I have always been intrigued by the Romanov family, so I was drawn to this title. To Lawhon’s credit a great deal of research formed the framework behind this book. It is truly a fascinating tale. However, I found it difficult to follow with the constant shifting backwards of the date causing Anna Anderson’s narrative to be presented in the reverse order from which it occurred. I understand why it is written in this manner, but believe that at least parts of this could have been presented more chronologically. In my opinion, this would have made it easier to follow and understand the who’s who of some of the characters.

As this story opens in 1970, a woman claiming to be the Russian grand duchess, Anastasia Romanov, is living in Charlottesville, Virginia. She has struggled her entire adult life to establish herself as deserving of the vast inheritance left by Nicolas II, Emperor of Russia. However, she has been unable to prove her identity as his daughter. In order to keep a roof over her head she has married a man she didn’t love and through the years past has relied on the kindness and curiosity of well-to-do strangers to take her in. She has also spent time in hospitals and mental institutions, as doctors struggled to determine the cause of the scars covering much of her body and the reason she would try to take her life by jumping from the Bendlerstrasse Bridge in Berlin.