I love learning about the Romanovs and this book did not disappoint. It was about Julie of Saxe-Coburg, a German princess. I will confess I knew nothing about her life before reading this book. It was interesting, although sometimes it did drag on. It took a while to get into this book with all the background information, but once I read through it, I enjoyed it.

This read like a celebrity biography rather than a scholarly biography, and I generally prefer the latter. I picked it up because I enjoy women’s biographies and I’m interested in Russian history, especially of this period, but I quickly floundered as Rappoport immediately diverted her attention to Julie’s brother Leopold and his relationship with the English royal family - a situation which involved Julie (about whom at this point I knew virtually nothing) almost not at all.

Like most celebrity-style biographies, this one is strongly partisan towards its subject, which resulted in some confusing or contradictory assessments. In one chapter it’s heavily implied that Julie’s sister-in-law was being spiteful and inaccurate by suggesting she’d had an affair with the king of Prussia, and a chapter or two later the impassioned tone of Julie’s letters to said king are said to indicate a close and probably romantic relationship. The future Tsar Alexander I is derogatorily described as “effete” half a paragraph before Rappaport discusses his illegitimate child. Other figures are generally characterized only as related to their relationship with Julie, which meant that they didn’t feel real or understandable - and since we know so little about Julie herself in many ways (Rappaport relies heavily on “must haves,” “probablys,” and “hints at,” as well as semi-rhetorical questions) this made the narrative feel unmoored and speculative. Context just isn’t provided. And while Julie undoubtedly suffered, there are moments - as when Rappaport is lovingly describing the luxurious estate bought for Julie by her separated husband’s family, which Julie got to design and decorate, in which Julie would live independently for the rest of her life (surrounded, of course, by upwards of twenty servants plus multiple ladies-in-waiting) - where one wonders if this was really such a terrible fate for a middle daughter from a small and impoverished German principality. She left her husband when she was twenty; she lived into her eighties.

Overall, I enjoyed it, but the lack of access to Julie’s interior life meant that she never really came alive. Was Julie an innocent victim of domestic violence and controlling men or a flirtatious seductress who was an active participant in her own affairs? Rappaport has no idea, and that means the reader doesn’t either. Rappaport faithfully - and exhaustively - chronicles everything Julie DID, but by the end I was left with not much impression of who Julie WAS. The book was well-written but by the end I was still wondering why its subject required a full-length biography.

Pushed into a marriage with the grandson of Catherine the Great in Russia by her father, Prince
Franz, desperate for money for his duchy, Julie of Saxe-Coburg finds herself friendless at the
court except for Elizaveta Alexseevna or Elise, wife of Alexander, her intended, Konstantin’s
sister-in-law. After Julie refused to give in to life with Konstantin, Tsar Alexander finally gave
her permission to leave Russia in 1801.

Julie sought freedom above reputation and wealth, giving birth to illegitimate children she was
forced to give up for adoption before finding love with her own married physician.

The bourgeoisie were willing to look the other way when Julie attended the Bern Musical
Society’s inaugural concert because of her status. This book is the story of this dauntless woman
who suffered ill health as she reached her goal of freedom and is well-worth investing the time in
reading.

Thanks go to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this advance copy.

A very detailed and informative book on the life of Princess Julie-Anne Saxe Coburg - someone who I knew little about. With so much written and focused on either the English or French monarchies, this is truly a refreshing look on a lesser known woman. Her life was certainly one that was hard to live and the author does a great job trying to put all the pieces together. Many parts of her life remain unknown but what the author did uncover was dutifully honored and the rest she asks the hard questions and tries to formulate respectable answers. Give this book a go - you will NOT be disappointed. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you for writing yet another insightful book, Helen Rappaport.

Since I follow the author on social media, I knew this books was in the works and having read several of her Romanov books, I was excited to delve into another chapter. As usual, I wasn't disappointed, as happy as I am to read about well known historical figures, I always get a special pleasure out of reading about more obscure people and in Princess Julie-Anne Saxe Coburg, somehow both of these things turned out to be true. While very well known in her own time, Princess Julie deliberately by the end of own long lifetime became a shadow and a hidden figure. She lived the simple life of just another German princess amongst hundreds, then a whirlwind, literally glittering (and horribly painful) life as a Russian Grand Duchess, and then as a private woman whose past trailed behind her, never letting go enough to give her a real chance at what she always wanted: love and family.

Without her precedent and "luck" at marrying so highly, there would be no lasting prospects for the rest of her family: there would be no king Leopold I of Belgium, her younger brother, and no Queen Victoria, the daughter of her younger sister, their entire dynasties in existence because Julie married and survived an abusive Grand Duke,

The Rebel Romanov by Helen Rappaport details the life of Julie of Saxe-Coburg who was forced to wed the grandson of Catherine the Great, Constantine. Constantine was volatile and alternated between violence and being nice to Julie - who miserable with him. She finally obtain permission from Tsar Alexander to leave Russia and despite please from her husband to return, lived her life in Europe. Taking many lovers, she had several illegitimate children that she was forced to give up.

Ms. Rappaport gives a fascinating depiction of this Romanov that I'd never heard of before and gives us her life story - even though it's tragic because she was used as a pawn by her family.

This was an incredibly interesting book that all lovers of European and Romanov history will enjoy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I requested and received an eARC of The Rebel Romanov: Julie of Saxe-Coburg, the Empress Russia Never Had by Helen Rappaport via NetGalley. When I saw this title, my mind immediately focused on the words “Romanov” and “Saxe-Coburg” and I knew that I wanted to read this. In 1795, Catherine the Great went in search of a bride for her grandson, Constantine. She selected Julie of Saxe-Coburg — aunt to the future Queen Victoria — a young, German princess like she had been before marrying into the Russian Imperial family. Julie found herself thrown into a court dominated by rumors and rivalries and paired with a volatile husband who could be sweet in one moment and violent in the next. Eventually, she would be granted permission by Tsar Alexander to leave the court, leaving behind a husband and life she despised. During her lifetime she gave birth to multiple illegitimate children, which she was forced into giving up for adoption. In The Rebel Romanov, Rappaport explores her life and circumstances which have largely been forgotten by history.

In the introduction to the text, Rappaport positions the Saxe-Coburg family in the middle of 19th century, as several siblings married into high stations, some in close proximity to thrones in Europe. With such well-connected relations, how did Julie sort of disappear into history, a sacrifice to the Russian Imperial throne and the success of her family? This definitely made me excited to dive further into the book and tempered how I viewed Julie throughout my reading. The journey to Russia must have been an eye-opening experience for Julie and her sisters, but that would only be the tip of the iceberg. Rappaport describes Constantine’s bizarre and cruel behavior and it really unsettled me. I cannot imagine how difficult this must have been for the young bride.

Julie’s life was certainly a unique one and The Rebel Romanov does a tremendous job of imparting her tale. She was, as Rappaport shows, little more than a sacrificial lamb to the Romanov dynasty for the betterment of her own family. Parts of Julie’s life necessarily remain an enigma due to lack of sources. The author points out certain possibilities, such as who she may have had an affair with, what may have caused her bouts of illness, who may have fathered her children, but does not make any claims that cannot be supported. It’s a shame so many letters and first hand accounts of her life were destroyed, but as Julie herself participated in this erasure it is difficult to begrudge her this act of agency in a life fraught with limitations. Even with this mystery, Rappaport manages to puzzle together a compelling portrait of a woman who it is difficult not to develop sympathy for despite two hundred or so years of separation. Julie seemed to retain a certain charm that really appealed to people until the end of her life, despite her mother describing her as very affected by her time in Russia and her marriage. This was a terrific and very enjoyable read.