Rasputins Daughter
Rasputin's Daughter by Robert Alexander
4 out of 5 stars.
Rasputin's Daughter tells the story of the last days of Rasputin's life from the point of view of his oldest daughter Maria. Interrogated by the provisional government on the details of her father's death, Maria vividly recounts a politically tumultuous Russia, where Rasputin's powerful influence over the throne is unsettling to all levels of society and the threats to his life are no secret. With vast conspiracies mounting against her father, Maria must struggle with the discovery of Rasputin's true nature (his unbridled carnal appetites, mysterious relationship with the empress, rumors of involvement in secret religious cults) to save her father from his murderers. Swept away in a plot much larger than the death of one man, Maria finds herself on the cusp of the Russian Revolution itself. (Summary taken from goodreads.com)
Last summer I worked at a used bookstore and when this book crossed my desk, even though I had never heard of it, I took it, because it looked interesting.
Maria as a main character was a little bit all over the place for me but in a lot of ways I feel that was purposeful. She is very young and during this rather short period of time she experiences a great deal and she is very confused emotionally. There are several other central characters, Rasputin, Maria's younger sister, and a mysterious young man named Sasha and all of these seem well rounded and complex as people. Even the government official who is interviewing Maria becomes sympathetic at moments. The most interesting character is easily Rasputin and his complexity of actions and motivations are clearly illustrated through Maria's eyes.
I wouldn't exactly call this book a fast read. While I found it a relatively easy read some of the very strange events in the plot and Maria's somewhat overblown reactions to them make it a book that you feel the need to walk away from and interact with normal people for a bit before returning to the story. The believe that the romantic subplot was a little underdeveloped for how important it seems like it is supposed to be, and the male romantic lead (Sasha) a little too mysterious. Also I found some of the details a little unbelievable even for historical fiction and that took me out of the story in an unpleasant way a few times.
Overall despite its flaws I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to fans of historical fiction without strong emphasis on romance and to those who are interested in Russian history.