In Robert Alexander's new novel, RASPUTIN'S DAUGHTER, the
minutiae of Grigori Rasputin's (the Russian religious healer and trusted
advisor to Tsar Nicholas and Tsaritsa Alexandra) last days are recounted with
vivid detail and what seems like stunning accuracy, as if the book were a
biography and not fiction. Retold from the perspective of Rasputin's eldest
daughter Matryona Grigoevna (Maria), the myths of how Rasputin died are
dispelled and a proposed answer to the question of how he was actually killed is
spelled out. Much like his imagined (yet impeccably researched) account of the
Romanovs' hideous executions during the Russian Revolution in the bestselling
THE KITCHEN BOY, the story of Rasputin's final hours is riveting, fast-paced,
and almost too comprehensive to be historical fiction. At times, you just want
it all to be proven fact.
The novel opens as Maria is being questioned by the
Thirteenth Section in April 1917 about her father's mysterious death. Through a
succession of flashbacks, Maria describes the last week of her father's life in
December 1916, set against the backdrop of a highly unstable Russian empire
that is fraught with political upheaval and civil unrest. She recounts in great
detail his numerous excursions to the Imperial Palace, and more than hints at
the direct correlation between Heir Aleksei Nikolaevich's miraculous recoveries
from hemophilia-related injuries and Rasputin's curative powers. She gives
reports of his disgraceful sexual appetite and reveals his secret extramarital
relationship with their longtime live-in maid, Dunya, yet also insists that he
was both kind to and forgiving of his many petitioners and did what he could to
alleviate their suffering. Through Maria's eyes, Rasputin is portrayed as a
tortured and complex character --- spiritually gifted and fallibly human.
Possibly one of the
book's greatest fallacies (and yet, paradoxically, what will probably make it
more palatable to those who prefer his mysteries, written under the name R.D.
Zimmerman) is Alexander's devotion to Maria's supposed romance with the
mysterious Sasha, whom she meets on a boat while traveling with her sister and
Dunya, and whom she "runs into" throughout the next few years of her
life. Although certainly an endearing plot thread, at times it reads almost too
much like a romance novel and some readers might wonder when the plot will
focus again on meatier subject matters --- the "historical" behind
the fiction.
All mushy romantic encounters aside, it is without question
that Alexander has done his research when recreating pre-revolutionary Russia.
There is much talk of princes and empresses, courts and royal feasts --- all
intricately examined and lavishly portrayed. Vodka is consumed in copious
amounts and secret, mysterious plots are being hatched behind every dark
corner. Like every good Russian novel, the threat of deceit is always in the
air and, in the end, what unfolds is a plot twist (as much as a novel based on
fact can contain a "twist") that will delight even the most
knowledgeable of readers.
Overall,
RASPUTIN'S DAUGHTER is certainly enjoyable and enough to digest in one sitting,
if given the time. What the book might have benefited from is an addendum that
aims to separate conjecture from documented history, so readers (like this
reviewer) will not be left with nagging questions about the book's legitimacy
long after the excitement of the story dies down.
In St. Petersburg, Russia, in
mid-December, the sun does not rise until ten, and it sets barely five hours
later. In the waning days of 1916, all of Russia finds itself on the brink of a
still more appalling darkness. The casualties of a disastrous war line the
streets. As the wealthy savor their pastries and wines, the narod --- the
ordinary people --- face starvation. In the palace of Tsar Nicholas, Aleksei,
the hemophiliac heir to the throne, lies helpless as internal bleeding
threatens his life. The once-mighty Romanov dynasty that has ruled Russia for
three hundred years labors to stave off collapse.
In their struggle to save their
son and their empire, the Tsar and Tsaritsa turn to an improbable savior, an
illiterate monk with insatiable appetites for women and alcohol --- and
preternatural powers of prophecy and healing. The monk, Grigori Effimovich
Rasputin, survives today as one of history’s strangest figures; his deeds and
violent death have entered the realm of legend. Now, in a gripping novel of
suspense, mysticism, and forbidden romance, Robert Alexander tells the story of
an almost forgotten woman, Maria Rasputina, a willful, compassionate
eighteen-year-old girl. To her, Rasputin is more than a baffling mixture of
holiness and hedonism, more than the man who holds the fate of the Romanovs in
his rough, unwashed hands. He is her father.
Alexander’s novel tells of the
last week of Rasputin’s life, a time when, Maria says, she learned everything
she knows about her father. Through Maria’s recollections, history’s mad monk
emerges in a deftly drawn portrait, one in which saintliness and debauchery become
almost impossible to distinguish. With sorrow and amazement, Maria recalls her
father’s astonishing inner contradictions. She describes not only her father’s
mysterious wisdom and uncanny clairvoyance, but also his naïve inability to
comprehend the venomous political intrigues that surround him.
Yet Alexander’s most sensitive
portrayal is of Maria herself. A girl on the threshold of womanhood, Maria
discovers that the structures on which she most depends --- her family, the
Tsarist regime, her own spiritual sense of self --- are rapidly giving way. In
the midst of mounting chaos, she finds she must not only learn to understand
her father but also to act decisively if she is to save his life. At the same
time, she has to try to decipher the true intentions of a striking young man
named Sasha whose behavior is either that of a love-struck admirer or a
murderous stalker. Is he Maria’s only friend or her father’s most implacable
enemy?
Finally and most bewildering,
Maria must come to terms with the supernatural gift she has inherited from her
father and resolve within herself the same dark struggle between good and evil
that rages within her father’s soul. Just one outcome is certain: The events
that will end this strife will be written in the blood of families and kings.
Rasputin's Daughter
by Robert Alexander
Publication Date: December 26,
2006
Genres: Fiction, Historical
Fiction
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Penguin
(Non-Classics)
ISBN-10: 0143038656
ISBN-13: 9780143038658
