Wow. I literally just finished reading this book... and, well, wow.

There are so many emotions that play through your mind as you read through this book. For a lot of the book I thought that I knew what was going to happen--we were given the choice at the beginning of the book to choose to believe that Anna was the real Anastasia or to not believe it. While reading through I felt like we were being led by the "facts" to believe a certain way. I never could have imagined that by the end of the book you would know the truth.

Let me say that again, by the end of the book you know the truth.

Wow. Maybe that really is all that I have to say.

I appreciate how the memories are all lived through the frame of reference of Anastasia while the future, or current, time is all viewed from above. We get to see Anna and her interactions while we live through all of Anastasia's.
I am really impressed with this book in a way that I wasn't expecting.

I Was Anastasia marks my first experience with author Ariel Lawhon. I discovered the novel while compiling The Morally Questionable Green Hat and made note of it as the premise reminded me Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna (1986). I was familiar with the history behind the novel, but I didn’t have any real expectations when I picked it up and was more than a little surprised when the book proved almost impossible to put aside.

Lawhon’s style and tone captured my attention from the first line and refused to release its hold till the very end of the narrative. I hate to gush, but Lawhon’s ability to convey genuine tension is nothing short of brilliant. I knew where this story was going, but I still felt real fear and desperation in the musings and movements of both her leads and loved how their emotions emanated so distinctly from the page.

The drama of the story is enhanced by Lawhon's brazenly ambitious structuring of the narrative. Anastasia’s chapters progress chronologically, but Anna’s are inversed. The end result leaves the reader questioning if the two voices run parallel to one another or if they are in fact two parts of a singular whole. The finale itself is wonderful, but it should be understood that Lawhon was not writing about the answer so much as the question. The ambiguity of Anna’s origin and inability to definitely identify her during her lifetime immortalized Anastasia and I adore how Lawhon’s narrative plays on that reality.

The novel incorporates great historic details, but I will admit to struggling with a handful of scenes. As much as I loved the story, I was keenly aware that certain moments were based more on rumor rather than verifiable fact and while I appreciate what those passages brought in terms of storytelling, the history buff in me couldn’t help wrinkling her nose. Lawhon’s characterization of Anastasia was also more mature and worldly than I envision her, but at the end of the day my only real comment on Lawhon’s interpretation is that it’s clear she favored Anna. I can’t presume to know why, but reading between the lines, the author seemed to have more fun with Anna’s chapters than she did Anastasia’s.

Imaginatively tenacious and creatively composed, I Was Anastasia brings life to a mystery that captivated the world for much of the twentieth century. Highly recommended. An absolute must read.

Reviewed for Netgalley and free of Spoilers

I Was Anastasia is a thoroughly researched novel that explores the story of Anna Anderson, better known as the woman who staunchly claimed to be Anastasia, the only surviving daughter of Czar Nicholas of Russia, who, along with his wife and children, were murdered by the Bolsheviks on July 17, 1918.

Author Ariel Lawhon weaves fact, fiction, and fancy into this tragic story of a family destroyed by revolution and a woman desperately trying to establish her identity.

Lawhon employs a technique of shifting points of view. Anastasia’s chapters are in first person and are personable, honest, and engaging. Anna’s chapters are in third person, making her seem isolated and distant from the reader. Is this the author’s way of showing how much the terrible events of July 1918 changed Anastasia forever? Or is this Lawhon’s way of showing us that Anna is not who she claims to be? I am not going to tell you and neither is Lawhon…not until the very end, that is.

Despite its length, the story moves quickly and is quite the page turner. If I had one major grievance with it, it was the constant shifts in time. I grew extremely tired of the jumping around timeline-wise. While I can understand moving from the 1960s to 1917 or 1918, taking us back in time and then jumping back six months, then a month, then a week, then a day became frustrating and annoying to the point that I wanted to put the story down every time I swiped left and saw “one week earlier” or “seven months earlier.” If this was an attempt to heighten the suspense, it failed. Instead, I found myself trying to remember where in the sequence of events this was occurring. At times, it seemed as though I was trying to piece the story together myself. In her afterword, Lawhon admits that she enjoys “nonlinear timelines,” but after reading I Was Anastasia, I can honestly say I do not.

For those who know the history of the Romanovs, including the discoveries in 2007 and 2009, and who may hesitate to read the book because of that knowledge, I would say read it anyway. I was up to date on my Czar Nicholas history, and I still found I Was Anastasia to be an engaging and interesting spin on a well-known tale.

I was excited to read about Anna Anderson because I’ve read novels/ watched films about Romanovs before and this piece of Russian history has always caught my interest. Ariel Lawhon’s take on Anna Anderson was written beautifully, and I say that because I was immediately absorbed. The story of the Romanov family is tragic, and you can feel it (in my case I felt it in words all over again). Lawhon paints a cohesive picture that also separates two sides of the story without bringing confusion to the reader. We dive deep into the tragic reality faced by the Romanovs to the plight of Anna Anderson, a woman who brought renowned media attention, a woman many wished to believe was the ‘light at the end of the tunnel' for a tragedy, a woman who was called the world’s biggest con-artist, liar and everything in between, a woman who believed she was the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia. Lawhon opened the story to the readers, I really liked that because she want's us to go through the book and come to our understanding or a new point of view. Overall this was a great book, I would recommend Historical lovers to read it.

I don't even know where to start with this book. It is seriously a work of art. I have never read anything by this author but after reading this book, I will look up more of her work. She managed to write in second person and first person in such a fluent way.

This is the story of Anna Anderson, who claimed to be the long lost Russian Grand Duchess Anastasia. I will be honest and say that I have not heard of Anna Anderson or her story. But I completely bought it. I bought this entire story and I'm so damn mad at myself. That, right there, is a sign of a gifted story teller.

The book itself stars in the present and works backwards with parts of Anastasia's life mixed in. It was incredibly easy to follow along and I wasn't confused at all. I read this book in a night because it was so easy to read and I was so hooked. I had to know more about what was going on and what was going to happen next.

Overall, this was a great book! I think it is going to get a lot of positive reviews. You don't have to know about the Romanovs. The Anastasia parts will explain the family and everything that surrounds them, like the Bolshevik revolt and their house arrest. I highly recommend this book to everyone and I will be sure to get myself a physical copy when it comes out.

What an absolutely riveting novel!! This book has it all- historical fiction, suspense, women's fiction and even a touch of romance!!

In 1918 the Russian Tsar Nicholas II was overpowered and kidnapped along with his entire family. Tsar Nicholas II, his wife, 4 daughters and one son were ultimately all killed in a mass murder. But what if one of them miraculously survived?!?? Could anyone made it out alive?!?? In I am Anastasia we follow Anna Anderson's journey as she tries to claim that she is indeed Anastasia Romanov, the youngest daughter of Tsar Nicholas II...and the sole heir to the entire Romanov fortune!!

First off, I have to say that prior to reading I am Anastasia, I had no idea about what happened to the Russian Imperial family in 1918! I was immediately captivated by the entire concept of Anna Anderson, that while I was reading this novel, I was also online researching the Romanov's and between the two I learned so much! Ariel Lawhon does a fantastic job of with giving us her spin on the Anastasia Romanov saga with history and mystery all wrapped in a brilliantly crafted storyline. I highly recommend this 5 star novel!!! A must read!!!

Brava, Ariel Lawhon, you have created a truly remarkable book--both in theme and in structure and, without revealing too much, in the amazing ending. Who wouldn't be interested in Anastasia, the youngest daughter of the last Tsar and Tsarina of Russia? She's still an enigma and a mystery and the idea that she may have survived the massacre of the entire Romanov family is such a romantic notion.
My mother-in-law was acquainted with Anna Anderson toward the end of her life when she was living in Charlottesville, Virginia. She was convinced that Anna was indeed Anastasia. When I asked her why--she replied that Anna was so sad, so royal and that it was obvious that she'd seen any tragedies in her life. I think that my practical, no-nonsense mother-in-law, too, wanted to believe in Anastasia.
The first-person narrative Ariel Lawhon has woven so well will thrill most of your readers (and anger others) but it is so well done.

Lawhon brings one of the most enduring mysteries of the twentieth century to life in this story of Anna Anderson, the woman who claimed to be the ill fated Anastasia Romanov, who supposedly died, along with her family at the hands of revolutionaries. Told from Anastasia’s point of view shortly before her family’s murder and Anna Anderson’s from 1920 to the 1970’s, this is the story that haunted people the world over. Was it possible that Anastasia had survived? It would be a miracle, but people clamored for that miracle. Lawhon examines the legend, the myth and the reality that fascinated people the world over