I grew up with an undeniable fascination for the lost
Imperial Russian Royal family (and particularly Anastasia, of course). I
remember watching Unsolved Mysteries back in 1998 and listening to Robert Stack
describe how Anna Anderson's ears matched Anastasia Romanov's ears at 14
different points. Well then, mystery solved, I thought. Of course that's
Anastasia.
I was about ten. I didn't need much convincing.
The later discovery of the Romanov remains quashed any
wishful thinking; the entire Romanov family had indeed died back in 1918
via firing squad in Ekaterinburg, Russia. Like Marie Antoinette, the Romanovs
have endured in the collective public consciousness as tragic victims of a
violent political upheaval. We see that beautiful young family in photographs
and shake our heads. We mourn the loss of a royal dynasty.
Helen Rappaport re-establishes the Romanovs as people in The
Last Days of the Romanovs: Tragedy at Ekaterinburg. Her sharp focus on their
final fourteen days highlights the Romanovs' familial relationships as they
struggle to stave off the boredom that comes with being secluded in the private
Ipatiev House. The Romanovs are kept alive as political pawns, isolated from
the outside world, and have long ago lost the agency to determine or affect
their fate.
So what does a family do when they're isolated, when they've
given up hope? They band together. The readers know what's coming; the dread
lies in reading their monotonous daily trifles, their grinding routines to keep
themselves occupied.
It's hard to disagree with Rappaport's poor assessment of
Tsar Nicholas II's reign: the introverted Tsar preferred to shut himself away
inside the Alexander Palace rather than acknowledge Russia's challenges or
shifting political climate. His German-born Tsaritsa, Alexandra, had given him
four daughters before producing a sickly male heir, Alexey. Alexandra's
reliance on an unpopular holy man called Rasputin to curtail Alexey's bleeding
attacks had seriously wounded the family's pious public image. By the time
Nicholas abdicated in 1917, Russia was in the midst of a full-blown Revolution.
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Author and Historian Helen Rappaport.
Courtesy of helenrappaport.com |
But Rappaport isn't really interested in exploring the
failures of the fallen monarch. Instead, she focuses on the personalities stuck
in solitary confinement. Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia sew. Alexey plays
with tin toys. Nicholas reads. Sewing and reading occasionally give way to card
games. Talking with the multitude of guards is forbidden, though Nicholas and
the girls try anyway. Maria, in particular, is caught in a "compromising
situation" with a guard who'd smuggled a cake into the house for her 19th
birthday.
Rappaport's contrast of small routine to the big picture
politics is brutally effective. There was nothing for the Romonov family to do
but wait as Commandant Yurovsky worked out the particulars of their execution.
As soon as I finished reading, I grabbed my dog and took her
for a long walk in the sunshine. Don't read this book at night.
The Last Days of the Romanovs: Tragedy at Ekaterinburg by
Helen Rappaport is available at the library and as an e-book on Overdrive.