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A Daughter of the Nobility
A blend of fiction and history, authentic in each detail and overflowing with dramatic incident, A Daughter of the Nobility is a novel on the grand scale.
Born into a fairy-tale world of opulence and privilege, Tatyana Silomirskaya, a proud and rebellious descendant of Russia's founding princes, struggles to reconcile her ambition to become a doctor with both the expectations of her beloved but overpowering father-the Tsar's trusted adviser-and a passionate attachment to her Polish cousin Stefan. Young Tanya's conflicts are swept away by the cataclysmic events of history that dominate this engrossing novel: the Great War, the Revolution of 1917, the Boshevik seizure of power, and the subsequent civil war.
From her birth in St. Petersburg in 1897 until she leaves as a war nurse for the Russo-German front in 1915, Princess Tatyana enjoys a unique friendship with the eldest daughters of the ill-fated Nicholas and Alexandra-Olga, Marie, Anatasia, the incurably sick Tsarevich Aleksey, and her namesake Tatyana.
The Revolution of 1917 shatters Tatyana's world and that of the Tsar's family, separating the childhood friends forever. With her father's death at the hands of the Bolsheviks, Tatyana loses the protection of rank and family, sharing instead a desperate existence with her remaining loyal servants and her tutor and mentor, Alexis Holveg.
Bereft of her father, her close friend and namesake, and she believes, her heroic lover, Tatyana is freed at a terrible cost from the ties and constraints of the past to embrace the modern world far from IMperial Russia.
A Daughter of the Nobility is based on an absorbing and immensely ornate reality that employs the magic of narrative to enliven some of the century's most dramatic events.
Born into a fairy-tale world of opulence and privilege, Tatyana Silomirskaya, a proud and rebellious descendant of Russia's founding princes, struggles to reconcile her ambition to become a doctor with both the expectations of her beloved but overpowering father-the Tsar's trusted adviser-and a passionate attachment to her Polish cousin Stefan. Young Tanya's conflicts are swept away by the cataclysmic events of history that dominate this engrossing novel: the Great War, the Revolution of 1917, the Boshevik seizure of power, and the subsequent civil war.
From her birth in St. Petersburg in 1897 until she leaves as a war nurse for the Russo-German front in 1915, Princess Tatyana enjoys a unique friendship with the eldest daughters of the ill-fated Nicholas and Alexandra-Olga, Marie, Anatasia, the incurably sick Tsarevich Aleksey, and her namesake Tatyana.
The Revolution of 1917 shatters Tatyana's world and that of the Tsar's family, separating the childhood friends forever. With her father's death at the hands of the Bolsheviks, Tatyana loses the protection of rank and family, sharing instead a desperate existence with her remaining loyal servants and her tutor and mentor, Alexis Holveg.
Bereft of her father, her close friend and namesake, and she believes, her heroic lover, Tatyana is freed at a terrible cost from the ties and constraints of the past to embrace the modern world far from IMperial Russia.
A Daughter of the Nobility is based on an absorbing and immensely ornate reality that employs the magic of narrative to enliven some of the century's most dramatic events.
500 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1985
149 people want to read
About the author
Natasha Borovsky
7 booksBorn in Paris in 1924, Natasha Borovsky went to school in Germany, Switzerland and France, and attended Sarah Lawrence College. At a young age, her language skills landed her an editorial position at the Office of War Information in New York.
Her father, the renowned Russian pianist Alexander Borovsky, while attending the conservatory in St. Petersburg taught piano to the nephews of Tsar Nicholas II in their palace at Pavlovsk. Her mother, Maria Sila-Nowicki, was of noble Polish and Russian descent. As a child, Borovsky spent winters and summers at her mother's family estate near Kazimierz Dolny, south of Warsaw.
Already an established poet, in 1986, she achieved international recognition with the publication of "A Daughter of the Nobility," a novel that draws on the Russian and Polish background of her family. Its successor, "Lost Heritage," (which is more than a sequel and can be read independently) deals with events in her own lifetime and is a work of exceptional scope and vitality.
With her British husband, a retired newspaper executive, Natasha Borovsky lives in Berkeley, California, where she lectures and gives readings of her poetry.
Her father, the renowned Russian pianist Alexander Borovsky, while attending the conservatory in St. Petersburg taught piano to the nephews of Tsar Nicholas II in their palace at Pavlovsk. Her mother, Maria Sila-Nowicki, was of noble Polish and Russian descent. As a child, Borovsky spent winters and summers at her mother's family estate near Kazimierz Dolny, south of Warsaw.
Already an established poet, in 1986, she achieved international recognition with the publication of "A Daughter of the Nobility," a novel that draws on the Russian and Polish background of her family. Its successor, "Lost Heritage," (which is more than a sequel and can be read independently) deals with events in her own lifetime and is a work of exceptional scope and vitality.
With her British husband, a retired newspaper executive, Natasha Borovsky lives in Berkeley, California, where she lectures and gives readings of her poetry.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
September 17, 2011
Tatyana Silomirskaya is very pampered princess and the apple of her adoring father's eye and life holds all the promise of a fairytale ending - close friend to the Tsar's daughters, promised in marriage to her childhood friend Stefan -but then the Great War begins and life turns upside down. Tatyana always had a calling to nursing and she volunteers with the rest of the noble ladies, and even goes one step further and joins her father on the battlefield to nurse the wounded there. Tatyana and her father are soon caught up in the nightmare of the revolution and when the Bolsheviks finally gain control there's not much papa can do to protect her - can she get out of Russia and into the arms of her adored cousin Stefan?
This one is really too complicated to try and put into words without a three page book report, and I don't do those. I enjoyed this a lot, and at times it was pretty darned hard to put down. Tatyana is a bit of a spoiled at times and there were moments when I wanted to smack her over loyalty to people who are too far gone to save (gah, I lost count of the times she had the opportunity to get the h*** out, but no...). I liked the relationship between Tatyana and Stefan (Stevie), but their baby-talkish banter might drive some readers nuts. Still, the reader gets a good glimpse at the upper classes prior to the revolution, along with the war efforts and the terror of the revolution itself. While there is a love story involved here, I would not classify this as a romance - there is virtually no sex at all, and while I'm not spilling the beans I'd suggest those who must have a picture perfect HEA might want to look elsewhere.
This one is really too complicated to try and put into words without a three page book report, and I don't do those. I enjoyed this a lot, and at times it was pretty darned hard to put down. Tatyana is a bit of a spoiled at times and there were moments when I wanted to smack her over loyalty to people who are too far gone to save (gah, I lost count of the times she had the opportunity to get the h*** out, but no...). I liked the relationship between Tatyana and Stefan (Stevie), but their baby-talkish banter might drive some readers nuts. Still, the reader gets a good glimpse at the upper classes prior to the revolution, along with the war efforts and the terror of the revolution itself. While there is a love story involved here, I would not classify this as a romance - there is virtually no sex at all, and while I'm not spilling the beans I'd suggest those who must have a picture perfect HEA might want to look elsewhere.
September 24, 2023
The sad part was the entire premise of a daughter born in the nobility with close ties to the ill-fated Romanov children and the beginnings of the Russian Revolution started off promising as we saw the world through her eyes but then halfway through the novel just became tedious to get through.
December 4, 2019
Argh, this is the type of review that makes me sad - this book is such a labor of love written by an author who clearly knows a thing or two about the Russian revolution. Her bio alone sounds like it would make an interesting biography. Her opinions and complicated feelings about the Romanov dynasty come through in the story.
The book starts off OK. The reader needs to go into it with a basic understanding of the Russian revolution, Polish-Russian history, and a general sense of Europe in this timeframe. There is not enough context to fill in the historical gaps for a reader without familiarity of these subjects.
We follow Tatiana, a Polish-Russian noble as she comes of age in the Romanov court, navigates the turmoil of the rise of soviets, and ultimately flees. There are a bajillion characters (think A Song of Ice and Fire) that are difficult to keep track of, let alone be developed enough to form attachment to them. The romance with her cousin, eww. Much of the action takes place while Tatiana is unconscious or ill, so we don't get the full picture of exactly how she escapes. Though to her credit, the author does a good job of triggering empathy for the protagonist.
It started to become boring prior to the halfway point and steadily declined to the point where it was a struggle to read. Again, I appreciate the work that went into this but it's just not for me.
The book starts off OK. The reader needs to go into it with a basic understanding of the Russian revolution, Polish-Russian history, and a general sense of Europe in this timeframe. There is not enough context to fill in the historical gaps for a reader without familiarity of these subjects.
We follow Tatiana, a Polish-Russian noble as she comes of age in the Romanov court, navigates the turmoil of the rise of soviets, and ultimately flees. There are a bajillion characters (think A Song of Ice and Fire) that are difficult to keep track of, let alone be developed enough to form attachment to them. The romance with her cousin, eww. Much of the action takes place while Tatiana is unconscious or ill, so we don't get the full picture of exactly how she escapes. Though to her credit, the author does a good job of triggering empathy for the protagonist.
It started to become boring prior to the halfway point and steadily declined to the point where it was a struggle to read. Again, I appreciate the work that went into this but it's just not for me.
February 7, 2021
Suosikkikirjani! Löysin tämän kirjastosta sattumalta, kun olin etsimässä John Boynen kirjoja. Takakansi herätti kiinnostukseni, mutta minulla oli silti ennakkoluuloja tätä kirjaa kohtaan. Aloitin kuitenkin lukemisen, ja kahden ensimmäisen luvun jälkeen olin auttamattomasti koukussa.
Ihanat henkilöt, upea ja aito ajan- ja paikankuvaus, kiehtova juoni! Tatjana on ihanan monikerroksellinen päähenkilö, johon samaistuin täysin, ja Stevie on mahtava unelmien prinssi. Rakastan kaikkia pieniä yksityiskohtia hovielämästä, ja kirja tuntui oikein autenttiselta. Loistokkaissa palatseissa, ensimmäisen maailmansodan rintamalla ja vallankumouksen kuohuissa liikkuva juoni piti minut otteessaan ja ahmin luvun toisensa jälkeen. Ainoastaan poliittishistorialliset selittelyt tuntuivat välillä tylsiltä, mutta toisaalta ne auttoivat ymmärtämään tapahtumia vielä paremmin.
Ruhtinaallista sukua nosti pintaan kaikki tunteet, vielä useammankin lukukerran jälkeen. Tämä on kirja, jonka tulen lukemaan vielä monta kertaa uudestaan.
Ihanat henkilöt, upea ja aito ajan- ja paikankuvaus, kiehtova juoni! Tatjana on ihanan monikerroksellinen päähenkilö, johon samaistuin täysin, ja Stevie on mahtava unelmien prinssi. Rakastan kaikkia pieniä yksityiskohtia hovielämästä, ja kirja tuntui oikein autenttiselta. Loistokkaissa palatseissa, ensimmäisen maailmansodan rintamalla ja vallankumouksen kuohuissa liikkuva juoni piti minut otteessaan ja ahmin luvun toisensa jälkeen. Ainoastaan poliittishistorialliset selittelyt tuntuivat välillä tylsiltä, mutta toisaalta ne auttoivat ymmärtämään tapahtumia vielä paremmin.
Ruhtinaallista sukua nosti pintaan kaikki tunteet, vielä useammankin lukukerran jälkeen. Tämä on kirja, jonka tulen lukemaan vielä monta kertaa uudestaan.
December 9, 2015
3.5 stars! An interesting and for some parts very captivating story about the life in Russia from 1897 to the 1920s. I liked the main character Tatjana, who felt very real and had so many layers to her. Her thoughts when going through great loss and pain were very well-written and realistic. My main concern about the book is that it was very slow and the political talk got to be a bit too much for me, so I browsed through some parts of it.I also didn't really feel the love between Tatjana and Stefan, so the romance part didn't work very well for me.
December 22, 2011
This book had an amzing and charming story-out-line to it. From the first page to the very last letter, it was dripping with drama, and historical bliss! Amazing!
March 29, 2012
This seemed like a sort of Russian version of Gone With the Wind. And the main character's love for the mediocre Ashley-like character is almost as incomprehensible here as it was in GWTW. Still, the novel gives a wonderful overview of the fall of tsarist Russia and what it meant to many of the noble families.
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January 6, 2016This isn't a great work of literature, but it does give an informative depiction of various forces at play in Russia from the late 1800s through the 1920s.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews