When I read a mystery novel, my favorite part is not knowing how it will end. The story moves forward, the reader gathers clues alongside the characters, and at the end, the culprit is unmasked.
When I read
The Kitchen Boy by Robert Alexander, I knew exactly how it would end. Young Leonka was the kitchen helper in the palace of Tsar Nicholas of Russia. The real Leonka's fate is lost to history, but in Alexander's story the boy continues to work for the household, even as the Tsar and his family are held captive by the Bolsheviks in a secret location.
History books reveal the terrible fate of Nicholas and his family, but Alexander's book imagines the life the family lived as they daily awaited their fate and hoped that they would somehow be rescued by those still loyal to them. Incorporating actual letters and secret notes into the story, Alexander provides an intimate perspective into the royal family and demonstrates their love for each other even under frightening circumstances. Nicholas, no matter his actions as Tsar, was also a loving husband and father, while Aleksei his son, though destined to be the next Tsar, was also just an infirm young boy who enjoyed games of pretend.
This gripping novel speeds to its inevitable conclusion, and yet like in a good mystery, Alexander keeps you guessing about the identity of several characters and just how they impacted the history of a nation.
When I read
The Kitchen Boy by Robert Alexander, I knew exactly how it would end. Young Leonka was the kitchen helper in the palace of Tsar Nicholas of Russia. The real Leonka's fate is lost to history, but in Alexander's story the boy continues to work for the household, even as the Tsar and his family are held captive by the Bolsheviks in a secret location. History books reveal the terrible fate of Nicholas and his family, but Alexander's book imagines the life the family lived as they daily awaited their fate and hoped that they would somehow be rescued by those still loyal to them. Incorporating actual letters and secret notes into the story, Alexander provides an intimate perspective into the royal family and demonstrates their love for each other even under frightening circumstances. Nicholas, no matter his actions as Tsar, was also a loving husband and father, while Aleksei his son, though destined to be the next Tsar, was also just an infirm young boy who enjoyed games of pretend.
This gripping novel speeds to its inevitable conclusion, and yet like in a good mystery, Alexander keeps you guessing about the identity of several characters and just how they impacted the history of a nation.
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