Romanovs discussion

This is the official announcement that our May group read will be The House of Special Purpose. Consider this the thread for discussion starting next week.

Julie

Thanks Julie
I think John Boyne is an outstanding author and I look forward to reading this again.
Bronwen

Thank-you Julie. I just received my copy on Kindle. I look forward to reading this book.

I'm still waiting on my library hold to come in! Anyone else started?

Not yet. Hopefully this week!

Making progress... 120 pages in and I'm pleasantly surprised how much I'm enjoying this! Well written and I think Gregory is a lovely character.

SPOILER ALERT if you have not read pages 86-98!!!
*******

I loved Gregory's first encounter with Nicholas II. I like the way Nick was portrayed. Anyone there yet?

Wohoo! My hold came in-will start reading!

Julie wrote: "Making progress... 120 pages in and I'm pleasantly surprised how much I'm enjoying this! Well written and I think Gregory is a lovely character.

SPOILER ALERT if you have not read pages 86-98!!!
..."

I'm on page 129. I so agree with you-well written and a most enjoyable character!

My review is up! You can see it here:

http://julzreads.wordpress.com/2013/0...

***SPOILER ALERT***
DO NOT READ UNTIL YOU HAVE FINISHED THE BOOK!

First of all, I thought this was an amazing segment: "...the uncrowned Tsar of all the Russias waving to his grandfather from the back of a London bus..." It just conveys so much longing and regret!

Some of the unanswered questions I had after finishing:
-How in the hell could Anastasia been missed when everyone else was executed? Why would the Bolsheviks have carried out their orders when the entire family was not present? You would have thought there would have been an immediate manhunt around the house when they realized she was missing, yet Anastasia and Georgy have plenty of time to sit nearby and witness everything that happens.
-Wouldn't' Anastasia have had some of her family jewels sewn into her clothes on that particular night to aid them in their escape?
-What are the chances Georgy and Zoya's grandson would have been a hemophiliac?

Did anyone else feel the Anastasia escapes conclusion a little meh?

Julie wrote: "My review is up! You can see it here:

http://julzreads.wordpress.com/2013/0...

***SPOILER ALERT***
DO NOT READ UNTIL YOU HAVE FINISHED THE BOOK!

Fir..."

I thought it started out great! But think the subject has been over done; especially, with all the recent findings and the Church burial of the royal family! It was well written but as you stated-far fetched! Not at all realistic!

I loved his book,
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas; so, I was more than excited to read this one. This was a disappointment compared!

Reading it for the second time and am having the same response to my first reading. The actual writing was engaging but the "believability" of this fictional tale deteriorated as it progressed. My initial response was one of " wouldn't it have been nice if it could have ended that way" but unfortunately, as we all know, that was not the case.

Hmmm, I agree. Don't find this book believable.

I guess I'm a little late, but I'm getting the book from the library. I liked Kitchen Boy, so I'm hoping this one will be good!

Better late than never!

I'm just starting it as well.

I finally got this book. I'm starting it today. I know it's so late in May, but I'll finish it before the month is over.

I read it! I couldn't sleep last night so I read half of it, and finished it this morning. I found it a bit redundant to The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar, from the old man looking back to the whole my-kid's-dead-and-I-only-have-one-grandkid thing, to of course the surprise ending, which I completely saw coming, and only partially because people kept referencing it in their reviews on the main page for the book. I know for a fact it's impossible two Romanov sisters survived, and I think getting the same old (SPOILER!) Anastasia shtick was a little annoying. But, that said, he did it very well, and besides some vulgarities he's a pleasure to read. The explanation of how A got away without being chased made absolutely no sense, but he still managed to pull it off fairly well. I enjoyed the journey and the idea, even if I know for a fact that it's so implausible and impossible it's ludicrous. It really is a beautiful book.

And there's my take on it. Do we know what we're reading this month?

Ah, I just realized The Kitchen Boy and House of Special Purpose aren't by the same author. Someone can slap me now. Ah, well, I suppose I had this mixed up with that other book, about Rasuptin's daughter I was looking at the other day. I still found it repetitive, though. And the history was stronger in Kitchen Boy. Sure, this was well researched too, but I feel like he went a little too far trying to "fix" his story.

I loved this book. I just finished it yesterday. I got very emotional while reading it...especially the parts when Zoya died and Anastasia described the murders she witnessed. I thought it would be difficult to get through because of the switching between time periods, but I was able to keep it straight.

It was labeled as fiction so I don't look for realism...that's just not why I read period. I love reading accurate history too, but when it is labeled non-fiction I look for thorough research, logic, accuracy. I am sorry, but I tend to disregard reviews that look at fiction with a non-fiction mind.

Hey Jaina, I think we had the same reaction to the end! And if you're wondering about a June read, I'm open for suggestions. I can start a new thread....

Felicia - I think it was pretty emotional, too.

Love reading all the comments and I think we all came to pretty much the same conclusion.
Very well written, engaging and generally happy to suspend belief when reading "faction" but writers need to be wary of handing historical events when they are so well known in the broader community. Robert Harris does this brilliantly in "Archangel" where he proposes Stalin had a son who was groomed by supporters to take over.
Anyway, re our next read, could it be non fiction, to balance the two books we have just read? I will see what I can find to throw into the

Well I finally finished. Once I got started it was a quick, easy read. I enjoyed the book with the mindset that it was fiction. I found Anastasia's escape completely unbelievable as well as the whole "House of Special Purpose" scenes. I reminded myself it was fiction and just let it go. I also had issues with the author not understanding protocol and the innocence of Anastasia and Maria. I can't imagine Grand Duchesses participating in makeout sessions. A stolen kiss, or a mild flirtation, maybe.
My favorite section was when Anastasia returned to Russia before her death. I found it very moving and well-written.
In writing, "The Tsar's Masquerade", my coauthor and I attempted to be as accurate as possible. It drove both of us crazy when we read novels about the Romanovs that just get it wrong. I have to contrast a scene in this book involving a Faberge Easter Egg. For true fans an Imperial Easter Egg is like the Holy Grail. It is a true iconic work of art and is well documented. In this book, Faberge gives an egg to the Tsar who keeps it in his study. It is hard to understand the author's reasoning behind this scene as well as his lack of research. In comparision, in my book there is also a scene about the Colonnade Egg, 1910. We used the egg as a device to show the love Nicholas felt for his wife, Alexandra. My passion for this story and love for the Imperial Family was channeled into writing about them. It was a responsibility that my coauthor and I did not take lightly. Anyways back to "The House of Special Purpose".
Overall an enjoyable book with a great story just be willing to overlook the historical inaccuracies and the liberties with the Grand Duchesses reputations.

I have a non fiction book entitled the same by John Trewin published in 1975. This is well written and research. I personally prefer only non-fiction in dealing with Russia and the Romanovs . I didn't realize till I pulled it up on Amazon that it is a work of fiction. Comments very interesting - but will pass on this since it is a novel.