need to cram in every fact they know about the subject, but in a way that does not fit into the story in a smooth manner. Even the facts in this book seem like fiction because of the way it is written. I wanted to badly to like this, but how can you like a book that talks about Tatiana Romanov reading to her family when WWI first breaks out and saying "I avoided War and Peace." Come on!

[Mimi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've said it before, and will say it again. There needs to be half stars on the ratings system at Goodreads. This is a solid 2.5 star book.

This book is historical fiction. On the historical front, it is not very good. The characters are cardboard and don't act how the historical record shows that they did act. There are moments you are absolutely positive this would never have happened.

However, on the fiction front, cardboard characters aside, the plot moves quickly and interestingly, and it is a quick read. Enjoyable book, but I certainly wouldn't recommend that you draw any historical information from it.

[Wendy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this shortly before I joined Goodreads, so I really thought I'd reviewed it already.... I can't remember specifics of why I hated it, outside of its blatant historical inaccuracies and its total disrespect for its portrayal of real people, but there are several fine reviews already on here that explain it quite nicely.

[Mai Laakso · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carolly Ericksonin Tsaarin tytär kertoo Venäjän tsaariperheen viimeisistä vuosista. Kirjassa kuvaillaan tapahtumia toiseksi vanhimman tyttären Tatjanan näkökulmasta. Kirjan pohjana on faktatiedot henkilöistä ja tapahtumista, mutta kirjailija on kirjoittanut kiehtovan tarinan tsaariperheelle ja heidän suvulle. Tuohon aikaan eri maiden kuninkaalliset olivat toisilleen sukua, mutta siitä huolimatta Saksa ja Itävalta-Unkari julistivat sodan Venäjää vastaan, joka sai rinnalle Ranskan ja Englannin. Kuten kirjailija kertoo kirjan tarinassa suvut tappelivat keskenään ja kymmeniä miljoonia sotilaita kuoli. Sota laajeni loppujen lopuksi koskemaan koko maapalloa keskusvaltioiden siirtomaita myöden.
Kirja on viihteellinen tarina ja kertoo mm. miten Venäjän suuriruhtinattaret ja keisarinna suorittivat hoitajatutkinnot ja tekivät ahkerasti töitä hoitamalla haavoittuneita ja keräämällä hyväntekeväisyydellä rahaa ja ruokaa sairaaloille ja köyhille. Kirjassa on myös romantiikkaa.
Tsaariperheen kohtalo on jokaisella lukijalla tiedossa, mutta kirjailija on kirjoittanut Tatjanalle tosielämästä poikkeavan loppuelämän.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well-written prose, and I love the possibility and setting. I found the heroine mediocre, however. The fictionalised Tania seems too good to be true, particularly when one considers contemporary accounts of who knew her. Personally I find Olga a fascinating character, historically, but here she is portrayed as a sour ninny, and her cleverness and passion is reduced to being a moody, bossy teacher's pet. Tania feels less real and more like the admittedly "pretty one" has been forcibly remoulded into the only Romanov with any sense, and therefore a heroine. Everyone around her seems sluggish and stupid and pitiable to the same degree, with little variation in character or Tania's contempt for them. Her multitude of virtues feel borrowed and unreal, and yet she disdains everyone else who lacks them, or who hasn't been refined by the sense of compassion allowed only for the protagonist. Tania's bratty behaviour was the only consistently real thing I noted and understood (for all her throwing bread to peasants and loving her family, she is immensely privileged.) She doesn't much examine the revolution beyond nursing a childish sense of hurt against herself and her family by faceless radicals and later blaming her father's inaction. Not unreasonably--I would fully expect Tania to be naive and spoilt, and thank goodness she was. It was the only bit of her that rang true.

[Orsolya · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was reluctant to read this book from the beginning but it always glared at me from the library shelves. I decided to give it a chance. Fluffy, boring, and "trying too hard"; I was glad when I was done reading it (luckily, it is a fast read).

Although the story of Tatiana, the daughter of the Tsar of Russia, would normally be captivating; Erickson failed to keep my attention. She desperately tried to prove the deep complexities and enduring capabities of fragile Tatiana. Did she succeed? One word: no. Maybe it is because the book comes off as "so fake" or maybe something is lacking in the details that would make make Tatiana come to life with the reader. Whatever it is, neither she nor this novel "pop".

The ending is ridiculous and is about at cheesy as the old lady in the James Cameron "Titantic" film. Actually, that was way more interesting.

Nothing sticks out in my memory and not much was learned. This is a historical fiction novel which can be skipped.

[Gabriel · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read the first seven chapters of this book via sampler on my kindle. I really did not like how the author portrayed the characters with that I've lost interest in reading the book.

[Abril Camino · Rating 2 out of 5]

No me ha gustado nada. De hecho, si la he acabado, es solo porque es verano y resulta entretenida para llevar a la playa. Pero la historia que cuenta sobrepasa demasiado el concepto de "ficción histórica". Una cosa es ficcionar unos acontecimientos para construir una novela y otra... saltarse todo rigor histórico de forma descarada. No hace falta saber demasiado sobre la familia Romanov y sus últimos años para darse cuenta de que la historia que la autora pone en la piel de Tatiana es completamente inverosímil. Y una novela ambientada en una época histórica real, con personajes reales, si pierde del todo la verosimilitud... en mi opinión deja de tener sentido. Si tiene un 2 es porque está relativamente bien escrita y se deja leer, pero no puedo recomendarla, la verdad.

[Estibaliz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Novela de ficción histórica ambientada en la última etapa de la Rusia Imperial, que aborda los sucesos previos a la Revolución de Octubre así como el inicio de la guerra civil, desde el punto de vista de Tatiana, la segunda hija del zar Nicolás.
Desde el punto de vista histórico, lo más interesante de esa historia (valga la redundancia) es su ambientación y la habilidad de la autora para transmitir las características y condiciones de una época sin caer en maniqueismos, si bien es cierto que su visión de Tania está claramente idealizada. Como ficción histórica, no se le puede pedir rigurosidad, pero igualmente esta novela entretiene a lo largo de sus 350 páginas.
3 1/2.

[Jinny · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars, IMO.

This is the third Erickson book I’ve read now, and I’ve come to a realization: if you want historical fiction that is also historically accurate, you probably won’t like Erickson’s works. But if you don’t mind authors taking some liberties with history, then you’ll probably enjoy Erickson’s novels. I fall in the latter group — I don’t mind authors making things up (though I do enjoy historical accuracy as well). And there are a lot of made up events and characters in The Tsarina’s Daughter.

In this book, the Grand Duchess Tatiana actually survived the assassination of her family and is living in Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1989. She has decided to tell the story of her family during the Russian Revolution: how her father the Tsar ran the country, how her mother dealt with her “delusions” and obsession with that “healer”, Rasputin, and how she fell in and out of love over the years until she found the right man for her.

I thought it was really interested how Erickson decided to use Tatiana, the second eldest daughter of the Tsar and Tsarina, as her main character, as most novels love romanticizing Anastasia instead. I actually have never really read anything dealing with last Tsar and his family that didn’t have Anastasia as the main character, so this was a different experience indeed. I do not know that much about Tatiana Romanov, certainly not to the extent that I know Anastasia (I had an Anastasia phase when I was in middle school; I adored the mystery surrounding the missing last duchess and wanted to know everything I could about her), but I’m certain a majority of this novel is made up, especially her romances.

However, as I said before, I don’t mind historical fiction that actually puts some real fiction in it, and I thought the story was quite well done. It was interesting, it had my attention and once I started reading, I was wrapped in the story. I actually quite enjoyed the made-up romances of Tatiana. She was a teenager at the time, after all, so I thought it plausible that she had a crush or two. However, other than the romances, I found Tatiana to be a bit of a passive character. I felt like the story was really about the Russian Revolution, just seen through Tatiana’s eyes. Even though Tatiana was the main character though, I thought the most interesting characters were her parents, Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra, who were portrayed as major players in the Revolution. We see, through Tatiana’s eyes, how her parents contributed to the decline of their family, the general lack of confidence the Russian people felt towards the monarchy, and the Russian Revolution. I would love to read a novel about those two rulers, actually! (Unfortunately, the historical royalty fiction market is still quite saturated with Tudor novels, so I might be in for a long wait).

Since the author had already chosen to go down the historically fiction route (as opposed to historically accurate), I would have loved if there was a short chapter on how Tatiana’s life had been after she moved to Canada. It would have been a nice way to wrap up the story, as opposed to what I feel was a rather blunt ending, that basically said ‘I managed to escape and move to Canada, the end’ (an exaggeration, but you know what I mean). Regardless, I enjoyed this book a lot and would recommend it to people who don’t mind large doses of fiction in their historical novels.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recently have become a fan of Carolly Erickson's historical fiction novels. I really respect her as a top-notched historian and wonderful storyteller who can bring history to life in a way that's realistic and fairly close to accurate. I've also been searching for some great Russian Revolution era/Romanov historical fiction due to the surprising lack of it on the market. I was excited when I discovered that Erickson had already penned something in that period, but was a bit discouraged by all of the negative reviews floating around on Amazon. But, I decided to try it anyway.

I wish I would have listened to the reviewers here. While not absolutely horrid, The Tsarina's Daughter is incredibly average, and, at points, surprisingly boring and seemingly far away from history.

The novel tells the story of Tatiana Romanov, the second daughter of the ill-fated last tsar of Russia. From a young age Tatiana is observant about the world around her and knows that something isn't quite right in Russia. As she grows up she learns about the world of romance, but somehow manages to stay on the fringes of all the drama surrounding her family: the long -awaited birth of heir Alexei, who turns out to be a serious hemophiliac, the tsarina's scandalous relationship with mystic Rasputin, and the growing anger against the royal family. Tatiana, however, surrenders herself to romance and seems to care little about anything aside from love, even at a surprisingly young age.

I was surprised that Erickson didn't go further into the milestone occurrences that brought the Romanov family down, especially Rasputin, nor did she talk much about Tatiana's experiences after Tsar Nicholas was forced to abdicate his throne. And things would have gotten particularly interesting if the reader could have followed Tatiana from Russia to Canada, where she supposedly ends up late in life. Basically, it all came down to lost opportunity. Tatania could have been presented as a much more interesting character, but just wasn't.

This book may be good for historical romance fans, but if you're looking for history here, don't bother with it.

[Arja · Rating 1 out of 5]

I could write so much against this book. But I'd rather comment it with a brief review that perfectly summarizes my overall impression.

A Twilight-like book, with Romanovs involved.
Historical accuracy has gone far, far away from there, side by side with its best friend character development and construction.

The only thing I can find not against this book is the general panoramic over royalty's world in XX century, its crazy richness and flaws.

[Simon]

Negative stars, if possible. The worst Romanov novel ever, and that includes the book in which Alexei was cell-phoning from the Ipatiev cellar. Don't ask. Carolly Erickson has no shame.

[Heli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Venäjän viimeisen tsaarin perheen kohtalosta on kerrottu loputtomasti tarinoita. Historiallisia romantikkoja on ensimmäisen maailmansodan jälkimainingeista lähtien kiehtonut ajatus siitä, että joku tsaariperheen jäsenistä olisi jäänyt henkiin. Huhuja ovat ruokkineet myös useat huijarit, jotka ovat esittäytyneet teloituksesta selvinneiksi suuriruhtinattariksi. Monesti juonena - ja tässä tarkoitan juonella sekä fiktiivisen teoksen juonta että ahdingosta selviytymiskeinoa - on jonkinlainen vaihdokastarina, joka useimmiten liittyy suuriruhtinatar Anastasiaan. Ja onpa keksitty myös kokonaan uusia Romanoveja: esimerkiksi romaanissa Ystäväni Rasputin selviytyjä on kuvitteellinen Ella Romanova.

Tsaarin tytär kertoo historiallisiin tositapahtumiin nähden vaihtoehtoisen version suuriruhtinatar Tatjana Romanovan elämästä. Tatjana on tsaarin tyttäristä toisiksi vanhin ja Ericksonin esittämänä myös järkevin ja neuvokkain. Hänen elämäänsä mahtuu romaaniin sopiva määrä romansseja, jännitystä ja mysteerejä.

Romaania on kritiikeissä arvosteltu siitä, että se on fiktiota. Se on sama kuin syyttäisimme joulupukkia siitä, että hän on satuhahmo. Historiallisiin tositapahtumiin perustuva tekstikin voi olla fiktiota. Se, että kerrotaan todellisista ihmisistä ja ajanjaksoista, ei tarkoita sitä, että kaiken kerrotun tulisi olla totta. Eihän maailmassa muuten olisi elämäkerta- ja muistelugenrejäkään. Tsaarin tytärtä voi lukea kuin fan fictionia: miljöö ja monet yksityiskohdat on kuvattu (historiallisestikin) uskottavasti, mutta kirjailija on ottanut omia taiteellisia vapauksiaan. Kun hyväksyy juonen historiallisen paikkansapitämättömyyden, voi nauttia tiukasti otteessaan pitävästä ja erittäin sujuvasti kerrotusta tarinasta.

[Jayme Pendergraft · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm only giving this three stars because while I enjoyed it, I think that it is missing something essential to the Romanovs. I've read a great deal of fiction and non fiction surrounding the Tsar and his family, and while there are many interpretations of their character, one thing is always there: love. Love for one another, Nicholas's and Alexandra's love for each other, and a love for Russia. That doesn't come through at all in this novel; as a matter of fact, it doesn't even seem that they like each other very much. Tatiana has great loves outside of her family, but is annoyed with her siblings and parents much of the time. I've always thought that love was the most outstanding and best feature of the Romanov family and missed that in this novel.

The book also overwhelmingly focused on the negative character traits of each family member- Nick's drinking, Alex's drug addiction, Tatiana's apparently many love affairs, Anastasia's childness, Alexi's whining. Where is the good that I'm certain was there?

Now, I don't mean to say that I didn't enjoy this book. The Romanov story has been one I've been fascinated since I first saw the movie Anastasia (the real one, with Ingrid Bergman) as a little girl. How wonderful it would be to imagine away the horrors that fell on that family. This novel is an imaginative retelling that I have not seen done before; the older sisters tend to be ignored in favor of the spirited Ana. I very much recommend this to anyone interested in the history that surrounds the Romanov dynasty.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book deals with one of my favorite topics, the Romanov family in Russia. While Erickson does a great job with the "story-telling" of this novel, her history is grossly inaccurate. The book itself was good. I loved the premise and the story. I loved that it came from Tatiana Romanov, one of the Grand Duchesses we hear much less about. However, the story was much more fiction than historical. While elements of the novel were accurate, the majority of the storyline was fictional. I would recommend this book as the reading was good, the storyline engrossing, the characters intriguing. I would just recommend that you don't take anything in the book to be a truly accurate picture of the Romanov's, the events that happened to them (as many are complete fabrications), the people surrounding the royal family or the Russia from the history books.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author's great narrative transported me back in time to Russia 100 years ago. Superb writing and sense of time period plus what it was like to be in the royal family and how weak the Royal Tsar and Tsarina's people and governing skills were.

Historical fiction lovers will enjoy this tale.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I used to read a lot of historical fiction because I do not have a lot of time to read, and these books are a fast read. Then I got very tired of them and decided that I would rather read a few pages of something good than...well, most historical fiction. I found some historical fiction novels recently that I have not read and decided to check one out on my vacation. Now I remember that Carrolly Erickson is one of the worst at taking, um, a lot of liberties with history. Having said that, she is one of the better writers of these novels. This novel is outrageously inaccurate, but she is not really claiming to be anything other than inspired by historical events. I actually enjoyed this book, although I did cringe at times at some of the fabrications. If you look at it as a historical fantasy and keep your expectations low, you may enjoy this book.