I Was Anastasia

This page contains affiliate links, and we may receive compensation if you click on a link. You can read my full advertising disclosure HERE.

Manufacturer: Ariel Lawhon
Brand: Historical Fiction
Brew: Paperback
Steeping Time: 400 pages
Tea Service: Personal Choice
Strength:

Synopsis: An enthralling feat of historical suspense that unravels the extraordinary twists and turns in Anna Anderson’s fifty-year battle to be recognized as Anastasia Romanov. Is she the Russian Grand Duchess or the thief of another woman’s legacy?

Countless others have rendered their verdict. Now it is your turn.

Russia, July 17, 1918: Under direct orders from Vladimir Lenin, Bolshevik secret police force Anastasia Romanov, along with the entire imperial family, into a damp basement in Siberia, where they face a merciless firing squad. None survive. At least that is what the executioners have always claimed.

Germany, February 17, 1920: A young woman bearing an uncanny resemblance to Anastasia Romanov is pulled shivering and senseless from a canal. Refusing to explain her presence in the freezing water or even acknowledge her rescuers, she is taken to the hospital where an examination reveals that her body is riddled with countless horrific scars. When she finally does speak, this frightened, mysterious young woman claims to be the Russian grand duchess. 

As rumors begin to circulate through European society that the youngest Romanov daughter has survived the massacre at Ekaterinburg, old enemies and new threats are awakened. The question of who Anna Anderson is and what actually happened to Anastasia Romanov spans fifty years and touches three continents. This thrilling saga is every bit as moving and momentous as it is harrowing and twisted.

Since I was a very young girl, I’ve been obsessed with the Romanov family and their story.

Since their history and demise is over 100 years old now, I’m going to take the liberty of assuming that most people know what happened to them. If you don’t and would like to read a novel such as this one, or perhaps a non-fiction book about them, stop reading here because I’m about to spoil it for you.

I, like many others, was so very hopeful that young Anastasia, against all odds, had survived the horrific massacre that befell her family. I wanted it so desperately to be true. What I wanted was for the animated film version (this one) to be the truth about what happened.

Even now, knowing the sad truth that no one survived, I still have an odd hope that they’re wrong and that someone made it out alive.

I’ve read a few books about the Romanovs and their history, and I surely know the name of Anna Anderson, but I don’t know much about her. I know that DNA testing finally proved her a fraud years after her death. I know that she never wavered in her claims to be the Grand Duchess Anastasia. Apart from that, I don’t know a whole lot about her life and story. I Was Anastasia intrigued me because it is from Anna’s viewpoint. Ariel Lawhon wrote it well after science debunked Anna’s claims. Knowing this, I was curious about how this particular story would be told.

The story begins with Anna in 1970. Right off the bat, that wasn’t what I was expecting. When I think of Anastasia and her story, I never get past 1918. It took me a short while to get into the book, but the second chapter switched to Anastasia in 1917 and I was hooked. The format of the book is slightly tricky, but I love the way it is done. We swap between Anna and Anastasia consistently. The tricky part comes with the timeline. Anastasia’s story starts in 1917 and works its way forward, while Anna’s starts in 1970 and works its way backward. Both storylines are moving toward the same event; the night of July 17, 1918, and the massacre of the Romanov family.

Throughout the entire book, I was unsure if Anna was actually Anastasia or not.

I started off with complete certainty that she was, but I became more and more unsure as the book progressed. Honestly, I didn’t know one way or the other until the end of the book (I won’t spoil it for you, don’t worry). I love a book that keeps me guessing. It’s incredibly well-written and gives the reader the feeling of those that lived during Anna’s time and were also trying to figure out if she was the real thing or a fraud. DNA testing, facial recognition software, and other scientific methods to uncover her identity didn’t exist back then, so one relied solely on what a person said and could prove. The reader experiences the same while reading.

While I know a good deal about the Romanov’s last months and years, I learned so much while reading this book. I can’t tell you how many times I put the book down to Google something to see if it was accurate or an embellishment. For example, I don’t know how an Old Hollywood lover like myself didn’t know that Ingrid Bergman starred in a film called Anastasia. She plays Anna Anderson and the film follows the same theme. Is Anna truly Anastasia or an imposter? I also learned a few historical facts about the family’s time in exile that I didn’t know and was reminded of a few I’d forgotten.

Like any historical fiction novel, there were liberties taken. Ariel Lawhon combined some people into one character (the children’s tutors, for example) to keep the cast a more manageable size. I didn’t have a problem with this and, indeed, found the story easier to follow. After all, trying to remember which person is Yakov Sverdlov, Vasily Yakolev, and Yakov Yurovsky is difficult. Evgeny Koblinski was given a nickname in the novel, Leshy, so that he wouldn’t be confused with Alexander Kerensky. There are so many key people involved in this piece of history and it is easy to get them confused. Personally, I was thankful for the pare down.

When it came to rating this book, I really struggled between giving it four or five cuppas.

On the one hand, I read through this book much slower than I thought I would. When I finished the book, I felt the urge to immediately start a new book, a sure sign that this book wasn’t going to stick with me like the others that I’ve rated 5 cuppas. However, upon further thought, I came to realize a few things. I was slow to read through this book for a reason. With every Romanov book, and Titanic book as well, I tend to really take my time. I think the main reason for this is because I know the end result. I know the ending. And it’s not a happy one.

Subconsciously, I feel that if I read it slower, I can change the outcome, which of course, I can’t. I also realized that I wanted to start a new book because this one was so hard. It’s a devastating story with incredibly difficult moments to live through. There is sexual abuse, beatings, belittlement, and constant humiliation. As a reader, I felt every ounce of anger that the characters felt. Even though I wanted to pick up another book, I found that I couldn’t. 24 hours later, I’m still not ready. It deserves five cuppas, so that’s what I’m giving it.

The Romanov story and the hopes that Anastasia had somehow survived is a tale that I’ll never tire of. For now, I’ll let this version marinate a little longer in my heart before moving on from it.

A few other books about the Romanovs that I’ve read and enjoyed are The Kitchen Boy by Robert D. Zimmerman (fiction) and The Last Days of the Romanovs by Helen Rappaport (non-fiction).

Have you read I Was Anastasia? Leave a comment and let me know what you thought about it! Want to read it for yourself? Click here to get a copy of your own.
Cheers,
Lydia