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Enchantments

3.26 of 5 stars 3.26 · rating details · 1,034 ratings · 251 reviews

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK

From Kathryn Harrison, one of America’s most admired literary voices, comes a gorgeously written, enthralling novel set in the final days of Russia’s Romanov Empire.

St. Petersburg, 1917. After Rasputin’s body is pulled from the icy waters of the Neva River, his eighteen-year-old daughter, Masha, is sent to live at the imperial palace with Tsa...more

Hardcover, 314 pages

Published March 6th 2012 by Random House (first published March 1st 2012)

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May 26, 2012 ☆Jessie☆ (Ageless Pages Reviews) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to ☆Jessie☆ (Ageless Pages Reviews) by: Audra (Unabridged Chick)

Shelves: historical-fiction, hf-russia, arc, 2012-reviews, 2012-reads, reviewed

Read This Review & More Like It On My Blog!

You may not know Matryona Grigorievna by her first two names, but you will recognize her last, infamous name: Rasputina. The daughter of either Russia's most famous eccentric and healer or her most prolific sham, depending on who is asked, Masha's unique and by turns sad, very strange and moving story of life after her father's abrupt (and excessively violent) murder is a sure-to-please strong-female-character-powered novel. Enchantments was exactly...more Read This Review & More Like It On My Blog!

You may not know Matryona Grigorievna by her first two names, but you will recognize her last, infamous name: Rasputina. The daughter of either Russia's most famous eccentric and healer or her most prolific sham, depending on who is asked, Masha's unique and by turns sad, very strange and moving story of life after her father's abrupt (and excessively violent) murder is a sure-to-please strong-female-character-powered novel. Enchantments was exactly what I wanted from another Russian historical fiction set about the same time (The Last Romanov) and didn't get: a fresh, compelling point of view, set during a popular and dangerous time period (the fall of the Romanov dynasty), a slight hint of romance that doesn't overpower character and/or plot development and (hopefully) amply furnished with enough accuracy to keep the tension high and the audiences interest consistently piqued. Veteran author Kathryn Harrison gracefully executes all these disparate parts to their utmost, with clear and tactile imagery and compelling prose. This is a darker novel in tone, for obvious and unavoidable reasons, but the intensity of the setting, the crackling tension and the characters desperation make for a moderately fast read.

I enjoyed almost everything there was to Enchantments. I did find the plot a bit lacking in some extended areas, but this is a novel that is carried by the strength of its cast. Harrison has a dab hand for foreshadowing ("There are those people who cannot be transplanted from one age to the next."), incrementally building up tension, and in setting up crucial, expected scenes without veering into predictability. Though the fate of the Romanov family is well known, Harrison makes their years-long journey to the House of Special Purpose compelling and touching. The unique POV perspective distinguishes this novel, as does the fact that Enchantments is more concerned about tsarevich Alexei's final days than either his brood of sisters or his parents. This is one of those historical fiction novels that makes a reader want to know more about the source material. As a ardent history major and freak, I was already well-versed in a lot of Romanov and Bolshevik Revolution lore, but Harrison's thoroughly developed and rounded versions of these real, flawed people reignited a previous cultural fascination with Russia and her Imperial family - I was Googling away on a vast array of subjects, people and events that had impact on this story.

As I intimated earlier, it really is the characters that make this particular so compulsively readable. While Harrison sticks to facts for the bulk of her work, Masha's romantic entanglement with young Alexei provides a light spot in an overwhelming sad life. I appreciate the light hand used for the relationship - it felt natural and right for both characters, while not overpowering the more dramatic and worldly plotlines of the novel. The author also avoids the issue of characterizing Rasputin outside of his role as a doting father - while his life obviously impacts his daughters, Harrison never takes a side in the debate about his role as healer or heretic. Masha, obviously, believes in the power of her mystic father, and her belief is compelling but not convincing. Worshiped by some, reviled by others, but only truly understood by his devoted eldest daughter, Rasputin's magnetic pull is in evidence largely in absentia and its continued affect on Masha's life after his death.

To get a bit less positive about the novel, I will say that I found the shifts between the past and the present to be a bit disorientating. The flashbacks themselves are well-timed and chock full of historical detail and data without weighing down the overall plot and increasing intensity. Even when the expected end comes for Alexei, OTMA and the Imperial pair, Masha's dispassionate voice manages to convey her deep sorrow while keeping her emotional distance. I found the last part of the novel — with Masha apart from the Romanovs — lacked the dynamic of the previous chapters. I struggled slightly through the later, introspection-heavy pages devoid of interaction with the other players. But despite those few issues, there isn't much to malign here in Enchantments.

The unique, fresh approach of Rasputin's daughter, the finely and intricately drawn backdrop of Imperialist Russia, the wonderfully realized characters all made for a great historical fiction novel. People now tend to view Rasputin with the benefit of hindsight, often confusing the man with whatever he did or did not to to aid the downfall of the Tsars. Kathryn Harrison's Enchantments, through the eyes and ideas of his tale-spinning daughter, is singular in that it shows Russia's Mad Monk as a person, as a dad even, to great effect. Every choice Masha makes is influenced by her father and his desires for her and reading her life story as imagined by this author is a nice piece of historical escapism.

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Mar 19, 2012 Jenny Q rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: review-copy, blog-tour

3.5 Stars. I was really looking forward to reading a novel of Rasputin's daughter, and I was even more pleased to discover that Alexei Nikolaevich, the doomed Romanov tsarevich, was such a central figure to the novel. This is a novel about the last days of the Romanovs, but in this story, the four princesses take a back seat to their younger brother. This is a book for Alexei, and I like that.

After her father is murdered, eighteen-year-old Masha Rasputin, along with her younger sister Varya, is...more 3.5 Stars. I was really looking forward to reading a novel of Rasputin's daughter, and I was even more pleased to discover that Alexei Nikolaevich, the doomed Romanov tsarevich, was such a central figure to the novel. This is a novel about the last days of the Romanovs, but in this story, the four princesses take a back seat to their younger brother. This is a book for Alexei, and I like that.

After her father is murdered, eighteen-year-old Masha Rasputin, along with her younger sister Varya, is taken into the Romanov household, and not long after, Tsar Nicholas is forced to abdicate and the Romanov household is placed under house arrest. Missing her father, unsure of her place, unsure of the fate of the family who has taken her in, she forms a friendship with Alyosha, as Alexei is called by his loved ones. He is a smart young man; stoic and realistic, and so wise for someone kept so sheltered. Because of his illness, his family lives in fear of him hurting himself, and Alyosha has to live mostly through his imagination. Masha entertains him by weaving fairy tales and discussing history and literature with him, by retelling anecdotes from her father's storied life and from Alyosha's parents' courtship, by imagining with him a life he will never have. But her stories aren't always happy ones; she and Alyosha are both able to look upon the shared religious fanaticism of their parents with open and honest eyes, and Alyosha is able to comment on his father's failings as a ruler with surprising clarity and compassion. Fascinated by the French Revolution and well-versed on the subject, he calmly draws frightening comparisons and fateful predictions for his family.

Masha's stories for the tsarevich are interspersed with her own recollections of her father's humble beginnings and rise to fame, and the circumstances leading up to his death, and with Masha's ordeal after she is released from the Romanovs' prison as she tries to put some sort of a life together. Against the odds, she goes on to fulfill some of her lifelong dreams while keeping the Romanovs alive in her heart. It's all quite interesting, but her narrative jumps back and forth in time so much, and somewhat randomly, so that the story feels loose and disjointed, and I think it also contributed to my feeling of not really getting to know Masha.

While there are some moments of joyful imagination and fantasy, and, despite his fatalism, a burning in Alexei to experience all he can of life before the end, overall the story is one of sadness and strife and it left me with a heavy heart. Though the meat of the novel--Masha and her relationship with the tsarevich--is purely fictional, the historical backdrop is very real, and very intense. The setting of St. Petersburg comes to life, and I particularly enjoyed the depictions of the city and her people. The writing is lovely and Masha makes some beautifully-phrased observations, but it's also wordy and heavy on the introspection and commentary, and I found myself skimming a bit to get to the end. While I did not find the physical relationship that developed between Masha and Alexei to be at all unbelievable--in fact, I thought it was quite natural given the circumstances--I was a bit put off by the entries at the end from a purely fictional journal of Alyosha's that survived his death and made its way to Masha, as its contents seem to be designed to titillate more than anything else. But I always enjoy reading about Russia in fiction, and this is a very different approach to the Romanovs, and I liked that Harrison was able to inject some romance and escapism into such a tragedy.(less)

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May 17, 2012 Lydia Presley rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, historic-fiction, 2012

I desperately wanted to love this book. The cover, the Romanov's, the tragedy of Russia during this time period - it should all add up to be heart-wrenchingly beautiful.. but it was lacking a bit for me.

There's no doubt that Kathryn Harrison is a writer who commands attention - she had to have been otherwise I think I may have put the book down about halfway through. Instead, I persevered, muddling my way through fragments of stories until I reached the end. I think what it boiled down to was th...more

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May 07, 2013 Linda Eells rated it 5 of 5 stars

A daughter of Rasputin... I've read a lot of Russian history, especially the revolution period.... The names and stories are all familiar. But THIS book, gave certain characters personalities- brought them to life. Made them real.
I AM glad that i'd previously read enough to understand who's who, Rasputin,the revolt,and the heartbreaking executions. But overall i'd say this one is a must-read.... a focus that comes from a different perspective.

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Apr 23, 2013 Patrick Limcaco rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Fans of historical fiction

Kathryn Harrison’s Enchantments is the kind of novel best imagined as a movie, produced, written and most importantly, scored with music selected by Sofia Coppola. Because who else would you trust to turn historical fiction into a film about very young people in very adult situations?

It will be perfect. Harrison, like Coppola, has a knack for making privileged subjects seem much more sympathetic than they probably deserve. What Coppola did for teen royalty Marie Antoinette of the lavish parties...more Kathryn Harrison’s Enchantments is the kind of novel best imagined as a movie, produced, written and most importantly, scored with music selected by Sofia Coppola. Because who else would you trust to turn historical fiction into a film about very young people in very adult situations?

It will be perfect. Harrison, like Coppola, has a knack for making privileged subjects seem much more sympathetic than they probably deserve. What Coppola did for teen royalty Marie Antoinette of the lavish parties and pastries, she could do to the Faberge egg-hoarding Romanov children. Sofia Coppola could probably do a Paris Hilton biopic and make her seem sympathetic. Harrison and Coppola are both able to shed the irony in the expression ‘poor little rich girls’ as they are capable of making affluent, attractive people seem like losers deserving of the warmest wishes of the less gifted.

The novel begins in 1917, towards the end of the Romanov imperial dynasty, as poor Tsar Nikolay Alexandrovich and family await their horrible fate. Grigory Yefimovich Rasputin’s daughter Masha, the storyteller, is to be shipped off to the palace of the imperial family in Tsarskoe Selo with her sister Varya. It’s not exactly the kind of life an 18-year old wishes for herself but if your father is Rasputin and he orders you to live with the royal family, you don’t get to say no. Being the bearer of his unfortunate surname, Masha is believed to have the same healing powers as her father. She is ordained to live with and magically heal the haemophiliac Tsarevich Alyosha, Tsar Nikolay’s only son, and she will do it, god damn it, even though her passion lies not in the medical sciences but in the art of taming animals.

In this thankless trip, Masha ruminates on the death of her father Rasputin—mad monk and alleged sex machine, before she plunges into the impossible role of haemophilia healer. As she soon finds, living with royalty is not easy. There’s the quietly imposing mother, the Tsarina Alexandra, and the royal sisters called OTMA—a cute acronym for Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia, to deal with. With the memory of her father’s murder looming over her, Masha’s experience is not unlike being sent to war armed only with rusty bread knives. How is a poor girl from a Siberian province supposed to deal? By making up stories, fictionalizing people’s histories, adding a touch of drama to the lives of people.

Historical fiction is normally cause for the proverbial nosebleed. It sets off snide remarks about how history blended with fiction is for housewives and/or grandmothers with time on their hands. But Enchantments is really a tale of teens.

It’s also a tale of very familiar people, and it’s quite a treat seeing people you know in these Romanovs. Amusing to realize your mother-in-law is not so unique, as she is in fact embodied by Tsarina Alexandra’s very own mother-in-law, Marie Fyodorovna. And Harrison, like Coppola, has an unmistakable fondness for her female characters. She loves them too much to give them dialogue less biting than “What is it about the English? They simply can’t, or won’t speak anything but English, not comprehensibly anyway. No matter how many far-flung colonies they claim, they remain provincial. They insist on seeing every acre as another opportunity to replicate their Englishness.”

Or when talking about her potential daughter-in-law, she has only the choicest things to say: “She can’t dance, can’t smile, can’t make conversation. And she certainly can’t preside over the Russian court with that…that…that preposterous emanation, or whatever you call it, over her head. I can’t abide it when a person insists on making her unhappiness everyone else’s burden.” This woman can go big or small; she is very delightful.

Also familiar is the hopeful mother, Alexandra Fyodorovna, whose biggest handicap is that she is not, or refuses to be, a phony for the Russian court. She wouldn’t rehearse witticisms and repeat risqué anecdotes in the service of social graces. She will not ingratiate herself with Russian nobility even if it means being spared from the vicious barbs of Marie. Just like Kirsten Dunst’s Marie Antoinette in Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette! But bullheadedness has an expiration date, and it’s nearer when you’re deep in the royal tradition. You’re lying if you claim you’ve never heard of a mother figure in a similar situation.

The novel not so curiously focuses on the budding friendship between Masha and the prince Alyosha. It’s a friendship based on a shared sense of doom, which is one of the sweetest reasons to form one if you think about it. Like The Virgin Suicides’s Lisbon girls, the OTMA girls go through their unique brand of adolescent yearning: to tinker peacefully with their crystal eggs in the comfort of their palatial home, to be spared from execution. A quick trip to your history books will tell you all you need to know about the Romanovs and their unhappy fates. What you won’t get is the more fanciful, more vibrant, living version of the events.

What you won’t get is the strange urge to feel sorry for these affluent kids and their royal parents. You may know how it’s all supposed to end, but you would wish for a Disney kind of ending anyway. If you want the Sofia Coppola version, here it is. As is customary, Kirsten Dunst could play the young and old Masha.(less)

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Apr 01, 2013 AliceinWonderland rated it 1 of 5 stars

- There were so many reasons to like this book from the start; especially someone who loves historical fiction, finds Rasputin fascinating and has empathy of the doomed Russian Imperial family, but Harrison manages to eliminate all of these positive feelings.
- I was very hopeful when first reading this book...the writing was pretty decent, the characters seems to have potential to be very interesting...but then about halfway through, once you realize these hopes are not going to pan out, but you...more - There were so many reasons to like this book from the start; especially someone who loves historical fiction, finds Rasputin fascinating and has empathy of the doomed Russian Imperial family, but Harrison manages to eliminate all of these positive feelings.
- I was very hopeful when first reading this book...the writing was pretty decent, the characters seems to have potential to be very interesting...but then about halfway through, once you realize these hopes are not going to pan out, but you've already made it almost halfway, you might as well finish the damn thing, you come to the end feeling very dissatisfied.
- Like many other reviews have said before, the narrative structure was disjointed and irritating. It felt like the best parts of the book were told in flashback. The only parts I really liked were the history of Rasputin (before he died, his life, etc...) and the courtship of Alexandra and Nicholas...But none of these were supposed to be the main part of the story!
- Instead, it was supposed to be focused upon Rasputin's surviving daughter, Masha, and her relationship with the tsarevich, Aloysha, but this component was the least interesting. The characters were weak, I didn't like Masha's character or had any sense of who she was. I didn't believe she and Aloysha would instantly become best friends and found their "stories" more annoying and not crucial to the plot; more as a distraction than anything else.
- On top of that, this narrative would constantly be randomly interrupted by either past memories of living in Siberia, or indicate her future marriage with Boris.
- I didn't really enjoy Masha's new career as a lion tamer/circus performer, but it was an interesting historical fact.
- I also didn't quite understand the chapter or so explaining Aloysha's sexual discovery with the doctor's daughter...Why is that relevant? Also, the bit about finding his "diary"...I'm not sure if this was true or made up (I'm not a historian), but I found it a bit contrived.
- However, the parts where Harrison describes the execution of the royal family - these were well done. I felt the horror of it as a reader and what they had to go through.
- Overall, disappointed by this book. Not sure why it was a NYT NOTABLE BOOK? That's two in a row from 2012 that I didn't agree with!(less)

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Jan 29, 2013 Kim rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: audiobooks-read, worth-rereading, historical-fiction

I have never studied Rasputin before, so I went into this with no historical knowledge of the man at all; and very little of the Romanovs or Russian history as a whole.

Rasputin is quite an interesting character. This book is from the perspective of Rasputin's daughter Masha, thus it is a view of Rasputin in the best possible light. I did look up more about Rasputin after reading this and I found that everything surrounding Rasputin and his dealings with the Romanov's is highly disputable. These...more I have never studied Rasputin before, so I went into this with no historical knowledge of the man at all; and very little of the Romanovs or Russian history as a whole.

Rasputin is quite an interesting character. This book is from the perspective of Rasputin's daughter Masha, thus it is a view of Rasputin in the best possible light. I did look up more about Rasputin after reading this and I found that everything surrounding Rasputin and his dealings with the Romanov's is highly disputable. These points are brought up in the book, but the ugliest are denied. Here, Rasputin was a magnificent healer, a man of honor, his gifts provided to him from God. His tragic death is the start of the book and the explanation as to why his daughters are then taken to the Romanov's to live as part of the family. Masha describes her experiences with the Romanov family, Aloysha, in particular whom it is hoped she can attend to the care of as her father had before his death. Much background information is provided about Rasputin, as well as the conclusion to the Romanov family.

I listened to the audiobook version of the book and found it very entertaining. The performance was superb. I suppose it is personal opinion as to the truth of it, but this was certainly a fair look at Rasputin - were he the good man of high moral values some believe he was. Regarding the huge amount of information given, I would suggest reading the book again, which I will do in future; as well as find more material regarding Rasputin. He was very loved and respected in Russia. People came from everywhere to dip containers into the water he died in, leaving him numerous valuable gifts at the death site. The extent of his popularity is amazing - women lining up at his door day and night to offer themselves to him...crazy stuff! This book certainly piqued my interest in the subject of Russia at that time in history.

I felt that the book was very well written and I would not hesitate to read another work by Kathryn Harrison.(less)

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Jul 12, 2012 Jaci rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The last days of the Romanov family are fictionalized from the point of view of Rasputin's daughter, Matryona, and her relationship with the Tsarevitch, Aleksei. The psychological as well as physical violence to the Tsar's family are described in detail, as well as Rasputin's death, burial, and exhumation. Fascinating perspective given the current exhibition at the Russian State Archives in Moscow, "The Death of Tsar Nicholas II's Fmaily: A One-Hundred Year Investigation," through July 29. The e...more

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Jul 04, 2012 Joanna rated it 1 of 5 stars

I read about 60 pages of this book and then gave up. I love love love Romanov stories, but this one is terrible.

The author writes in a meandering tone and shifts the setting of what's currently going on without warning. At one point you're reading the narrator's thoughts, then she randomly goes back in time, and then we're back in the present. There are no signifiers that this is happening, and it is really wearing.

I agree with the other reviewers who said the author tries much too hard to be "l...more

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May 02, 2012 Linda Lipko rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historial-fiction

Oh how I loved this book. It was a perfect opportunity to put he stress of the last few weeks aside and to delve into great historical fiction.

Told from the perspective of Rasputin's daughter Masha, the reader learns a softer side of Rasputin. Known as the Mad Monk with a libido, a dirty peasant who helped topple the Romanov dynasty, and a starets who influenced Nicholas and Alexandra in their quest to help Alosha their hemophiliac son, Masha paints a broader picture of Rasputin.

In this novel we...more

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Mar 28, 2012 Dan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Tales historical and beguiling
A magical flying carpet is one of many fanciful enchantments that Kathryn Harrison uses to hold dread and despair at bay in her rich, imaginative and historical account of the collapse of the Romanovs, told from the perspective of Masha, the favorite daughter of Grigory Rasputin and the Scheherazade to the doomed tsarevich Alyosha, executed along with his parents and four sisters by the Bolsheviks on July 17, 1918.

Alyosha (Alexei), a hemophiliac, is bedridden and in...more Tales historical and beguiling
A magical flying carpet is one of many fanciful enchantments that Kathryn Harrison uses to hold dread and despair at bay in her rich, imaginative and historical account of the collapse of the Romanovs, told from the perspective of Masha, the favorite daughter of Grigory Rasputin and the Scheherazade to the doomed tsarevich Alyosha, executed along with his parents and four sisters by the Bolsheviks on July 17, 1918.

Alyosha (Alexei), a hemophiliac, is bedridden and in extreme pain following a youthful romp that would have left any healthy 14-year-old with nothing much more than a wounded ego and nasty bruise. For the tsarevich, however, the mishap is life threatening and almost as excruciating to observe as to endure.

“Knee or kidney or big toe: whatever Alyosha had bumped filled with blood that, unable to clot, went on flowing until the hemorrhage created enough pressure to stop itself. Until the blood had nowhere else to go.”

Masha, a ward of Nicholas and Alexandria following the gruesome murder of her father, (fed enough cyanide to kill ten horses, shot with a dozen bullets, an ax to the head – his skull beaten and crushed, he is thrown into the Neva where he finally drowns) the Mad Monk’s daughter becomes a confidante, someone perhaps with powers to heal, to the young Romanov heir. Her stories – of Russian fairytales, Nicholas and Alexandria’s endearing courtship, Rasputin’s visionary zeal – offer the imperial heir his only succor.

“I couldn’t whisper to the clamoring blood and stop its flow,” Masha says. “Couldn’t lay a hand on an injury and make it disappear. But I could tell stories, and they were, most of them, true.”

One of those tales, Masha’s long, phantasmagorical account of the May 26, 1896 coronation of Nicholas II has all the clocks in Moscow stopping at exactly eleven minutes past eleven. All ikons in all the churches came to life and spilling out into the streets of Red Square. Masha asks Aloysha to imagine it, 675 Jesuses, 225 of whom were dragging crosses, 45 who were naked and asking to borrow loincloths.

“Behind the Jesuses, came corps of angels and saints, enough to inundate the already crowded square.” We see Raphaels and Michaels, their “cumbersome wings taking down lampposts and knocking hussars out of their saddles.”

All the beheaded saints stayed together and using their hands to carry their unattached heads above their bloody necks, everyone trying to get a good look at everyone else.” Everyone is there, including the Devil who arrives late and is dressed in a Savile Row suit and Bally shoes.

As impressionistic and fantastic as it presents itself, “Enchantments” is much more than a Russian “Arabian Nights.” It’s a character study of the young heir, his sexual longings and his stoic acceptance of fate and the fact that he is the final heir to a three-hundred-year dynasty. His one great worry, he tells Masha, is to be the last to be executed, the one made to watch while his parents and sisters are slain. Masha is also at the heart of the book and she becomes an apologist for her spiritualist father but also a woman seeking her own place in the world.

“Enchantments” also appears to be an exhaustibly researched historical novel with detail and narrative that succeed in evoking the end of a gilded empire of opulence and Faberge eggs and the beginnings of a new Russia born of revolution. The novel is constructed of two pieces, one beguiling and fanciful; the other rich in historical detail. The pieces together succeed in captivating and ultimately in illuminating.
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Mar 25, 2012 Felice rated it 2 of 5 stars

The Romanovs have their own special cottage industry in historical fiction. The romances, the revolution, the eggs, the hemophilia, the assignations, WWI, Anastasia and Rasputin have all combined to make the Romanovs the most fictionalized royals this side of the Tudors. So you have to figure that a writer must have a powerful love for those families and/or feel as though they have something new to bring to the already existing legends in order to pen another 80,000 words on them.

Is this why Ka...more The Romanovs have their own special cottage industry in historical fiction. The romances, the revolution, the eggs, the hemophilia, the assignations, WWI, Anastasia and Rasputin have all combined to make the Romanovs the most fictionalized royals this side of the Tudors. So you have to figure that a writer must have a powerful love for those families and/or feel as though they have something new to bring to the already existing legends in order to pen another 80,000 words on them.

Is this why Kathryn Harrison wrote Enchantments? Is she fascinated by the Romanovs? Does she have some new insight or fact to bring to their history?

Enchantments is a sort of sideways novel about the Romanovs. The star is Masha, one of Rasputin’s daughters. In 1917 after a few unsuccessful attempts Rasputin was finally assassinated. Masha and her sister Varya had been living with their Father in St. Petersburg at the time and after his death they are sent to live with the royal family. Tsarina Alexandra wants to convince herself that Masha has inherited her father’s healing abilities and to that end she has the girl spend her days with her hemophiliac son, Prince Alexei .

Masha plays Scheherazade for Alexei. She enthralls him with stories. Enchantments is all about stories. The kinds of stories a government tells, the stories that make up your past, the stories you tell yourself in order to go on and the stories that make up popular opinion they are all here. In time Masha and Alexei even make up stories about how they will escape to Chicago and marry. It will be their happy ending.

That Harrison has chosen Masha as her conduit is interesting in that it creates a different perspective on the Romanovs compared to the many, many other novels about them. Intellectually Masha is a compelling character. She’s the favorite daughter of one of the most controversial figures ever (It’s Rasputin for crying out loud!), on the cusp of womanhood, afraid of having inherited her Father’s sexual appetites and living with a deposed royal family in a country undergoing a revolution that is a list of dramatic fodder the likes of which authors rarely have at their fingertips and yet… the novel is lifeless. Even the inclusion of –surprise—sexual games and denials does not add any passion to this novel.

Enchantments is imaginative, filled with intriguing historical detail and the wonderful writing you expect from Kathryn Harrison but it never takes off. Maybe all those stories defeat the inherent drama of Romanov, Rasputin and Revolution? (less)

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Mar 11, 2012 Patty rated it 4 of 5 stars

This tale of Russia at the point of revolution is written in magical prose. The background is the fall of the Romanovs but the forefront is the story of Rasputin's daughter, Masha. She and her sister were sent to live with the famous family after her father's body was found in the Neva River. Her father had foreseen his death and her future but he would only tell her so much of it.

Masha is brought to the royal household in the hopes that she would be able to help the young tsarevich as Rasputin...more

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Mar 10, 2012 Everyday eBook rated it 5 of 5 stars

From Russia With Love: Kathryn Harrison’s Enchantments

Kathryn Harrison, author of the recently released Enchantments, often revisits the subject of illicit relationships in her novels, likely because of her relationship with her father, a relationship in which a powerful man seduced his adult daughter and led her into an incestuous relationship. In Enchantments, Harrison again features a father/daughter relationship, though the father in this tale — while appearing frightful and possessing what...more

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Feb 29, 2012 Cynthia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-read-in-2012

Rasputin Live!

I haven’t read Harrison in years though I enjoyed her earlier works. Reading “Enchantments” felt like a homecoming. I’m shocked to see other reviewers didn’t like it as much as I did. Harrison’s writing is top notch. There were two or three chapters I marked to go back and read again because her prose is so beautiful. As usual Harrison’s prose is highly sensual and often lush. In this book Harrison uses some well known historic facts surrounding the killing of the Romanovs as a ste...more

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Feb 27, 2012 Misty Baker rated it 3 of 5 stars

I love learning new things. Usually they come in the form of lessons:

“Slamming your hand in the oven hurts.”

“Trees don’t move, avoid running into them.”

“Leave the gun…take the canoli.”

but in that rare opportunity that I get to expand my brain under the assumption of pure entertainment I get giddy.

When I was in High School, Disney released a movie called “Anastasia.” I loved this movie (Don’t judge me!) and as a result became unabashedly obsessed with the Romanov dynasty. I watched movies about t...more

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Nov 16, 2012 Erin Cataldi rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, all-time-favorites, aliss-book-club

LOVED this book!! It was easily the best historical fiction I've read all year. One of the reasons I loved this book so much was the fact that it took place in St. Petersburg and I just visited there over the summer and knew pretty much all the palaces and sites they described. It was like reliving my trip!

The story follows Rasputin's daughter, Masha, as she copes with the brutal death of her father and the overthrow of the Tsar. She and her sister are exiled along with the Tsar's family and in...more

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Feb 23, 2012 Jill rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

3.5 stars

After her father's death in 1917, Masha, elder daughter of Grigori Rasputin, the monk and mystic, is sent with her sister to live with the Tsar Nikolay and his family. There she befriends Alyosha, the tsar's son. Under house arrest Masha and Alyosha spend their days together with her telling him stories of her life, her father and the history of the Romanovs. A deep bond develops between these two young people.

Author Kathryn Harrison has a beautiful voice. Her use of imagery is impressi...more

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Mar 28, 2013 Marg rated it 2 of 5 stars

I have a number of historical eras that I seem to be drawn to when it comes to books. Among those are books set in the medieval era, World War I and II, and books set in Russia, especially those featuring the Romanov family.

It was therefore no surprise that I was interested in this book when I first heard of it. The main character of this book is Masha Rasputina, daughter of the infamous 'Mad Monk' Grigori Rasputin, which is an interesting choice of narrator that I have only seen used one other...more

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Mar 24, 2012 Judy Chessin rated it 4 of 5 stars

I found the stories in this book enchanting: both the magic stories spun by Masha (daughter of Rasputin) to entertain Handsome Aloysha, Tzar Nicholas' hemophiliac son, as he and his family awaited his fate. As a child I learned of this story through the book and movie Nicholas and Alexandra, and became fascinated by life in that royal court and the "demonic" Rasputin. I never knew he had a daughter. The nuance of this book that I liked was the revelation that there was never magic involved, simp...more

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Jun 12, 2012 Judy rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'll read almost anything about the Tsar and his family and that the end of the reign of the Romanov family -- even abut Rasputin. I wasdelighted to discover Harrison's Enchantments -- but for me, the book didn't live up to the hype, or even the rich and wonderful cover design. Harrison is a talented wordsmith -- she can turn a wonderful phrase -- but her desire to spin prose and poetry in the midst of this story became annoying -- quickly...I think I would have loved the book if she had played...more

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May 02, 2012 Stephanie rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Kathryn Harrison brings a fresh perspective to familiar history by scrupulously and sensuously retelling the end of the Russian monarchy through the eyes of Masha Rasputin, the 18 year old daughter of the peasant mystic healer from Siberia,Grigory Rasputin. After the "mad monk" was brutally murdered amidst rumors of his demonic power over Russia's fate, Masha and her younger sister become wards of Tsar Nikolay and his family. The tsarina believes that Masha can, like her father, preserve the hea...more Kathryn Harrison brings a fresh perspective to familiar history by scrupulously and sensuously retelling the end of the Russian monarchy through the eyes of Masha Rasputin, the 18 year old daughter of the peasant mystic healer from Siberia,Grigory Rasputin. After the "mad monk" was brutally murdered amidst rumors of his demonic power over Russia's fate, Masha and her younger sister become wards of Tsar Nikolay and his family. The tsarina believes that Masha can, like her father, preserve the health of her beloved Alyosha, a hemophiliac.

While the royal family and its retainers are under house arrest, Masha invents stories to amuse the ailing Alyosha. They spin stories both real and imagined about the courtship of Nikolay and Alexandra, who were ill-suited for the demands of public life. With a political crisis looming, the pair are hastily married a mere 18 days after Tsar Alexander's death. Immediately after the wedding, it became clear that "the two were doomed to always do wrong no matter how pure their intent." Masha reveals that her father suffered unrelenting grief after the death of his first infant son, and found himself in a monastary where the abbot explained that his life would be entertwined with Russia's rulers, and that he would die a martyr. Despite the fact that he was unwashed and illiterate, Rasputin seduced numerous women and was a proficient healer, eventually bringing him to the attention of Alexandra who had been "bargaining" with God to not take her bleeding son.

When the Tsar and his family are transported to Tobolsk in Siberia, purportedly for their own safety (although the isolation made it impossible for loyal royalists to free them) Masha wanders throughout Europe with with her husband, the "charlatain" Boris. Rasputin had wed Masha to Boris before Rasputin's murder as he foretold that Russia would descend into civil war and he thought that Boris could help Masha escape the country. Several years after the tsar and his family are executed, Masha, who is now performing as a horseback acrobat and a lion tamer in circuses around the world, receives delivery of the journal that Alyosha kept the moths before he and his family were executed.

A tender new perspective on familiar historical events.

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Apr 14, 2012 W rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-read

This historical fiction novel is based around the life of Masha, the daughter of the infamous Rasputin. After his death, she is sent to live with the Romanovs and this novel tells of her life through the stories which she shares with the young tsarevich Alyosha.

The novel was told in very descriptive writing, making the reader feel immersed in the early 1900s Russia during the long, dark days of the Romanovs' house arrest. The stories that Masha shared with Alyosha were interesting as well, a mix...more

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Aug 26, 2012 Rebeca rated it 3 of 5 stars

One of my favorite parts about this book was that it made want to look things up to investigate further and I took great pleasure in reading more about the Romanovs.

It was also interesting to read about Rasputin from the perspective of his daughter Masha, who loved and revered him and gave her portrayal of him as a good man and healer as oppose to the way we grew up thinking about him, which truth be told, set me a bit on edge since it went against the way I view the man.

As for the parts i did...more

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Jun 08, 2012 Susan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is an unusual retelling of the end of the Romanov dynasty, told mainly through the stories and memories of Masha, Rasputin's daughter. Masha was eighteen when her father was murdered and she and her younger sister, Vanya, were sent to the Alexander Palace in Tsarkoe Selo, under the care of the Tsar and his family. In her despair, the Tsarina begs Masha to take her father's place and keep the Tsarvich "from harm". Events change quickly, the Tsar abdicates and the family are under arrest. Una...more

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Jan 31, 2012 Julie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, own, romanov, vine

Harrison puts a spin on the tragedy of the Romanovs in this unique novel: what if Rasputin’s daughters were wards of the deposed tsar and his family following the death of their father? Empress Alexandra can only hope that Masha (Maria) holds the same healing powers as her father, or can at least offer comfort to the ailing tsarevich, Alyosha (Alexei). Imprisoned with the royal family at Tsarskoye Selo, Masha spends hours at Alyosha’s bedside telling stories to distract him from his latest injur...more

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Mar 19, 2012 Becky rated it 3 of 5 stars

Kathryn Harrison's latest is a lush and imaginative novelization of the final days of the Romanov's through the eyes of Masha Rasputina -- the Mad Monk's oldest daughter.

After the death of her father, Matryona and her sister are sent to live with the Tsar and Tsarina. Their son, Alyosha, suffered from hemophilia and Tsarina Alexandra was convinced that Rasputin had the ability to heal. In hopes that Masha may have the same power, she sets the young girl with the task of caring for Alexei. Impri...more

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Apr 13, 2012 Sam rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: europe, fiction, historical-fiction, kindle, owned, review-copies, russia

Set in Russia during the 1917 Revolution, Enchantments is narrated by Masha, daughter of the infamous 'mad monk' Rasputin. After her father is murdered by those suspicious of his links with the Tsarina and her son Aloysha, Masha and her sister are taken under the protection of the Tsar. But as the Revolution continues and the royal family are put under house arrest, it becomes clear that Masha and the Romanovs are in grave danger. For Masha and Alyosha, their growing friendship becomes a way of...more Set in Russia during the 1917 Revolution, Enchantments is narrated by Masha, daughter of the infamous 'mad monk' Rasputin. After her father is murdered by those suspicious of his links with the Tsarina and her son Aloysha, Masha and her sister are taken under the protection of the Tsar. But as the Revolution continues and the royal family are put under house arrest, it becomes clear that Masha and the Romanovs are in grave danger. For Masha and Alyosha, their growing friendship becomes a way of escaping the present and Masha becomes a kind of Scheherazade, telling fantastical stories of their past, present and future.

I studied the Russian revolution as part of my GCSE in history and ever since I've been fascinated with Russian history. Of all the characters in Russian history, Rasputin is one of the most interesting - an unwashed, illiterate peasant who claims to see the future, seduces lots of women and manages to earn the trust of the Tsarina. He was famously hard to kill, being poisoned, shot and bludgeoned on the head with an axe before finally being drowned. Reading Enchantments, I was very impressed at how Harrison dealt with his character as she managed to keep the curtain of myth and romance around him. Rasputin was shadowy throughout the book and hard to pin down, a charismatic figure shrouded in mystery, just how he should be.

I was also impressed with how Harrison dealt with Alyosha's illness, hemophilia. Although I logically knew that hemophilia means the inability of the blood to clot, I never realised how horrific this illness was until I read Enchantments. Harrison gives a detailed account of how the illness has effected Alyosha's life and that of his family and you can't help but feel sorry for him. The interactions between Masha and Alyosha are quite touching.

So there was lots to like about Enchantments but unfortunately the book was let down by a pacing issue. It's made clear very early in the book what is going to happen at the end (although to be fair, anyone at all familiar with the history would know the ending already) so there was no tension throughout. Masha's storytelling is whimsical and out of chronological order, meaning that the different chapters jump back and forward in time pretty randomly. This meant that for me, the book felt a bit meandering and long-winded without tension and pace to drive it forwards. (less)

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Apr 23, 2012 Linda Ash rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: those who love historical fiction and anything having to do with the last days of the Romanov Empire

I love it when books make me want to investigate things further, and Kathryn Harrison's book, Enchantments, is just such a book. It's a fascinating perspective on the last days of the Romanov Empire, the Romanov family, and Rasputin, told through the eyes of Rasputin's daughter, Matryona.

This is a work of fiction, but there are no doubt very real things worked into the novel as well, and that is where the book makes me want to dig deeper, to find out which things are fact, and which are fiction...more

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Aug 03, 2012 Jessica rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book was...interesting. There were some fascinating descriptions of pre-revolutionary Russia, and I enjoyed the "insider's" take on Rasputin, but it wasn't until the end that I really felt deep sympathy for the tsarevich, which may have been as Kathryn Harrison intended. And maybe I was just frustrated by the cruelty of the revolutionaries - their shortsightedness... Or maybe it was the inevitable ending that cast a pall over the whole book for me...again, probably as KH intended. Enchantme...more

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About Kathryn Harrison

Kathryn Harrison is the author of the novels Envy, The Seal Wife, The Binding Chair, Poison, Exposure, and Thicker Than Water.
She has also written memoirs, The Kiss and The Mother Knot, a travel memoir, The Road To Santiago, a biography, Saint Therese Of Lisieux, and a collection of personal essays, Seeking Rapture.
Ms. Harrison is a frequent reviewer for The New York Times Book Review; her essay...more

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Books by Kathryn Harrison

The Binding Chair or, A Visit from the Foot Emancipation Society

While They Slept: An Inquiry Into the Murder of a Family

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“If complete enlightenment demands relinquishing the self, then complete enlightenment implies the acceptance of mortality. Not that there isn't more to being enlightened than accepting that our lives are brief and end when we did. But I do think it's a requirement.” — 1 person liked it

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