Reading List: Imagining Anastasia
DNA evidence has concluded that the Russian tsar’s plucky youngest daughter met her end with the rest of her family in 1918, but imagining the real and alternate ends of the Romanovs remains a literary obsession.
The House of Special Purpose by John Boyne
A Russian soldier who emigrates to England after the war reflects on his life and the time he spent guarding the Russian royal family before their execution (High School)
Anastasia: The Last Grand Duchess, Russia, 1914 by Carolyn Meyer
This tearjerker installment in the Royal Diaries series fully embraces the tragedy of Anastasia’s real-life ending. (Middle Grades)
Angel on the Square by Gloria Whelan
Katya’s mother is a lady-in-waiting to the Tsarina, and Katya has grown up with the royal family — so when the revolution begins, everything she’s understood about the world and her place in it begins to change. (Middle Grades)
The Lost Crown by Sarah Miller
The four Romanov sisters take turns narrating this story of their lives, as they go from unimaginable luxury to house arrest and impending doom. (High School)
Romanov by Nadine Brandes
The newest installment in Anastasia mythology, in this version Anastasia’s family’s magic revives her and her brother Alexei after their execution, but that’s just the beginning of the dangers the young Romanovs face. (High School)
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