I Was Anastasia

I Was Anastasia by Ariel Lawhon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The mystery surrounding the Romanov family has been fascinating to me since my high school World Civilization class. The thought that one of the crowned princesses of Russia would go missing and potentially survive has captivated the world for for over a century. Despite growing evidence that Anastasia couldn't have lived through the firing squad that destroyed her family, hope still lingers. Enter Ariel Lawhon constructing a brilliant dual narrative between Anastasia in Russia as a teenager and Anna in the United States and Europe as a much older adult fighting to prove that she is a Romanov. The whole way through the book I felt torn between logic and hope. Lawhon deftly wove historical details into her own fictionalized account of what indeed happened to the daughter of Czar Nicholas after the Bolsheviks took power.

I think that you need to like historical fiction to appreciate this book, but you do not need to know anything about the Russians. My fading memory of Russian Revolution actually made it more interesting to try and discern between fact and fiction. At times the moving timeline was a little tricky to follow, but as the dual narrative dates got closer together the tension was palpable. Lastly, the author's note at the end is essential.

Happy reading and happy dreaming--

(Book 85 - 2019)