I loved this book! I typically don't like first person novels, but the format worked well here. This is the story of Princess Dagmar of Denmark, who marries the Russian tsarevich, and eventually becomes Empress of all Russia. It follows her from age 15 until her exile decades later, following the execution of her doomed son, Nicholas, the last tsar of Russia. I found it completely fascinating - even knowing how things would end, I could not wait to read more of this story each night. Dagmar, called Minnie by her friends, was a very strong and intelligent woman, and I loved this look at her life. It brought a slightly different perspective to that era of Russian history. Many thanks to Netgalley and Ballantine Books for allowing me to read an e-arc of this most excellent book. 4.5 stars!

I loved this book! It was a great and insightful introduction into one the most well now royal families. All this book did was intrigue me into reading more into the Romanov family!

I've never read about the Romanov's before, and this makes me want to know more. I really enjoyed this historical fiction. It didn't dump too much history on me while keeping me in the moment.

I received this as an ARC through Netgalley. I love Russia, especially Imperial Russia and I love to read books about figures during the time period of Imperial Russia. This book was written about the life of Tsarina Maria Feodorovna. This is the first book I've come across chronicling her life. I found her life story very interesting and this book grabbed my attention from the start. It's written in the first person and walks us through a very important time in Russian history. The Tsarina's life started in Denmark born into a relatively poor, working class family. Her life changes once her father is announced to be heir to the throne, making her royalty. She finds herself married to Russia's Tsarevich, Alexander (Sasha.) Over her imperial rein, she has several children, faces terrorist threats, scandals and war. She sees her son, Nicholas II, through his rein and then the ultimate demise of the Romanov dynasty. She survives this all, one of the few Romanov's. This novel beautifully and artfully depicts this life of Maria Feodorovna who lived an unbelievable life of luxury and bore witness to some of the worst atrocities of Russian history. As far as I can see, it is also fairly historically accurate, although, I'm by no means an expert. I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading well written novels about history's amazing women. She held a very important role in Imperial Russia and this novel offers her story in an enchanting, entertaining way. It had me hooked from the beginning to the end. Highly recommend!

This is a wonderfully written and compelling story of the Romanovs , narrated by Maria, the mother of Nicholas, the last tsar. I have read a lot about the Romanovs, but this one portrayed so well, the life of Danish Princess Dagmar, eventually becoming the Dowager Tsarina. What a courageous and strong woman. I highly recommend it.

If you are interested in learning of the Romanov dynasty, this is a perfect book to start with. This story is about the Tsarina Maria Feodorovna.. She was one of the most endearing, but strong Tsarina. She is known as being dedicated to family and friends. She didn't let anyone get away with anything. If she felt things should be done a certain way, for Russia, she made her opinion known. I love reading about the Romanov family. Their successes, their failures. Here the characters come to life. You either love them or hate them. In the end, you do admire their courage, and their dedication to Mother Russia.
5 Stars

This book is great! If you love Historical fiction you will love this book!!

I enjoy all of this authors books and this one was very good. Thank you Netgally and the Publisher for the ARC.

Well written historical fiction. A look at Maria, Empress of Russia and her trials before and after becoming the Russian Empress. Very readable and moved quickly. Highly recommend.

I place this book in the same wonderful genre of Sally Christie's books on Versailles, a delicious history, yet of Russia and the Romanovs. It is an almost slimmed down history of Alexander II and his Empress Maria Feodorovna,the last Russian Tzarina. It is wonderfully descriptive and tantamount in the already known history, shocking in details as to the attempts on the Tzars lives. A must read for any Russian history lover. I can't even imagine the life style of these rich overlords. Nicholas II, the last Tzar was their son. and I am loving every word. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House publishing for this "I can't put it down" novel. Based on fact!! a must read for any lover of Romanov history! And thank you to C.W. Gortner, and his indelible writing. Your words totally drew me in with the first sentence. This was the best best best, I loved reading it from The Tzarina's viewpoint. Thank you for such a wonderfully enticing and involving story, all based on truth. I can only imagine what it was like for the the end of the Romanov's 300 year reign. This book certainly gave me a new perspective on Alexandra, who seems to have brought down the entire Romanov Dynasty.

The fictional story of Dagmar of Denmark tells about how she rose from A somewhat noble but in impoverished beginningAnd later became Empress of Russia.Well We often hear about the Romanov family And how they met their fate in the basement, We don't read much about what happened to Dagmar who married Sasha Romanov became Imperial Highness Maria Feodorovana. The Romanov Empress tells about the trials and travails of Maria known as Minnie and how she almost married one brother, later ended up marrying another brother, bore her children and the loss of her son Nicholas. While historical fiction, the book reads like history and the characters come to life making this book a good read.

Recommend.

Review written after downloading a galley from NetGalley.

WOW, what a book! This was my first attempt at reading about the Romanovs in any capacity and it was quite an introduction. It took me a month to read this, but I enjoyed that time immensely.

I’ve read a few of C.W. Gortner’s books and they seem to be polarizing for me. This was definitely one of the better ones. We follow Princess Dagmar, known as “Minnie”, over the course of her very long life, from her childhood in Denmark, to her sister’s wedding in England (where we meet an aging Victoria); we also see her engaged to the tsarevich, Nicholas, and then eventually his younger brother, Sasha. She witnesses the assassination of her father-in-law, the painful death of her husband, and then has to contend with her wretched daughter-in-law, Alexandra.

All but two of Princess Dagmar’s children precede her in death. We know this will be a sad story because we know that what ultimately destroys the Romanovs, and yet, Gortner somehow manages to make that almost a side note in this unbelievable account of Dagmar’s life. She faced so much death at a young age, a great war, a revolution, the dissolution of a 300 year old dynasty, the brutal execution of her children and grandchildren, and finally, exile.

I think this certainly could have been edited down a bit (I didn’t need to know all the details about which granddaughters slept in what rooms, or who packed what in how many trunks), and I wonder if it would have worked better as two separate books. Nevertheless, this is a wonderful read if you are willing to devote the time to it.

I love a good historical fiction book. This book is excellent. The author writes from the view of Minnie and tells her story. She is very well developed and real. Many of the other characters are well developed also. I did have to try to keep track of all the ways these characters were all related and inter-related, but that is not the fault of the author, but history itself.

The story takes you from Minnie as a young teenager, until the Russian Revolution. It ends with an epilogue that ties the history together and what happened to those in the story that survived. It also touches on the fake Anastasia.

There was just a couple of times I felt the author went a tad too far. I did not see any reason to touch on the sexual parts. They were not vulgar, but they could, and in my opinion, should have been omitted.

Would I recommend this book? Yes, most definitely. You will learn a lot about the Romanov family told in a most interesting way.

Minnie, a Danish Princess, leaves her family home to marry Alexander, the Romanov heir. This book follows her as she becomes empress, a widow, and throughout the reign and death of her son, Nicholas, the last Roman czar.

This book was well written and engaging. I've read a number of books about Nicholas and his family, but none about or from the view point of his mother. I thought this book was absolutely fascinating. I look forward to reading more from this author. Overall, highly recommended.

An interesting look at the time right before the end of the Russian Tsars, from a viewpoint who was right in the middle of the action. There was a lot of point of view opinions that I wonder was actually from reality - for example, how the protagonist really felt about her son's wife etc.

Amazing, enthralling, captivating, those don't even cover this book. You wanna read about the Romanovs then this is your fiction book. It was so hard to put down. Every time you think you have reached a lull in the story line suitable to take a break you get slammed with a twist that makes you "read another chapter". It is an amazing book like this.

If you like Alison Weir, Philippa Gregory, or Jean Plaidy then this author is for you! I love historical fiction so this book was right up my style. It is engrossing & even though it is fiction it gives you a female's point of view. The strength of that woman, the loves she lost & gained. Through everything though she remained loyal to family & Russia.

Though I agree that since this is fiction that this is not how & what happened, but the way it is written you could believe that it did happen this way. With just one decision Russia was lost or gained by the powers that be. This book is a great read and I highly suggest you get it. You will not be disappointed.

The Russian Revolution from a different perspective...ties together lots of Romanov history/people who are not necessarily well known. A must read for hard core historical novel lovers...
well written with and easy flow to it; you will read to the end even though you know what happens. Personalizes some of the key players in this long standing mysterious period of Russian history.

How did an impoverished young Danish girl become the mother to the last Tsar of Russia? The youngest daughter of King Christian IX of Denmark came from a family full of children that married well. Through the various marriages of King Christian's children, Denmark had ties to England, Greece, and Russia. These connections would become crucial as the last Tsar of Russia was killed and his family hunted throughout the country. This novel provides insight into a time forgotten. History comes to life and is captivatingly narrated. In covering the life of Tsarina Maria we see her strength and also her foibles. This is not a sugar-coated fairy tale, It is an in-depth look at an amazing life. I am intrigued by this story and appreciate learning about this time.

I've loved every book C.W. Gortner has written, but he exceeds himself in The Romanov Empress! The story of Princess Dagmar of Denmark (known as Minnie) the second oldest daughter of an impoverished royal family, who became the beloved Empress Maria Feodorovna, mother of the last tzar of Russia is exciting, interesting, entertaining and amazing. Minnie's father unexpectedly becomes the King of Denmark, and the girls now become extremely eligible on the royal marriage market. Alix, Minnie's oldest sister, marries Queen Victoria's son, and Minnie becomes betrothed to Alexander, known as Nixa, the heir to the Russian throne. It seems like a love match, but shortly after arriving in Russia Nixa dies. His dying wish? That Minnie marry his brother who became Alexander III. Minnie's not all that excited about that but goes ahead with the marriage, which turns out better than she could have hoped.
Minnie is a free spirit and an intelligent woman, and those qualities make her an excellent governing partner to her husband, particularly when he become Tzar. Minnie grows to love Russia and feel it in her bones. The time and place of Minnie's Russia is fraught with danger and rebellion, and Minnie helps the people of Russia in many ways. Then Minnie's husband dies and she is left with 5 children. Most of us know what happened to Russia and Tzar Nicholas and his family during their revolution, but C.W. Gortner takes us with them as the battle revolutionaries and themselves during those tumultuous time.

The Romanov Empress is well researched, well written historical fiction, well worth reading not just for what you'll learn about Russian history and this amazing woman, but because Minnie takes us with her on the journey through it all. You'll feel like you know her well when you turn that last page!