Staff Picks Category: Russia

The Tsarina’s Daughter by Ellen Alpsten [Book]

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Alpsten’s follow up to Tsarina (2020) focuses on the life of Elizabeth (Lizenka), daughter of Peter the Great and his second wife Catherine I, from her royal childhood through a tumultuous adolescence and young adulthood. Lizenka is charming, beautiful, and beloved, inspiring envy and loyalty among her relations and the Russian people. Political intrigue abounds, with friends and family moving through the court and royal residences as power shifts and people fall in and out of favor. Originally expected to marry Louis XV, Lizenka’s fortunes fall not long after she encounters the Leshy (a forest spirit) on a walk in the woods. The Leshy tells Lizenka her future, and Lizenka returns to the Leshy’s words over the years as each prediction comes true. In addition to foretelling Lizenka’s difficulties, the Leshy also tells of greatness, which comes to fruition just as the volume ends. Students of Russian history will enjoy the attention to detail (see the author’s note for details) and fans of historical fiction based on real people will devour this rich repast, and be left eager for the next book’s conclusion of this trilogy about the Romanovs.

Tsarina by Ellen Alpsten [Book]

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Catherine Alexeyevna (Catherine I) was the second wife of Peter the Great, a woman who progressed from humble origins as a serf to Empress of all the Russias in her short life. The first woman to rule Russia in her own right, she was by the side of the man whose legacy of modernizing Russia in the early 18th century is well-documented in popular culture. Lesser known is the sometimes bloody story of the woman who spent more than twenty years coddling, supporting, and challenging him. Ellen Alpsten’s debut novel relates a compelling if unverified story of Catherine’s (then known as Marta) early years before she entered Peter’s orbit and became his companion and, later, wife. Catherine bore him twelve children, only two of whom lived to adulthood. She traveled with him to the front in his various wars over many years. She was a constant in his life through successes, failures, triumphs, disappointments, and numerous mistresses. She was the best thing that ever happened to him, and the one person who could soothe his rages and return him to reason. Illuminating the realities of life in premodern Russia and the growth and changes brought about in the Petrine Era, It’s a fascinating and extraordinary ride from slavery to royalty for an incredible woman.

“Fiction about real people” is a great genre for readers who like history and also like to listen in on conversations. Offer this to fans of historical fiction, Russia, political intrigue, and powerful women.