R. D. Zimmerman

“My name is Mikhail Semyonov. I live in Lake Forest village, Illinois state, the United States of America. I am ninety-four years old. I was born in Russia before the revolution. I was born in Tula province and my name then was not Mikhail or even Misha, as I am known here in America. No, my real name–the one given to me at birth–was Leonid Sednyov, and I was known as Leonka. Please forgive my years of lies, but now I tell you the truth.”

So begins Misha’s recounting of the real show more story of his emigration from Russia to the United States. Robert Alexander’s The Kitchen Boy unfolds Misha’s story by degrees–at times moving painstakingly slowly and at times rushing towards its inevitable, tragic conclusion of the assassination of the Romanov royals by the Bolsheviks.

After decades of silence, Misha tape records his story of the events surrounding the Romanov’s execution for his granddaughter to listen to upon his death; in his recording, he continues to weave together lies and truth. The guilt he feels over surviving that night when his beloved Romanovs met their deaths is palpable and becomes increasingly understandable as his narration unfolds.

Misha declares himself to have been the kitchen boy for the Romanov family for their last years through their final days in the House of Special Purpose in Yekaterinburg. In this role, he was charged with the task of carrying smuggling notes between the Romanovs and their purported rescuers. Their subsequent deaths mark his failure in this charge.

The recording reveals that for the remainder of his life he lives in the shadow of their deaths, repeatedly replaying the events of that night and questioning his actions prior to that night trying to deduce how he could have acted differently to save them. He says, “I am the last living witness and I alone know what really happened that awful night…just as I alone know where the bodies of the two missing children are…”

Misha’s story–The Kitchen Boy–is a story full of history, tragedy, guilt, love, and forgiveness. I would particularly recommend it for those interested in learning more about Russian history in general and the Russian Revolution of 1917 in particular or for those who enjoy stories full of mystery and conspiracy. Plus, Alexander throws in a twist at the end regarding the fate of the missing Romanovs. Robert Alexander is also the author of Rasputin’s Daughter and The Romanov Bride. show less

One of the enduring mysteries of the 20th century concerned death of the Romanov family. The father, Nicholas II, was the last Russian emperor. He, his wife, their five children and four servants descended the basement steps of the house in which they were held prisoner one evening in July, 1918. It was the intent of their captors, the Bolsheviks, to kill them. Which is essentially what they did. But the murder and its sequelae left many unanswered questions. It is into this hazy landscape show more that Robert Alexander journeys with his novel, The Kitchen Boy.

Alexander tells the story of the last days of the Romanovs through the voice of Leonka, a young man who worked as the cook's helper in their kitchen during the last 18 months of their lives. He tells the story in retrospect, at the age of 94, speaking into a tape recorder to leave a record for his grand-daughter, who is his heir. He has a conscience that is troubled by what transpired as the Romanovs met their death and part of his motivation to give the world the truth of that event.

But all is not as it seems.

I found the story captivating from start to finish. While I read this book for its entertainment value there was a side benefit, which may not have been intended by the author. While Alexander tells a fictional story he does so while drawing heavily from historical events. Real people did real things, and some of those things were heinous. Looking back through nearly 100 years of history it is easy to see what was not clear then, which is that in murdering the Romanovs the Bolsheviks were revealing their true colors as ruthless murderers, willing to do anything to grasp and maintain power. And in doing so they paved the way for profound brutality and ruthlessness that continue today.

For the most part the murky details of the Romanov mystery that set the stage for this tale have been resolved. Darkness, however, continues to loom large in the human heart. show less

Through the eyes of Leonka, kitchen boy and sometime playmate of the Tsarevich Aleksei, the reader is transported back to the final months and days of the Romanov family, held in isolation in Yekaterinburg in 1917. Robert Alexander paints a portrait of a genuinely loving, though colossally naïve, family, the last in a long line of Russian royalty that began with Tsar Michael in 1613. Though we know full well how the situation will end despite some dramatic glimmers of hope, the narrative is show more not unduly bleak and contains a surprising twist. At just 229 pages, The Kitchen Boy is also a relatively rapid read for someone looking to squeeze in another book before the end of the year. show less

This extremely well-written novel reads like a true-life adventure story. It's a tale of the murder of the Russian imperial family in 1918 in their place of exile in Siberia, told by one of the people who were present at the time. The plot ranges from revolutionary times to the present day and involves a deep, dark mystery: why were two of the bodies never discovered? The reader is quickly drawn into the story, and the writing is such that even though you know a terrible fate that awaits the show more last Tsar and his family, you keep hoping the ending will be different. This last part of the book is excellent with some unexpected plot twists, which brings the tale to a bittersweet conclusion.
The author often is lengthy in his writing and provides the reader with a rich feel for Russian culture and history.
While Alexander tells a fictional story, he does so while drawing heavily from historical events. Real people did real things, and some of those things were heinous. Looking back through nearly 100 years of history, it is easy to see what was not clear then. In murdering the Romanovs, the Bolsheviks revealed their true colors as ruthless murderers, willing to do anything to grasp and maintain power. And in doing so, they paved the way for profound brutality and ruthlessness that continue today. show less