First published 2003
Leonka works in the kitchens of the imperial palace, serving the family of Tsar Nicholas II during their final captivity. He watches the Romanovs face their imprisonment with dignity while their captors grow increasingly hostile. The young servant observes intimate moments between Nicholas and Alexandra, sees their children adapt to their reduced circumstances, and witnesses the family maintain their bonds despite mounting terror. Now decades later, Leonka lives as an aged immigrant who claims to be the sole surviving witness to the royal family's execution. He decides to record the secrets he has carried since that brutal night, revealing details about the murders that have puzzled historians for generations. His account exposes both the political forces that sealed the Romanovs' fate and the human moments that defined their last days. Leonka must decide whether to take his knowledge to the grave or finally speak the truth about what he saw in those blood-soaked rooms. His testimony offers answers to lingering questions about one of history's most notorious crimes while honoring a family destroyed by revolution.
Genres: historical-fiction, 20th-century, russian-literature, russian-revolution
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: historical-fiction, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Imperial Palace, Russia
Period: Final Captivity of Romanovs
229 pages · Hardcover · Viking Adult
Content warnings: violence