Anastasia's Secret Book

"Will I never see you again either?" I asked, feeling as though I was about to jump off a high mountain peak and hope to land without hurting myself. That's how impossible everything seemed at that moment, no matter what I did.

"Perhaps we will meet again," Sasha said, softening his voice. "But you must see that it does not matter. You have so much ahead of you. It's your choice now. Choose the future! Choose life!"

For Anastasia Romanov, life as the privileged daughter of Russia's last tsar is about to be torn apart by the bloodshed of revolution. Ousted from the imperial palace when the Bolsheviks seize control of the government, Anastasia and her family are exiled to Siberia. But even while the rebels debate the family's future with agonizing slowness and the threat to their lives grows more menacing, romance quietly blooms between Anastasia and Sasha, a sympathetic young guard she has known since childhood. But will the strength of their love be enough to save Anastasia from a violent death?

Inspired by the mysteries that have long surrounded the last days of the Romanov family, Susanne Dunlap's new novel is a haunting vision of the life-and love story-of Russia's last princess.

Publishers Weekly

Anastasia Romanov lives a charmed childhood—her father is the czar of Russia and she is one of its grand duchesses. She grows up among the aristocracy, and elaborate palaces are her and her many siblings’ playgrounds. However, those familiar with Russian history also know that her family is quickly heading toward its demise. Dunlap (The Musician’s Daughter) steps boldly into this famous historical narrative, envisioning another possible future for Anastasia—one that includes a handsome suitor-soldier named Sasha, who falls in love with Anastasia and hopes to save her from the doom awaiting her family. The author’s prose is heavy on telling, largely because she packs it with an impressive amount of Romanov and Russian history. The romantic dimension of this novel sparkles when it appears and Dunlap’s treatment of Anastasia’s family is full and tender, but as the years pass and revolution appears on the horizon, the story grows expectedly bleak. Dunlap persuasively inhabits the thoughts and emotions of her embattled protagonist; her magnetic reimagining of Anastasia’s story has the potential to reach a broad audience. Ages 12–up. (Mar.)