The Tsarina's Daughter

It's not often that I leave a one-star review for a novel, but this one truly is a royal mess. How do I despise thee? Let me count the ways!

From everything I've read about the four Romanov Grand Duchesses, they were incredibly close to one another and excessively sheltered. Why is it, then, that the other three girls are barely mentioned in this book? Why was Tatiana (no one called her Tania) always sneaking out of the palace to hang out with servants and peasants, having sex (with her aunt's approval!), and having countless absurd adventures? At one point "Tania" stops Sigmund Freud from committing her mother to an asylum (really). "Tania" also shows up at Rasputin's apartment and in another scene tries to shoot him!

What really irks me show more is that many readers don't know anything about the Romanovs and will happily "learn" about them from this terrible novel.

Why, Carolly Erickson, why? show less

I found "The Tsarina's Daughter" by Carolly Erickson to be an enjoyable read. Frankly, the negative reviews have me baffled. People, this is a Historical Fiction. Key word being fiction! As stated by Ms. Erickson in the "Note To The Reader" as the end of the novel, "Though in this historical entertainment the heroine Tatiana survives to a ripe old age and tells her remarkable story, the real Tatiana Romanov, sadly did not. She was executed with her family in Ekaterinburg in 1918, and all her hopes, plans and loves died with her.
The "Tsarina's Daughter" is an imaginative retelling of Tatiana's story with many invented characters and events added to the historical background...."
I enjoyed reading Ms. Erickson's well-written, imaginative show more take on the Romanov family. If you are looking for a different prospective on the Romanovs, this might be the novel for you! show less

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 addiction to the flights of fancy, the show more 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 when too many can make a novel seem unrealistic and this is the case for The Tsarina's Daughter. show less

Admittedly, I know next to nothing about the Romanov dynasty. This book is a fictionalized account of the life of Tatiana Romanov (aka Tania) one of four daughters of Tsar Nicholas and Tsarina Alexandra. The book begins in 1989 with Tatiana now being known Daria Gradov in 1989, married to Michael and now a mother and grandmother. She is looking back on her life and preparing to tell the truth about who she is.

The reader eventually learns how Tatiana became known as Daria, we also learn who Michael is and how they met. The ending seemed to be slightly abrupt for me. Also I had a hard time keeping all the familial ties straight in my head, I believe Tatiana's parents may have been cousins if I was following the story correctly.

At any show more rate, this was book was a quick, enjoyable read, and left me wanting to learn more about Queen Victoria (Tatiana's great grandmother) and the Romanov dynasty. show less

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 show more 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. show less

The premise of Carolly Erickson’s “The Tsarina’s Daughter” is that one of the Romanov daughters, Archduchess Tatiana, survives the massacre of her family and lives to write her memoir as an old woman.

Now, this premise immediately puts “The Tsarina’s Daughter” more squarely in the camp of ‘fiction’ than ‘history’ as we know that Tatiana did not, in fact, survive - nor did anyone in the family. Beyond that, I would guess that many of the specifics about Tatiana’s life: her loves, her journeys out of the palace, her feelings about her family. That being said, I did very much enjoy this book as a way to get a feel for some of the more major events and the mood in Europe and Russia around the time of the Russian show more Revolution. Tatiana was a great character and I appreciated how she grew to see both sides of the conflict; although she loved her parents, she was not blind to their disasterous flaws and was increasingly frustrated by these flaws as she grew older and the situation around her grew worse.

Overall this was an enjoyable piece of historical fiction and would be a good jumping off point for readers who want to explore revolutionary Russia. show less

I approached Carolly Erickson's The Tsarina's Daughter with a bit of trepidation. Though I do enjoy historical fiction, the reviews on Amazon.com were very mixed so I didn't know what to expect. However, I enjoyed Erickson's The Last Wife of Henry VII, so I decided to go ahead and give it a try.

After reading the novel, I have to say that I can see both sides. One one hand, it was a very enjoyable novel. Erickson's details are great; she really puts the reader in pre-revolutionary Russia. She also develops the major characters very well. Tania is a vivid, strong girl who is curious about her country. She has been protected from the horrors outside the palace. When she is exposed to them, however, it speaks to her compassion and she tries show more to help those in need. Tania loves her parents, Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra, but as the novel progresses and Tania matures, she recognizes their weaknesses and faults. I really enjoyed this depiction, as well as the fact that the book was about someone other than Anastasia. Anastasia has gotten most of the attention in fiction and fantasy because her bones were not found with those of her family; however, her remains (and those of her brother Alexei) were recently discovered in a separate grave nearby, putting an end to speculation (and hope) that she may have survived the massacre.

However, The Tsarina's Daughter leans very heavily on fiction. Most of the events in Tatiana's life are likely made up. I'm guessing that the more general events are most likely accurate - Rasputin, meetings with cousins from Germany, etc. - but it is likely that everything specific to Tatiana herself was made up. There's nothing wrong with this, it's historical fiction after all. It is the author's job to fill in the blanks. I would have appreciated a summary of what was true and what wasn't, however. Unfortunately, all Erickson tells us is that Tatiana didn't survive the execution of her family.

Still, I think this The Tsarina's Daughter was a very enjoyable book that any fan of historical fiction would enjoy. Erickson's a talented writer and it definitely shows. As long as the reader is aware that the book is mostly fiction, there isn't any reason that it can't be appreciated for what it is!

From S. Krishna's Books show less