Read for book club (11/2011). It was a good historical fiction read! Based on the last weeks of the last royal Russian Tsar and his family, the Romanovs, from the point of view of their loyal kitchen boy, Leonka.
It was interesting to hear about how they hid their jewels, passed secret notes to plan an escape/rescue, and to think about how they spent their last days. Some things stuck with me about people in general from the culture/period such as the guards who couldn't read, how much the Romanovs loved to take pictures (new and expensive hobby), how the royal family tried to lead something resembling their normal life, and how Leonka kept saying over and over again that they did it with such grace, yet even in exile they were much more well off than most of the country that they used to rule. The twists at the end felt rushed and hurried. They were fun little bits to add but I think it would have been better had the author spent more time with these portions rather than just throwing them about in a very short epilogue. I would recommend it for those who enjoy historical fiction or want a relatively light/easy but interesting read!
And so it goes...
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