For 90 years this story has cried out to be told.
And who better to tell it than Robert Alexander, the talented Minneapolis author who has made a justifiably celebrated name for himself relating Russian history to Western readers in a collegial style that sacrifices neither accuracy nor authenticity?
With the successes of his two previous books on the Romanovs, "The Kitchen Boy" and "Rasputin's Daughter," he continues to mine the rich lode of the ill-fated ruling house with "The Romanov Bride," a compelling story of the Grand Duchess Elisavyeta.
Known to her family simply as Ella, she was one of the more fascinating women in an era that produced larger-than-life characters on an almost epic scale. Yet her story -- a unique and remarkably inspiring life cut short by a shocking death -- is largely unknown outside Russia and the Orthodox Christian community in the West. She was, to Western eyes, just one of the innumerable victims of revolution and civil war.
In Russia, Ella is not only widely known, but she has been declared a saint by the Orthodox Church -- a "new martyr" of the Bolshevik yoke -- and has a large and avidly devoted following among young people. How this happened is to be found in the pages of this nicely paced, beautifully presented and completely satisfying read…
The author introduces the fictional character Pavel to juxtapose Ella's life of privilege and introspection with the daily hardships faced by ordinary Russians. Pavel and his wife, Shura, leave the countryside to seek better lives in St. Petersburg. If the dream eludes them, calamity does not, and Pavel is propelled inexorably first into the ranks of nihilist terrorists and, ultimately, the Bolsheviks.
This prince(ss)-and-the-pauper literary device can sometimes be pedestrian, but in Alexander's hands it works exceedingly well, giving us simultaneous yet diametrically opposed views of each incident. Ella and Pavel cross paths often, and the final reckoning -- like the final movement of a Rachmaninoff concerto -- builds to a breathtaking conclusion.
Alexander displays a truly solid footing in Russian history. His research is impeccable, and his knowledge of the Romanovs is encyclopedic, but he also is intimately familiar with the Orthodox faith. That is the key that has allowed him to unlock the hidden beauty -- and meaning -- of this remarkable story. |
