C. W. Gortner

Narrated by the mother of Russia's last tsar, this vivid, historically authentic novel brings to life the courageous story of Maria Feodorovna, one of Imperial Russia's most compelling women, who witnessed the splendor and tragic downfall of the Romanovs as she fought to save her dynasty in the final years of its reign. Barely nineteen, Minnie knows that her role as a Danish princess is to leave her family and enter into a royal marriage. Fortune brings Minnie to Russia, where she marries the Romanov heir and becomes empress. When resistance to his reign strikes her family and the tsar sets out to crush all who oppose him, Minnie-now called Maria-must tread a perilous path of compromise in a country she has come to love. Her husband's death leaves their son Nicholas as the inexperienced ruler of a deeply divided empire, together with his headstrong wife, Alexandra, whose fervor has led her to a disturbing relationship with a mystic named Rasputin. As the wave of revolution rises anew to engulf Russia, Maria will face her most dangerous challenge and her greatest heartache. From the opulent palaces of St. Petersburg and the intrigue-laced salons of the aristocracy to World War I battlefields and the bloodied countryside occupied by the Bolsheviks, C. W. Gortner sweeps us into the anarchic fall of an empire and the bold heart of the woman who tried to save it. Story Locale- Late-19th and early-20th-century Russia, Denmark, and England

The Romanov Empress

Macy Johnson

Just extremely depressing. It wasn't as intriguing as I had hoped, and I felt pretty bored and depressed halfway through.

Ale ♡

5 stars.


  “I was indeed a Romanov now, with all the challenges, privileges, and obligations my rank entailed.”




I can't express how much I loved this book.

I am a fan of Russian culture (nothing new, lol), even more of the Romanov Dynasty, from how it began until its fall in 1918. The Romanov Empress tells the story of Tsarina Maria Feodorovna, also known as Dagmar of Denmark, the dowager empress and a very emblematic figure of the Romanov family.

I'm going to spare me the huge summary and cut to the chase.

Dagmar, fondly called Minnie by her family, has to endure the marriage of her older sister, Alix, to Queen Victoria's crown prince, Bertie. Minnie and Alix are very close and have been brought up since childhood in an environment that does not belong to royalty, but to which they soon adapt. Minnie meets the Tsarevich Nixa, with whom she falls in love and they become engaged, but Nixa falls ill and before he dies, he makes his next brother, Sasha, and Minnie promise to marry, to which these two agree.

Soon after, Sasha, more out of commitment and to fulfill the promise he made to his deceased older brother, Nixa, shows his "affection" for Minnie and they engage. Minnie travels to Russia, a place she knows nothing about, and they marry. Years later, the Tsar dies and Sasha must take over and become the new Tsar.

This book tells us, from Minnie's point of view, how she falls in love with Sasha, her new family and her new home, Russia. We see, through the eyes of the Tsarevna, later Tsarina, how little by little the Russian people begin to tire of the precarious treatment in which they find themselves. Minnie adopts the name Maria Feodorovna and is the mother of five children (there were six, but one died at an early age), among whom is the last Tsar of Russia, Nicholas II or Nicky, as his family called him.

I loved the narration, the characters, the development and the story itself. Minnie is a very strong and loving woman, stubborn and obstinate, she knows that her duty as a tsarina is not simply to smile and wave, or to throw parties and splurge money. Eventually, Minnie realizes that Russia has more needs and requires more help than she imagines. She helps Sasha and Russia more than she realizes, and becomes an important pillar in her family.

Miechen was an interesting character. I liked her a lot. I didn't tolerate Alexandra so much, I wanted to kick her as well. I shed some tears when Maria visited for the last time to her husband, when she lost her family over the years and refused to the very end to believe that her son Nicky was murdered with his family, who she loved. i fELL IN LOVE WITH FELIX, YAS, BISEXUAL ICON, I LOVE YOU. Trust me guys, Felix was funny, handsome, clever and saved many times to his family from being murdered.

This book also adresses topics like homosexuality (but being taboo for the others, or sins, etc), infidelities, gossip (yas, Miechen I'm talking to you, queen), scandals and the gods knows what else, which was part of its essence. Also, you can see the excessive waste of money on gifts, dances, travel, food, etc, which is why the people of Russia is angry. While the rich people is celebrating, eating, dancing in their palaces, the peasants are starving, getting cold and dying from many deseases.

In a deep and long reflection, I ponder and ask myself many times (whenever I'm bored or when I should be focusing on my homeworks instead of this): if there had been some kind of alteration in the history of the Romanov dynasty, would it still stand? Or, would it have been chaos anyway and history would have ended the same?

I have an internal conflict and sometimes I start to change some events/characters as if they were chess pieces. If Alexander had not died and had acceded very early to the Duma, would there have been an early revolution and with it the assassination of the Romanov family? Or would history have changed? If Nixa hadn't died and had become the Tsar, would he have done the things different? If Sasha had also accepted the Duma, would anything have changed? Or, would it have ended the same? If Nicky had not married Alexandra (fun fact, in Spanish, it's Alejandra, like me, yassss. Follow me for more Spanish lessons), he probably would never have had a hemophiliac son or accepted Rasputin into his palace and life, would he have lasted longer on the throne with a different wife and with an heir as his firstborn? Or, would it all have ended in the same disgrace and revolution?

I like to wonder and imagine that if the Romanov dynasty had survived (let's say until the 60's or 70's, or perhaps, in my arrogant outburst to imagine that they could have lasted longer, until today, like Queen Elizabeth) without being threatened by the Bolsheviks, with various changes in their history, would they still be powerful? Would Russia have become the world power it is today, would there have been a dissolution as there was in the USSR, would it still be modern, one of the most money-spending courts in the whole world? Or would the course continue as it is and the Russian Imperial Family would have been doomed to itself many years ago?

In the end, all the decisions and mistakes accumulated over the centuries (and the years leading up to the revolution that would change everything), led to an event that really seemed inevitable: the fall of the Russian empire, the death of at least 18 members of the Romanov family, including Tsar Nicholas II, Tsarina Alexandra, her five children, and the Tsar's younger brother, Misha, among many others. The persecution that was given to many members of the royal family, and to many aristocrats of great name, money and reputation, is something that shocked a world that was living under a World War, that was changing and that this new revolution led to ask the following question: will a monarchy still be a good idea in these days of today? Or, it will survive? I mean, come on guys, times are changing, but we must protect our kings and queens, because it's what's been done over the centuries.

It was about a woman seeing her rising in the Russian society, falling in love, raising her kids and seeing them being unhappy and finally, die. Maria Feodorovna saw the Russian Empire rise and fall through the years and not being able to help out a lot. She just saw her home being destroyed and her family being murdered.

This book broke my heart many many many times and honestly I loved it, yasss.

For readers of Philippa Gregory and Alison Weir comes a dramatic novel of the beloved Empress Maria, the Danish princess who became the mother of the last Russian tsar. “This epic tale is captivating and beautifully told.”—Lisa Wingate, New York Times bestselling author of Before We Were Yours Barely nineteen, Minnie knows that her station in life as a Danish princess is to leave her family and enter into a royal marriage—as her older sister Alix has done, moving to England to wed Queen Victoria’s eldest son. The winds of fortune bring Minnie to Russia, where she marries the Romanov heir, Alexander, and once he ascends the throne, becomes empress. When resistance to his reign strikes at the heart of her family and the tsar sets out to crush all who oppose him, Minnie—now called Maria—must tread a perilous path of compromise in a country she has come to love. Her husband’s death leaves their son Nicholas as the inexperienced ruler of a deeply divided and crumbling empire. Determined to guide him to reforms that will bring Russia into the modern age, Maria faces implacable opposition from Nicholas’s strong-willed wife, Alexandra, whose fervor has led her into a disturbing relationship with a mystic named Rasputin. As the unstoppable wave of revolution rises anew to engulf Russia, Maria will face her most dangerous challenge and her greatest heartache. From the opulent palaces of St. Petersburg and the intrigue-laced salons of the aristocracy to the World War I battlefields and the bloodied countryside occupied by the Bolsheviks, C. W. Gortner sweeps us into the anarchic fall of an empire and the complex, bold heart of the woman who tried to save it. Praise for The Romanov Empress “Timely . . . [Gortner’s] ability to weave what reads as a simple tale from such complex historical and familial storylines is impressive. . . . Maria’s life as a royal reads like a historical soap opera.”—USA Today “Gortner, an experienced hand at recreating the unique aura of a particular time and place, will deftly sweep historical-fictions fans into this glamorous, turbulent, and ultimately tragic chapter in history.”—Booklist (starred review) “Mesmerizing . . . This insightful first-person account of the downfall of the Romanov rule . . . is the powerful story of a mother trying to save her family and an aristocrat fighting to maintain rule in a country of rebellion.”—Publishers Weekly “A twist on the tragic story you’ve heard many times before.”—Bustle

A Novel of Tsarina Maria Feodorovna

Rachel Benton

I have been wanting to read this book for a long time now, and I just have not gotten around to it. I finally just picked it up. I’m glad that I did, because this story was amazing. This is definitely one of my top favorite books of 2020. It's been a while since I’ve anything By C.W. Gortner. This book just makes me want to pick up more from him. 
The Romanov Empress is told from the perspective of Maria Feodorovna , she was the mother of Tsar Nicholas II. 
The story starts when Maria is a young girl and ends with the abdication of her son. One thing that impressed me about this story was how historically accurate it was. You can tell how meticulously research this was. Gortner even included a bibliography in the back which I loved because I not only enjoy reading historical fiction, but nonfiction as well. 
 Another thing that really stood out about this book was writing. I think Gortner really captured Maria so well in this, though you see other characters, you are seeing it from her eyes and perspectives. Which is probably a good and bad thing. I think that feud that she had with her daughter-in-law was portrayed well in this, even though you are getting it from Maria Feodorovna perspective. You can tell in some scenes when she is not really being fair to Alix, but then there are some scenes that justify her dislike of her. 
Another thing I liked about this story, is that it gives you an overall view, as you're reading it, about how Nicholas II's downfall came about. I just started learning about the Romanov myself. So this book was helpful, even though I know there is no doubt some inaccuracy in it, which Gortner himself pointed out, which I really appreciated. Overall, I would highly recommend this. Anyone who loves historical fiction, this is the book for you. I would like to thank Netgalley and Radom house for giving me a free Kindle copy of this book.

Roos Kuijper 

Already a new favourite! I didn't know much about Tsarina Maria Federovna but this novel was so good and it shines an interesting light on this women. If you like historical novels or are interested in the Romanovs or interested in novels about the royals I recommend you give this a try!

The Romanov Empress

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