Tsarina by Ellen Alpsten

 

Tsarina by Ellen Alpsten.

Published in paperback 24th June 2021 by Bloomsbury.

From the cover of the book:

Lover, mother, murderer, Tsarina

1699: Illegitimate, destitute and strikingly beautiful, Marta is sold into labour at the age of fifteen - where in desperation she commits a crime that will force her to go on the run. Cheating death at every turn, she is swept into the current of the Great Northern War. Working as a washer woman at a battle camp, she catches the eye of none other than Peter the Great. Passionate and iron-willed, Peter has a vision for transforming the traditionalist Tsardom of Russia into a modern, Western empire.

With nothing but wits, courage and formidable ambition, Marta will rise from nothing to become Catherine I of Russia. But it comes at a steep price and is tied to the destiny of Russia itself.

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Tsarina tells the rags to riches story of the rise of Tsarina Catherine I, Empress of Russia, the first woman to rule on the Imperial throne. Born Marta Skawronski into the poorest of families in the Baltic territories ruled from Stockholm, she finds herself sold into service at the age of fifteen, after her beauty attracts the attentions of the worst kind of master - attentions she can only escape by committing a crime that sees her on the run, with nowhere to turn. Eventually, after escaping destitution and a near escape from life in a brothel, she finds kindness among the Gluck family, and is persuaded into marriage to a soldier that is doomed from the start, but her journey is not over by any means, as it is Marta's fate to find herself working as a washerwoman in a battle camp where she finds the favour of none other that the Tsar, Peter the Great.

It is no easy thing being the Tsar's bed mate when there are always other women vying for your place and plotting your disgrace. With nothing but the beauty, wits and guts she was born with, Marta makes herself indispensable to her lover, sharing his vision to transform Russia into a modern empire, and giving everything she has to ensure the house of Romanov, and mother Russia, survive the battles to come.

Move over Game of Thrones, Ellen Alpsten has arrived with her House of Romanov series! In this book, Alpstein seamlessly blends fact and fiction to create the most engrossing of tales about the rise of an extraordinary woman. These pages are full of vivid descriptions of landscape and locations, taking you from the battlefield to the splendour of the Muscovite palaces, and to a place right at the side of Peter the Great in the beautiful Winter Palace as he builds his majestic capital of St Petersburg on the banks of the Neva River. 

Against this epic backdrop, Alpsten's glorious cast of players spin out games of intrigue and bloody power plays; wild debauches and Bacchanalian revels; and shocking exhibitions of excess, while the common people outside the walls of their palaces are starving in the streets - and it's hard to believe that these are real figures who walked, talked, fought and loved in exactly the same way. Marta is such a compelling character, especially since this is such a dangerous time and place to be a woman. She is destined to experience love and joy, as well as terrible loss and pain at the side of the man who holds her fate in his hands, as his violent moods, roving eye and cruel intentions sometimes blind him to the best course of action to ensure Russia's destiny. It is Marta who often see the bigger picture, and she is not afraid to do what must be done to protect herself and her family.

I absolutely loved every minute of this sweeping tale, and the clever way Alpsten weaves a rich and detailed tapestry about the history of Russia and the House of Romanov by swapping back and forth between the knife edge moment of how the succession will be decided on the death bed of the Tsar, and Marta's life story, kept me spellbound - evoking real emotional highs and lows. I cannot wait to read how that story continues in the next book, The Tsarina's Daughter!

Tsarina is available to buy now in hardcover, paperback, ebook and audio formats from your favourite book retailer.

Thank you to Bloomsbury Publishing and Becky Hunter at Midas PR for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

About the author:

Ellen Alpsten was born and raised in the Kenyan highlands, before attending L'Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris. Whilst studying for her Msc in PPE she won the Grande Ecole short story competition with her novella Meeting Mr Gandhi and was encouraged to continue writing. Upon graduating, she worked as a producer and presenter for Bloomberg TV in London. She contributes to international publications such as Vogue, Standpoint and Conde Nast Traveller. Tsarina is her first novel. She lives in London with her husband and three children.