Narrated by the mother of the last tsar, the book revives the story of Maria Feodorovna, one of the most influential women of Imperial Russia, well known in her time but “overshadowed” by the tragic death of her son Nicholas. She was a woman with great political vision, not indifferent to the hardships of the people or to voices against autocracy, and who witnessed the splendor and fall of the Romanovs while trying to save the dynasty in the period leading up to the assassination of her son and family and the proclamation of Soviet Russia.
Minnie (her nickname), at nineteen, leaves Denmark to marry the heir to the Russian Empire; but, after his death, she marries the tsarevich and becomes empress when her husband ascends the throne, now known as Maria Feodorovna. The violent death of her husband leaves her son Nicholas as an inexperienced ruler of a disoriented and corrupt empire, facing a violent anarchist opposition that is suppressed by the police.
Maria Feodorovna, already in love with Russia, decides to guide her son Nicholas toward reforms and the modernization of the country, but she encounters strong opposition not only from her family circle but also from her son and his wife Alexandra, who was obsessed with the tsarevich’s health and trusted only her healer, Rasputin.
The novel features the palaces of Saint Petersburg and the salons where a frivolous and ostentatious aristocracy seems to live apart from the mass of peasants who struggle to survive and make up the majority of the country. It also reflects the corruption of the bureaucracy (less so that of merchants), which seems deaf to the signals from the streets and from intellectuals who have been denouncing it for years. All of this becomes the opportunity the Bolsheviks exploit to seize power violently and bring down the monarchy, despite its popularity with the people; perhaps for this reason, the assassination of Nicholas II was concealed.
Through Mimi’s perspective, Gortner narrates the last years of this empire and her attempts to save it until the end. Mistresses appear as normalized, but without descriptions. It is an engaging novel for both those interested in history and general readers. It reflects well Minnie’s strong personality as well as that of other characters. The book contains many dialogues that make it easy to read. It is well documented.
Christopher Willis Gortner (1964–2025) was an American author of historical fiction.