This book is narrated by the mother of Russia's last Tsar, Maria Feodorovna. It begins as Minnie, as she was known by family, was a Danish princess set to marry into the Romanov family. It covers her entire life, the ups and the downs..
I have to say, this book was absolutely fascinating. I knew next to nothing of the Romanov Empire, so this was completely new to me. It was heart-wrenching to read some of the things she and the other members of her family were forced to endure. The book was written in such a way as to make you feel like you were right there witnessing everything first hand. This is definitely a must-read for fans of historical fiction!

4.5 stars

I received an ARC of "THE ROMANOV EMPRESS" from NetGalley for an honest review. I wish to thank NetGalley, Ballantine Books, and C. W. Gortner for the opportunity to read this book.

This book has me from the very beginning. I have read several biographies and historical novels on the Romanov family and found this book helped fill a lot of the gaps. Yes, I understand that this was a fictionalized historical novel, but the insight that the author had including a tremendous amount of research made it all ring very true to me. I now would like to read a book about Tsarina Alexandra (Alicky) to see HER viewpoint, but the viewpoint of the Dowager Emperess Maria (Minnie) was fascinating. Plus, it answered so many questions about how so much of the European royalty is so closely related.

The author has a lovely writing style with a beautiful use of words including the native languages of the characters. This is the first book that I have read by him and I look forward to reading more of his books. Honestly, I could not believe that the author was male because he was so intuitive and insightful into the mind of Minnie - he really understood how a woman ticks.

DEFINITE recommend. Especially for anyone who loves European history, the Romanovs, or just a really good book!! 4.5 stars

I received this ARC via NetGally in exchange for an honest review.

i know nothing about the romanovs nor anything about russia. so this book was almost like a history lesson than anything. however, because of this book, i did some of my own research and i felt like the book should've been in two books instead of one.

one of the reasons why is because i wanted more information on maria and what she had to go through. some of the things in the books were sort of fleeting and forgettable. some other things were well in depth and something that i liked. one of the things that was missing was the coup d'etat with the entire romanov family and nicholas.

another thing that i thought was weird was how they villainized alexandra to the point where i didn't like her. i'm sure that if someone didn't do their own research on the romanov family and read this book, they would automatically despise alexandra and think of her as a snake or something. it felt weird because i understand why she did what she did, but i felt like he should've make her more sympathetic than making her into this evil villain of the story. i guess even biographical stories needs their own villain.

otherwise, i liked the story and i liked the way he wrote this book. some editing is needed and maybe more in-depth analysis would be better for the story.

A young Danish princess, Minnie has led a rather quiet life. Her family has never had a lot of money, and they have done most of the work themselves. When her father suddenly becomes the heir to the Danish throne, their lives begin to change. Her sister Alix takes the British heir as her husband, and suitors are soon clamoring for Minnie's hand as well. She accepts the suit of Nixa, the Romanov heir, but before they can marry, he is injured in an accident, and eventually dies from his injuries. He makes her promise to marry his brother Sasha, and while Sasha agrees, Minnie does not give her promise.

As her life with Sasha moves forward, their relationship moves from tepid to full-blown love. Together they raise several children and watch as their empire goes through several different turns. Murder, Rebellion, Revolution - Russia is a hotbed of activity. As Minnie does her best to keep her fragmented family together, war comes to Russia. When her son assumes the throne, he is unprepared, and his chosen wife, Alexandra of Hesse is not prepared for the duties of a Russian Empress. As the family pulls further into itself, Minnie tries to prod her son to action, but his distance only pushes the revolutionaries further.

This was an amazing book! I loved it from start to finish! We all know the story of the Romanov family, assassinated in the basement of a house, but we have not heard much about the mother that lost her son and grandchildren. Marie's story brings the entire Romanov dynasty together as they try to survive within the ravages of war, and the heartbreak that would have broken a weaker woman.
C.W. Gortner has outdone himself with this book! It was hard to put down and I snatched any time that I had to read and learn more about this dynamic woman who fought to save as many of her family as possible and keep the Russia she loved together.

European history was never a favorite genre of mine until I picked up C. W. Gortner’s book, The Vatican Princess. The genre is still not a favorite but C. W. Gortner is and I couldn’t wait to read his new offering, the Romanov Empress. I was not disappointed. Volumes have been written about Anastasia Romanov and her immediate family but the main character in this book is her grandmother, Tsarina Maria Feodorovna. Although she started her life as a princess in Denmark, her family was poor. Through a stroke of fate, her father is named the successor to the childless Danish king. When she becomes of marriable age, Maria is betrothed to the future Tsar of Russia. Her life is filled with trials and tribulations that the author has woven together for a page turning novel.

C. W. Gortner is a master at weaving historical facts together to produces a story that keeps you on the edge of your seat. His main character, Maria, is larger than life. He tells the story in the first person which allows you to get a peek into her mind and emotions. You feel her highs and lows and her frustration as she maneuvers to protect her family. She becomes like a friend and you cheer her on and cry with her as life throws her happiness and heartache.

This book can be read and enjoyed by teen to adult readers and I highly recommend it. It does come with a warning though, once you pick it up, you won’t be able to put it down until you turn the last page!!

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 son, Nicholas, the last tsar of Russia. It is a story of power, revolution and the general poverty of the Russian populatios. As you read this book, you follow the beginnings of dissension, how the rise of Communism came into being. I found this story completely fascinating and hard to put down. Well researched and well written this historical novel deserves 5 stars. My thanks to NetGalley for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Romanov Empress, by C W Gortner, was a hit for me, and it was so close to a biography, instead of being a novel; without the conversations and thoughts by those in the book, it would be a closer to a real history book. This time period has always fascinated me, ever since l was a teen, and Nicholas and Alexandra came out, first sa a book, and then as the movie. So much is written about those two, even to this day, and not nearly as much about the previous emperor's consort, so it was a real pleasure to find and read this book, thanks to an ARC from NetGalley. With the subject concerned being written about in novel form, it gives a rare light and feeling to the actual people involved. This was a woman who truly experienced the highs, and the lows, of an exceptional life.

Many thanks go to C W Gortner, Ballantine Books, and Netgalley for the free copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review. This is the fictional retelling of Princess Dagmar of Denmark, Her Majesty Alix's older sister, who is affianced to Tsarevich Nixa but married his brother, Sasha. They became the parents of Tsar Nicolas of the Russian Revolution, which does take up the end of the book, but it is not the sole topic-not nearly. Most of it deals with her relationships with her parents and her husband. This book reminds me of Daisy Goodwin's historical fiction. Very feminine narrative. Tries to pull at the reader's heartstrings . She does a good job. I enjoyed the book.

The Romanov Empress is a superb novel. It's a riveting read that doesn't fail to deliver. Gortner personifies the voice of Minnie impeccably. Her tenacity, determination, and strength are well characterized in the novel. Also her foibles and flaws. I liked the afterward where the author follow up with what happened to the main characters in the tumultuous aftermath. This year is the century anniversary of the Romanov murders and this book encapsulates their last days of both splendor and horror.

This is a very detail rich work of historical fiction! It's entertaining, and I found it informative about the Romanov Dynasty. I would recommend the book for those who are not just casual readers of historical fiction, but really enjoy history. Do remember where history takes this family! It's heartbreaking and beautifully written!

Thank you Netgalley for providing this copy for an unbiased review.

I love historical fiction, and the Romanovs are a fascinating subject I have read surprisingly few books about! Gortner has an easy, eloquent style and I always enjoy his novels. The Romanov Empress is no exception. It was engaging, educational and creative!

What an epic saga! I wasn’t sure at first if I was interested in this book because I’ve read about the Romanovs and didn’t think there could be more of interest to me but I was wrong. This book is from the point of view of the mother of the ill fated last czar. The book begins with her as a teenager with her family suddenly thrust out of obscurity to be on the cusp of assuming the throne of Denmark. Our protagonist, the future Empress Maria, is watching her eldest sister preparing to wed Queen Victoria’s son and become the Princess of Wales. Her older brother will eventually be placed on the throne himself as the King of Greece, and the grandfather of Prince Philip. I am amazed that such a family was unknown to me. I found myself pausing to look them up.

The story will follow our young protagonist as she adjusts to her role as the wife of Russia’s future czar. As we follow her family through their personal travails we will also have a better understanding of what will lead to the demise of the last czar, her son, and his family as we follow the conditions and rule of Russia. I am surprised that I never knew about this woman and her life. She was clearly a very formidable woman who’s life was very tragic. She was once the Empress and then finds herself fallen low at her end. In many ways the novel is written with an air of her adopted Russian ways. It doesn’t dwell on the tragedies but keeps moving forward. There are no pauses as events speed forward. If like me you know the events of the famous family who are killed and that of the civ

Immensely readable with beautiful prose, easy dialogue and vivid characters. This particular book falls right into the sweet spot of my current passion for royal history: the Victorian-Edwardian era. I’ve read several bios on many of the people depicted/mentioned in this novel and I love the author’s obvious effort at maintaining historical accuracy whenever possible (the little details are great) and yet it doesn’t feel like someone just threw a history book at your face.
But really, the best part of this book is just how well written it is. Words flow beautifully and the dialogue between characters and the inner thoughts of the narrator are delightful and engaging. A thoroughly enjoyable read.

Although I haven't read anything else by Mr. Gotner, I have read quite a bit of nonfiction on the Romanovs, especially Nicholas, Alexandra, their children., and the Revolution. The differences in temperament between Maria and Alexandra, have been well document, but usually the emphasis is on Alexandra. This book was refreshing in its focus on Maria, her marriage, and her children. Just like Alexandra, Maria was surrounded by family tragedy, intrigue, and political upheaval, but unlike her daughter-in-law, who chose to withdraw personally and emotionally, Maria's survival can be credited to her outlook on life and her ability to adapt. I truly want to locate her official biographer!
Highly recommend.

I loved learning about the grandmother of Grand Duchess Anastasia. This tells the story of a girl from a small country who becomes Emperess of Russia and then has to flee so as not to become a victim of the fall of the Romanov dynasty. I loved this book. The characters are vivid and come alive on the page.

Well researched, even while taking fictitious liberties with history, which is expected in historical fiction. Kept me reading and I especially enjoyed that Maria Feodorovna got her own book- just hope that someday her biography is written in full.

Disclaimers: This review is in exchange for an ARC from NetGalley. Second, I do Russian history, especially of the imperial court in the revolutionary era. So, I'm not your average reader here.

"The Romanov Empress" is the first time I've read someone in fiction actually try to pay attention to the last dowager empress of imperial Russia, Maria Feodorovna (aka Dagmar of Denmark, aka Minnie.) Gortner attempts to trace Dagmar's evolution from lesser royalty to empress of the most dazzling, and then most famously destroyed, court in Europe. Throughout the work, the author gives the empress credit for her courage, her will, her loyalty to Russia and her family.

On the downside: The book is a bit heavy handed in showing off the author's research. Off hand comments read like nods to Wikipedia, like how many rooms were in a given palace. (I'm not going to critique minor errors and fudging of some names, since that's not the point of a novel, but obvious "I did my research!" moments take me out of the book.)

In addition, I struggle with some of the characterizations, especially that of Alexandra, who comes off as manipulative, cold, a harridan, and frankly awful. The dowager empress did not have the best relationship with Alexandra, it is true, and Alexandra was hardly beloved by a lot of the court social powers. It certainly makes sense that in a novel with the first person perspective of the dowager empress we see a negative take on Alexandra. At the same time, the text feels as if it is a pushing a narrative beyond dislike, beyond admitted character issues, into a single conclusion: that the Revolution happened just because Alexandra was ill-suited to be empress and Nicholas too weak (and frankly too stupid) to say no to her. I struggle here because while I concede it is appropriate for a negative take on Alexandra to appear in a first-person account given by the empress, at the same time it just feels like the author is going beyond the lead character's perspective and dropping a larger conclusion, which comes off as a bit cartoonish, with obvious villains.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and found it a fast read. It put me in the shoes of someone who has been treated less in historical fiction and biographies of this era, despite the fact she was one of the very few elite Romanovs to survive the Revolution. I'm giving it a 3 star rating ("I liked it") in the GoodReads rating system, although I'd bump it up to a 3.5 if I could.

This was a magnificent book from beginning to end. I am a fan of history and monarchy. And the Romanovs were always a source of fascination for me. I enjoyed reading of Minnie's point of view, even though she exasperated me at times, and could be quite stubborn and judgmental. Even though I knew how Tsar Nicholas II story ended, I felt despair and dismay to know because of his stubbornness and sometimes ineffectiveness, basically caused his downfall. It was still painful to read. This book was hard to put down as it was that good. I voluntarily read this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

In The Romanov Empress, we follow the voice of Tsarina Maria Feodorovna (Princess Marie Sophie Frederikke Dagmar/Dowager Empress Marie Feodorovna) or Minnie as she races down a long glittering corridor past portraits of figures attached to unimaginable tragedy, political struggles, bitter rivalries and tableaus of impending bloody anarchy. This is a historical drama if there ever was one as events unfold and you hold your breath when explosive scenes come to life. It's quite the story that pulls you in and will have many reaching for additional works about the Romanov Dynasty but for a few readers, they may wish they found another title or could replace negatives with positives.

To be honest, the descriptive scenes at times brutal and graphic were handled with a respectful approach and for a curious reader just hearing so many infamous names and titles of Russian and English Royalty for the first time, you are sure to create a mental outline of certain characters that will hopefully carry over to other interests and continued reading to smooth out any final mental portrait. Perhaps this type of novel is more geared toward a newer audience which is fantastic to see but for those of us who already know the illustrious names and connection of Courts, The Romanov Empress begins to show the tarnish under the flash and dazzle in the first couple of chapters (and then continues) with poor character dialogue (that just rambles and sounds like an emotionless recitation of an encyclopedia article) and odd placements of conclusions (every chapter had to end with dramatic foreshadowing, awkward boudoir scene, another cigarette break or a bomb blast). These kinds of noticeable negatives were soldered between excellent descriptions of court life and easy to follow politics that I must say overall impressed me and are worth recommending to anyone but I couldn't ignore the repetitive dialogue that only ended with me seriously distrusting the narrator and wishing another voice to speak up.

By the final page, I had enough and believe me I wanted to love this novel. It just wasn't what I was hoping for and I think one personal negative of this book fixating on animosity between certain family members to the point where it felt there was an underlying agenda pushed me to the edge. Still in a way I'm glad I read The Romanov Empress it has shown me how far I have come with my tastes on fiction (or personal studies) but I believe I have reached the end of my historical fiction journey and I should only seek out non-fiction with a pairing of narrative flare in the pages when it comes to fascinating and mysterious topics such as The House of Romanov in the future.

With thanks to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for kindly sending me an advanced copy of The Romanov Empress: A Novel of Tsarina Maria Feodorovna

The Romanov Empress is an outstanding peek at the mother of Tsar Nicholas Alexander Romanov . Beginning with her life a a young, rather penniless princess and tracing her life from Denmark to Russia, readers will get a fascinating glimpse of the opulence, loyalties, conflicts, and difficulties that shaped Russian history. If you are any kind of fan of historical fiction, don't miss this one!!!