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Enchantments
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 Tsar Nikolay and his family—including the headstrong Prince Alyosha. Desperately hoping that Masha has inherited Rasputin’s miraculous healing powers, Tsarina Alexandra asks her to tend to Aloysha, who suffers from hemophilia, a blood disease that keeps the boy confined to his sickbed, lest a simple scrape or bump prove fatal.
Two months after Masha arrives at the palace, the tsar is forced to abdicate, and Bolsheviks place the royal family under house arrest. As Russia descends into civil war, Masha and Alyosha grieve the loss of their former lives, finding solace in each other’s company. To escape the confinement of the palace, they tell stories—some embellished and some entirely imagined—about Nikolay and Alexandra’s courtship, Rasputin’s many exploits, and the wild and wonderful country on the brink of an irrevocable transformation. In the worlds of their imagination, the weak become strong, legend becomes fact, and a future that will never come to pass feels close at hand.
Mesmerizing, haunting, and told in Kathryn Harrison’s signature crystalline prose, Enchantments is a love story about two people who come together as everything around them is falling apart.
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 Tsar Nikolay and his family—including the headstrong Prince Alyosha. Desperately hoping that Masha has inherited Rasputin’s miraculous healing powers, Tsarina Alexandra asks her to tend to Aloysha, who suffers from hemophilia, a blood disease that keeps the boy confined to his sickbed, lest a simple scrape or bump prove fatal.
Two months after Masha arrives at the palace, the tsar is forced to abdicate, and Bolsheviks place the royal family under house arrest. As Russia descends into civil war, Masha and Alyosha grieve the loss of their former lives, finding solace in each other’s company. To escape the confinement of the palace, they tell stories—some embellished and some entirely imagined—about Nikolay and Alexandra’s courtship, Rasputin’s many exploits, and the wild and wonderful country on the brink of an irrevocable transformation. In the worlds of their imagination, the weak become strong, legend becomes fact, and a future that will never come to pass feels close at hand.
Mesmerizing, haunting, and told in Kathryn Harrison’s signature crystalline prose, Enchantments is a love story about two people who come together as everything around them is falling apart.
314 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2012
166 people are currently reading
4930 people want to read
About the author
Kathryn Harrison
47 books296 followersKathryn 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 essays, which have been included in many anthologies, have appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's Magazine, Vogue, O, The Oprah Magazine, Salon, and other publications.
She lives in New York with her husband, the novelist Colin Harrison, and their children.
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 essays, which have been included in many anthologies, have appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's Magazine, Vogue, O, The Oprah Magazine, Salon, and other publications.
She lives in New York with her husband, the novelist Colin Harrison, and their children.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 414 reviews
July 14, 2021
Rating: 3.0/5.0
Genre: Historical Fiction + Cultural
Why did I read it?
This is part of my experiment of choosing the lowest-rated books on Goodreads that I own. So I had very low expectations from it.
What is it about?
The story is set in the last days of the Romanov Empire in Russia and follows the two Rasputinds daughters. The story is narrated from Masha’s point of view and focuses on her friendship with Alyosha.
What did I like?
- Reading about real characters in a fictional story is something I’m really fascinated about. But how much I’d love those characters will all depend on how the author portrayed them in the story.
- I somehow liked the relationship that was formed between Masha and Alyosha. Yes, sometimes things or dialogue between them annoyed me but overall it was satisfactory.
- The historical setting in this book I feel was well done by the author. I was able to imagine the palace and the tense atmosphere during their final days.
What did I not like?
- I hated the constant jumps between past and present. There is nothing that makes you adapt to it. It could happen anywhere in the paragraph without any warning. This has made the story feels ambiguous and the plot all over the place. Many times I found myself asking where are we now? Is it present or past? This made my mind tired and I don’t like it when a book does not have a clear outline of the timeframe.
- Sometimes I felt the author was trying hard to impress you with the literary style of writing. There is nothing wrong with that when it is well done but when you feel it is forced here and there it just loses its main goal.
- I didn’t feel the ending was strong enough because the author jumped to it very fast. There was no gradual movement to that end. I feel like a big chunk of the novel was taken out before the ending.
Final Thought:
Enchantments is not a bad novel but again it is not a very good one. It has several problems. I think maybe I dived into it with no expectations knowing it is not well a rated/reviewed book that is why it didn’t feel totally bad.
Genre: Historical Fiction + Cultural
Why did I read it?
This is part of my experiment of choosing the lowest-rated books on Goodreads that I own. So I had very low expectations from it.
What is it about?
The story is set in the last days of the Romanov Empire in Russia and follows the two Rasputinds daughters. The story is narrated from Masha’s point of view and focuses on her friendship with Alyosha.
What did I like?
- Reading about real characters in a fictional story is something I’m really fascinated about. But how much I’d love those characters will all depend on how the author portrayed them in the story.
- I somehow liked the relationship that was formed between Masha and Alyosha. Yes, sometimes things or dialogue between them annoyed me but overall it was satisfactory.
- The historical setting in this book I feel was well done by the author. I was able to imagine the palace and the tense atmosphere during their final days.
What did I not like?
- I hated the constant jumps between past and present. There is nothing that makes you adapt to it. It could happen anywhere in the paragraph without any warning. This has made the story feels ambiguous and the plot all over the place. Many times I found myself asking where are we now? Is it present or past? This made my mind tired and I don’t like it when a book does not have a clear outline of the timeframe.
- Sometimes I felt the author was trying hard to impress you with the literary style of writing. There is nothing wrong with that when it is well done but when you feel it is forced here and there it just loses its main goal.
- I didn’t feel the ending was strong enough because the author jumped to it very fast. There was no gradual movement to that end. I feel like a big chunk of the novel was taken out before the ending.
Final Thought:
Enchantments is not a bad novel but again it is not a very good one. It has several problems. I think maybe I dived into it with no expectations knowing it is not well a rated/reviewed book that is why it didn’t feel totally bad.
did-not-finish
March 10, 2012Lots of pretty words, not much substance.
Clearly, this book is much too literary for my tastes, and I should know by now to look for that at the top of book promo and run the other way. This "what if" book begins with the death of Rasputin, and his two daughters are taken into the royal household with the hopes that eldest daughter Masha has her father's gift of healing. Masha spends lots and lots of time with the young tsarevich, and to pass the time she tells him lots and lots of stories. Stories about his parent's courtship. Stories about her father and mother. Stories about Russia. On and on and on until I got tired of skimming and yielded at page 186 and the book flew.
I guess if you like lots of pretty words and make-believe stories (how do we know what is real and what is a product of Masha's imagination?), this book might suit but I would suggest serious historical readers to give this a wide berth. By the time I quit, there was also some discussion between the two teens that was becoming a bit sexual in nature, discussions I did not care for considering the tsarevich's young age (fourteen), and I most definitely didn't care to travel down that road. The writing itself is lovely, but there just wasn't enough story to keep me interested in reading. Life is too short.
Clearly, this book is much too literary for my tastes, and I should know by now to look for that at the top of book promo and run the other way. This "what if" book begins with the death of Rasputin, and his two daughters are taken into the royal household with the hopes that eldest daughter Masha has her father's gift of healing. Masha spends lots and lots of time with the young tsarevich, and to pass the time she tells him lots and lots of stories. Stories about his parent's courtship. Stories about her father and mother. Stories about Russia. On and on and on until I got tired of skimming and yielded at page 186 and the book flew.
I guess if you like lots of pretty words and make-believe stories (how do we know what is real and what is a product of Masha's imagination?), this book might suit but I would suggest serious historical readers to give this a wide berth. By the time I quit, there was also some discussion between the two teens that was becoming a bit sexual in nature, discussions I did not care for considering the tsarevich's young age (fourteen), and I most definitely didn't care to travel down that road. The writing itself is lovely, but there just wasn't enough story to keep me interested in reading. Life is too short.
March 11, 2012
Good God in heaven, my eyeballs hurt. There is a scene in which Nagorny troops off with the Tsarevich to get him deflowered by a local peasant girl. There is a scene in which the bullet-riddled bodies of the Grand Duchesses appear to Mashka (that would be Maria Rasputin to US) just to let her know that Alyosha the Sunbeam is thinking about her inside a Faberge egg in the afterlife. If that sentence made sense to you, this is the book for you. Otherwise, run like a deer. It is enough to make that crap novel that Carolly Erickson wrote about Tatiana look like Dostoevski.
July 4, 2012
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 "literary," writing in flowy language that's supposed to impress us. I can think of a multitude of other books that the author manages to write in a "literary," descriptive fashion, yet keeps me (very) interested. See Alex George's "A Good American."
The other problem with this book is that, 60 pages in, I realized I had no idea where the plot was going. It was just 60 pages of...nothing happening. Occasionally Masha would talk to Alexei, but it was so sudden and they were best friends, and we had no clue how that happened. I looked to the book jacket again to inform me of where this plot was supposed to be going, but literally all the book jacket says is that "Masha entertains Alexei with imaginative stories." Well, if that's all I'm supposed to be reading for 300+ pages, I'm good, no thank you. I like a little plot to my novels. Further, in those 60 pages I read, I don't think she told him one story.
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 "literary," writing in flowy language that's supposed to impress us. I can think of a multitude of other books that the author manages to write in a "literary," descriptive fashion, yet keeps me (very) interested. See Alex George's "A Good American."
The other problem with this book is that, 60 pages in, I realized I had no idea where the plot was going. It was just 60 pages of...nothing happening. Occasionally Masha would talk to Alexei, but it was so sudden and they were best friends, and we had no clue how that happened. I looked to the book jacket again to inform me of where this plot was supposed to be going, but literally all the book jacket says is that "Masha entertains Alexei with imaginative stories." Well, if that's all I'm supposed to be reading for 300+ pages, I'm good, no thank you. I like a little plot to my novels. Further, in those 60 pages I read, I don't think she told him one story.
February 29, 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 stepping off point. Her imaginations of the interior life of the Romanovs and Father Grigory’s (Rasputin) families are mostly pure fiction. The emotions and interactions seem real though.
The story is told from Grigory’s oldest daughter Masha’s view point. She and the Tsarevich Aloysha spend lots of time together when Masha and her sister and Aloysha’s family are held hostage in the Romanov’s palace. To entertain the ailing prince she spins tale after tale mostly with Aloysha or her father as the main characters. The loveliest stories are the ones about Grigory’s encounters with divine beings and the messages they give him. The entire book is a fanciful concoction but the emotions seem down to earth. Reading “Enchantments” makes me realize how much I’ve missed Harrison and that I need to go read the books I’ve missed.
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 stepping off point. Her imaginations of the interior life of the Romanovs and Father Grigory’s (Rasputin) families are mostly pure fiction. The emotions and interactions seem real though.
The story is told from Grigory’s oldest daughter Masha’s view point. She and the Tsarevich Aloysha spend lots of time together when Masha and her sister and Aloysha’s family are held hostage in the Romanov’s palace. To entertain the ailing prince she spins tale after tale mostly with Aloysha or her father as the main characters. The loveliest stories are the ones about Grigory’s encounters with divine beings and the messages they give him. The entire book is a fanciful concoction but the emotions seem down to earth. Reading “Enchantments” makes me realize how much I’ve missed Harrison and that I need to go read the books I’ve missed.
March 25, 2017
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.
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.
March 25, 2012
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?
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?
March 19, 2012
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.
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.
May 18, 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 there were too many shifts, shifts of perspective/stories/time periods. I understand what Harrison was attempting to do, and give her high marks for taking on such a complicated subject, but I felt as if I was being stretched back and forth repeatedly while reading Enchantments until I was just wrung tight, worn out, and exhausted by merely reading the book.
I've read another book about Rasputin's daughter, one by Robert Alexander, and the story was completely different - so I appreciated the perspective put forth in this book (did you know Rasputin's daughter joined a circus? I had no idea!). I think if you are a fan of Russian history, and have a love for stories about the Romanov's, this is a book that will interest you - but I recommend it with a warning: just be prepared to feel like a bit of a patchwork quilt has been read.
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 there were too many shifts, shifts of perspective/stories/time periods. I understand what Harrison was attempting to do, and give her high marks for taking on such a complicated subject, but I felt as if I was being stretched back and forth repeatedly while reading Enchantments until I was just wrung tight, worn out, and exhausted by merely reading the book.
I've read another book about Rasputin's daughter, one by Robert Alexander, and the story was completely different - so I appreciated the perspective put forth in this book (did you know Rasputin's daughter joined a circus? I had no idea!). I think if you are a fan of Russian history, and have a love for stories about the Romanov's, this is a book that will interest you - but I recommend it with a warning: just be prepared to feel like a bit of a patchwork quilt has been read.
February 27, 2012
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 them, I scoured every National Geographic I could find, and pretty much made the local library my bitch. I just couldn’t get enough. But…with all of my note taking, and obsessive compulsive Wikipedia-ing I never really paid attention to Rasputin. Oh, he was there, lurking in the background like a disease, but my attention was required elsewhere so off it went. Until now. (Damn you…you kooky bastard.)
My initial reason for grabbing this book was 1 sentence:
“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 Tsar Nikolay and his family—including the headstrong Prince Alyosha.”
Hellooooo Romanovs!!
But instead of getting Masha with a little Alyosha foreplay, I got a Russian history lesson. A very intriguing Russian history lesson cleverly disguised as fiction.
“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 Tsar Nikolay and his family—including the headstrong Prince Alyosha. Desperately hoping that Masha has inherited Rasputin’s miraculous healing powers, Tsarina Alexandra asks her to tend to Aloysha, who suffers from hemophilia, a blood disease that keeps the boy confined to his sickbed, lest a simple scrape or bump prove fatal.
Two months after Masha arrives at the palace, the tsar is forced to abdicate, and Bolsheviks place the royal family under house arrest. As Russia descends into civil war, Masha and Alyosha grieve the loss of their former lives, finding solace in eachother’s company. To escape the confinement of the palace, they tell stories—some embellished and some entirely imagined—about Nikolay and Alexandra’s courtship, Rasputin’s many exploits, and the wild and wonderful country on the brink of an irrevocable transformation. In the worlds of their imagination, the weak become strong, legend becomes fact, and a future that will never come to pass feels close at hand.”
This is the first time I can say, (with unwavering confidence) that I spent equal parts reading and investigating a book. While normally (even with historical fiction) I will take an author at his/her word, (when it comes to details) and just keep on trucking, there was something so formal about the plot (or “stories”) told by Masha, (to Alyosha) that I had this historians twitch to know if they were actually true. Time and time again I found myself challenging the author, and time and time again… I was proven wrong.
“There is NO WAY some prince got pissed, dressed in drag, tricked Rasputin into coming over and then fed him cakes soaked in cyanide!”
True!
“Oh hell no…someone does not get cut, almost in half, and live to tell about it!!!”
True…again. (feel free to look both of those up.)
Because of this, (the ridiculous accuracy of some of the most outlandish things) I found myself unable to put “Enchantments” down. I had to know the truth! (Even if it involved someone being eaten by a bear.) It wasn’t necessarily about HOW the story ended, (because…well, we already know how that well that turned out,) but it was more about the personal glimpses into what happened BEFORE the end, (How the Tsar behaved under house arrest. How OTMA sewed jewels into their frillies just in case they were forced to move in the middle of the night.) that had me so enthralled.
Now yes…there were a FEW parts that were fiction. ( Alyosha didn’t REALLY race Hermes on a bright red bike) but what can one really expect from a girl who is trying desperately to distract a dying boy? (Who knew Hemophilia was a death sentence! *shrugs*)
So what can be said other than “I was head deep in Russia and LOVED it?” Why don’t we talk about Harrison’s writing? It was genuinely unique. Harrison is not a newbie in the book world, but until “Enchantments” I had never read anything by her, so her brazen stanzas, and no nonsense approach to dialogue was intriguing. That’s not to say that it wasn’t a difficult book to read. Like I’ve said…(roughly 70 times now) this book read a lot like a history lesson, so there are pages and pages of historical accounts and flashbacks that, if you’re not careful (in regards to pacing yourself,) might (very likely) turn you off. In other words…this isn’t a book for the (streamline) plot hungry.
And at the end of the day it was sad. Not because everyone died (I hope this isn’t a spoiler…God it shouldn’t be) but because of the mental awareness everyone had KNOWING that they were going to die. (Imagine living with that hanging over your shoulder….Alyosha certainly did.)
Overall…good book. Detailed (almost to the point of annoyingness,) but good all the same.
This is one for bio junkies and history buffs. No one else need apply.
Happy Reading my fellow kindle-ites and remember: I am now an expert on all things “Mad Monk” I would be an asset to anyone’s Trivial Pursuit team.
“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 them, I scoured every National Geographic I could find, and pretty much made the local library my bitch. I just couldn’t get enough. But…with all of my note taking, and obsessive compulsive Wikipedia-ing I never really paid attention to Rasputin. Oh, he was there, lurking in the background like a disease, but my attention was required elsewhere so off it went. Until now. (Damn you…you kooky bastard.)
My initial reason for grabbing this book was 1 sentence:
“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 Tsar Nikolay and his family—including the headstrong Prince Alyosha.”
Hellooooo Romanovs!!
But instead of getting Masha with a little Alyosha foreplay, I got a Russian history lesson. A very intriguing Russian history lesson cleverly disguised as fiction.
“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 Tsar Nikolay and his family—including the headstrong Prince Alyosha. Desperately hoping that Masha has inherited Rasputin’s miraculous healing powers, Tsarina Alexandra asks her to tend to Aloysha, who suffers from hemophilia, a blood disease that keeps the boy confined to his sickbed, lest a simple scrape or bump prove fatal.
Two months after Masha arrives at the palace, the tsar is forced to abdicate, and Bolsheviks place the royal family under house arrest. As Russia descends into civil war, Masha and Alyosha grieve the loss of their former lives, finding solace in eachother’s company. To escape the confinement of the palace, they tell stories—some embellished and some entirely imagined—about Nikolay and Alexandra’s courtship, Rasputin’s many exploits, and the wild and wonderful country on the brink of an irrevocable transformation. In the worlds of their imagination, the weak become strong, legend becomes fact, and a future that will never come to pass feels close at hand.”
This is the first time I can say, (with unwavering confidence) that I spent equal parts reading and investigating a book. While normally (even with historical fiction) I will take an author at his/her word, (when it comes to details) and just keep on trucking, there was something so formal about the plot (or “stories”) told by Masha, (to Alyosha) that I had this historians twitch to know if they were actually true. Time and time again I found myself challenging the author, and time and time again… I was proven wrong.
“There is NO WAY some prince got pissed, dressed in drag, tricked Rasputin into coming over and then fed him cakes soaked in cyanide!”
True!
“Oh hell no…someone does not get cut, almost in half, and live to tell about it!!!”
True…again. (feel free to look both of those up.)
Because of this, (the ridiculous accuracy of some of the most outlandish things) I found myself unable to put “Enchantments” down. I had to know the truth! (Even if it involved someone being eaten by a bear.) It wasn’t necessarily about HOW the story ended, (because…well, we already know how that well that turned out,) but it was more about the personal glimpses into what happened BEFORE the end, (How the Tsar behaved under house arrest. How OTMA sewed jewels into their frillies just in case they were forced to move in the middle of the night.) that had me so enthralled.
Now yes…there were a FEW parts that were fiction. ( Alyosha didn’t REALLY race Hermes on a bright red bike) but what can one really expect from a girl who is trying desperately to distract a dying boy? (Who knew Hemophilia was a death sentence! *shrugs*)
So what can be said other than “I was head deep in Russia and LOVED it?” Why don’t we talk about Harrison’s writing? It was genuinely unique. Harrison is not a newbie in the book world, but until “Enchantments” I had never read anything by her, so her brazen stanzas, and no nonsense approach to dialogue was intriguing. That’s not to say that it wasn’t a difficult book to read. Like I’ve said…(roughly 70 times now) this book read a lot like a history lesson, so there are pages and pages of historical accounts and flashbacks that, if you’re not careful (in regards to pacing yourself,) might (very likely) turn you off. In other words…this isn’t a book for the (streamline) plot hungry.
And at the end of the day it was sad. Not because everyone died (I hope this isn’t a spoiler…God it shouldn’t be) but because of the mental awareness everyone had KNOWING that they were going to die. (Imagine living with that hanging over your shoulder….Alyosha certainly did.)
Overall…good book. Detailed (almost to the point of annoyingness,) but good all the same.
This is one for bio junkies and history buffs. No one else need apply.
Happy Reading my fellow kindle-ites and remember: I am now an expert on all things “Mad Monk” I would be an asset to anyone’s Trivial Pursuit team.
August 23, 2020
This fictional book follows one of Rasputin’s daughters after he has been murdered. She (a teenager by this time) goes to live with the Romanovs and is there (I think) when they are taken away before they are murdered.
I can’t really tell you much more than that. I listened to the audio and it did not hold my attention at all. She seemed to be all over the place chronologically, which didn’t help. There would be something about her father, then living with the Romanovs and back and forth. Oh, and throw in some after the Romanovs were killed. Too bad – I usually do enjoy reading about the Romanovs.
I can’t really tell you much more than that. I listened to the audio and it did not hold my attention at all. She seemed to be all over the place chronologically, which didn’t help. There would be something about her father, then living with the Romanovs and back and forth. Oh, and throw in some after the Romanovs were killed. Too bad – I usually do enjoy reading about the Romanovs.
March 16, 2015
Raramente me arrependo de ler ficção histórica porque, no mínimo, acabo sempre por aprender qualquer coisa. Arrependo-me, no entanto, de ter perdido o meu tempo com "Encantamentos", a sua abordagem algo cínica e infantil dos acontecimentos/decisões que levaram à queda dos Romanov e à organização dos bolcheviques é selectiva e, portanto, pouco realista.
Ao fragmentar a narrativa entre passado/presente/futuro/realidade/fantasia Kathryn Harrison acabou por criar um livro desordenado e aleatório, roubando prazer à leitura.
O conteúdo efectivo do livro acaba também por ser muito pouco. Apesar de limitada pelo fim trágico que conhecemos, a autora poderia ter explorado muito mais em vez de nos deixar o tempo todo à espera, em vão, que «algo» acontecesse.
Pobre em acção, "Encantamentos" revelou-se um livro aborrecido a ponto de, embora não muito grande, ter sido complicado para mim terminá-lo.
Ao fragmentar a narrativa entre passado/presente/futuro/realidade/fantasia Kathryn Harrison acabou por criar um livro desordenado e aleatório, roubando prazer à leitura.
O conteúdo efectivo do livro acaba também por ser muito pouco. Apesar de limitada pelo fim trágico que conhecemos, a autora poderia ter explorado muito mais em vez de nos deixar o tempo todo à espera, em vão, que «algo» acontecesse.
Pobre em acção, "Encantamentos" revelou-se um livro aborrecido a ponto de, embora não muito grande, ter sido complicado para mim terminá-lo.
November 23, 2020
The prose was nice; the setting, interesting. But there wasn't much story and there didn't seem to be much reason for the book to exist, other than the historical moment capturing the author's interest (the passages containing direct historical exposition were unevenly detailed, out-of-character for protagonist/narrator Masha). If Harrison had wanted to make a point, offer an observation about life, dig into the motivations of people in turbulent times, expose an injustice, defend an unpopular justice, draw some kind of literary or historical parallel, etc., it could have been grand.
The point of historical fiction is that fiction can add to history by bringing out or packing in dimensions that a properly organized presentation of the facts can't hold. In this case, I would have preferred just the history.
The point of historical fiction is that fiction can add to history by bringing out or packing in dimensions that a properly organized presentation of the facts can't hold. In this case, I would have preferred just the history.
March 29, 2013
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 time in Robert Alexander's book Rasputin's Daughter.
This book hinges on the premise that Rasputin organised for his daughters, Masha and Varya, to be made wards of the Romanov family after his death. The book opens with the story of his death, although it is revisited several times through the book, and so the two girls are taken to live with the Tsar and Tsarina, their four daughters (collectively known as OTMA - Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia) and their son, Alexei, or Alyosha as he is known. It is a difficult time to be associated with the Romanovs though. The revolution is underway, and they are in the process of being removed from the throne. Masha and Varya are basically kept prisoner with the family and it is in this restricted environment that a strong relationship develops between Masha and Alyosha, despite the fact that he is 14 years old and she is 18.
To read more head to
http://www.theintrepidreader.com/2013...
June 4, 2021
I've never read any of Harrison's books, so I am unfamiliar with her general writing style; but if this is it, I don't like it. There is one entire paragraph that is one-word sentences (I believe she was listing cities, possibly). Another was just saying the same thing over and over using different terminology in each sentence. I didn't know Rasputin had a daughter, so I was interested to read about her, but this book doesn't do her any favors. She comes across as rather robotic and unlikable. Much of the historic information about the Romanovs was familiar to me already, but I didn't like the author's treatment of Alexi as it seemed contrived. This book was just a waste of my time.
July 30, 2019
If you are intrigued with the Romanov story, this is one more depiction of their tragic end, even adding unknown facts to their already well-documented tale. From the first page be prepared to wander amongst lengthy details, repetitious facts and varying stories that often get in the way of the real plot.
May 2, 2018
It took me six months to finish this book. I just didn't see a point and it wasn't even interesting to read.
April 1, 2013
- 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!
- 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!
May 2, 2012
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 learn that he had three legitimate children, one simple minded, one manipulative, and another compassionate and strong.
In this novel, when Rasputin is killed two of his daughters become wards of the Romanovs. Masha becomes the friend of Alosha and as their relationship unfolds, we are privy to the every day lives of the royal family.
As the dynasty collapses and Alosha becomes increasingly bed ridden, there is a wonderfully written insight into the lush life filled with palaces, yachts and Fabrege eggs contrasted with the degradation suffered at the hands of the Bolsheviks.
Of interest is the fact that in real life, Masha escaped Russia, joined a circus and moved to the United States.
The beauty of historical fiction is that it opens doors to research truth from fiction. While Masha visited the royal palace with her father, she did not live with the Romanovs after her father died.
Recommended
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 learn that he had three legitimate children, one simple minded, one manipulative, and another compassionate and strong.
In this novel, when Rasputin is killed two of his daughters become wards of the Romanovs. Masha becomes the friend of Alosha and as their relationship unfolds, we are privy to the every day lives of the royal family.
As the dynasty collapses and Alosha becomes increasingly bed ridden, there is a wonderfully written insight into the lush life filled with palaces, yachts and Fabrege eggs contrasted with the degradation suffered at the hands of the Bolsheviks.
Of interest is the fact that in real life, Masha escaped Russia, joined a circus and moved to the United States.
The beauty of historical fiction is that it opens doors to research truth from fiction. While Masha visited the royal palace with her father, she did not live with the Romanovs after her father died.
Recommended
November 17, 2012
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 their confinement she becomes close with the Tsar's son, frail Aloysha. To pass the time as they await their fate, Masha weaves beautiful stories for the bedridden tsaravvitch, about the history of her family, her father's past as a healer and the young love of Nikolay and Alexandra (Aloysha's parents and former rulers of Russia).
It's beautiful, sad, and exquisitely written and it will inspire you to check out more about this horribly misunderstood chapter of Russian history. Too often we villify Rasputin as a sorcerer (in Hollywood and in history) but this tale humanizes him and his family and brings to life the distressful last days of the Tsar's family (we all know what happens, but we still power through in this novel hoping that magically history will indeed change itself and save their family).
An absolute must read. You won't regret it!
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 their confinement she becomes close with the Tsar's son, frail Aloysha. To pass the time as they await their fate, Masha weaves beautiful stories for the bedridden tsaravvitch, about the history of her family, her father's past as a healer and the young love of Nikolay and Alexandra (Aloysha's parents and former rulers of Russia).
It's beautiful, sad, and exquisitely written and it will inspire you to check out more about this horribly misunderstood chapter of Russian history. Too often we villify Rasputin as a sorcerer (in Hollywood and in history) but this tale humanizes him and his family and brings to life the distressful last days of the Tsar's family (we all know what happens, but we still power through in this novel hoping that magically history will indeed change itself and save their family).
An absolute must read. You won't regret it!
April 15, 2012
As another reviewer said "Lots of pretty words, little substance" and I couldn't agree more whole-heartedly. While there were some wonderfully drawn passages in this novel to set the atmosphere, it seemed the author tried TOO hard to evoke a literary style to this novel. Even in wordy literary novels, though, each word has a purpose and, in this case, the words served no purpose to move the novel forward. Instead, it became a chore to try and move through the passages and most people will find themselves skimming. It has no discernible timeline continuity which will add to the reader's frustration. Marketed as a YA title, the only thing YA about this is the character's ages. I think aging the characters and making this an adult novel would have served the audience better and this could have definitely done with some much editing in the form of cutting irrelevant purple prose. The plot was a creative one and the idea to delve into this area a good one but, unfortunately, the execution turned out to be extremely flawed.
ARC Galley Proof
ARC Galley Proof
February 7, 2016
Com uma capa e um resumo tão atrativos tive de ter este livro na minha estante.
A história em si, o enredo baseado em factos verídicos são uma mais valia para este livro.
No entanto, a escrita desta autora, que não me agradou de todo, estragou a minha experiência.
O quebrar de ritmo e a fratura entre capítulos (ora no passado, ora no presente) que a meu ver não tiveram a suavidade necessária, assim como o relato um pouco frio, embora informativo, de momentos emotivos de tamanha tragédia familiar das personagens envolvidas levaram-me a arrastar esta leitura durante dias. Até que cheguei às últimas páginas sentindo-me aliviada.
A leitura não deve ser assim. Esforçada. Sem prazer. Como um frete.
Assim, admito que este não foi um livro para mim.
Acabei esta leitura aliviada e triste por não ter gostado tanto como esperava. Às vezes acontece...
A história em si, o enredo baseado em factos verídicos são uma mais valia para este livro.
No entanto, a escrita desta autora, que não me agradou de todo, estragou a minha experiência.
O quebrar de ritmo e a fratura entre capítulos (ora no passado, ora no presente) que a meu ver não tiveram a suavidade necessária, assim como o relato um pouco frio, embora informativo, de momentos emotivos de tamanha tragédia familiar das personagens envolvidas levaram-me a arrastar esta leitura durante dias. Até que cheguei às últimas páginas sentindo-me aliviada.
A leitura não deve ser assim. Esforçada. Sem prazer. Como um frete.
Assim, admito que este não foi um livro para mim.
Acabei esta leitura aliviada e triste por não ter gostado tanto como esperava. Às vezes acontece...
November 1, 2013
O assassinato de Grigory Rasputine, apelidado de "Monge Louco", vai fazer com que as suas duas filhas sejam levadas para o palácio dos Romanov, com o intuito de que Masha, a filha mais velha, pudesse salvar o seu único filho varão, Alyosha.
Pensando que Masha possuía os mesmos poderes que o pai, a czarina Alexandra deixa que os dois jovens passem muito tempo juntos, levando a troca de confidências e a um amor pueril por parte de ambos.
http://marcadordelivros.blogspot.pt/2...
Pensando que Masha possuía os mesmos poderes que o pai, a czarina Alexandra deixa que os dois jovens passem muito tempo juntos, levando a troca de confidências e a um amor pueril por parte de ambos.
http://marcadordelivros.blogspot.pt/2...
December 11, 2013
Aborrecido, aborrecido, aborrecido. É a palavra certa para este livro.
Quando quero ver (ler, neste caso) um documentário mudo para o canal História, não leio um livro. E é mais interessante que este livro.
Li 200 páginas e foi um inferno. Não consegui avançar mais e desisti. A escrita da autora é muito monótona e cansativa. Altera entre passado e presente de forma tão confusa que confunde.
Dos piores livros que li até hoje.
Quando quero ver (ler, neste caso) um documentário mudo para o canal História, não leio um livro. E é mais interessante que este livro.
Li 200 páginas e foi um inferno. Não consegui avançar mais e desisti. A escrita da autora é muito monótona e cansativa. Altera entre passado e presente de forma tão confusa que confunde.
Dos piores livros que li até hoje.
September 25, 2024
Stop trying to make me root for a relationship between a 13 year old imperialist and a 18 year pick me girl/ Rasputin apologist. Also the fact that horse circus trick riding is a legitimate plot point is a hard no
September 2, 2025
Był okres w moim życiu, gdzie miałam ogromną fazę na dynastie Romanowów. Najpewniej właśnie z tego okresu pochodzi u mnie książka „Uroki” Kathryn Harrison. I czy to jest działo znakomitej historycznej wyobraźni? Zdecydowanie nie.
Większość z nas, jeśli nie wszyscy słyszeli o postaci, jaką był Grigorij Rasputin. Dla carycy Aleksandry był cudotwórcą, ponieważ potrafił pomóc jej synowi, następcy tronu, gdy ten miał wylew spowodowany hemofilią. 01.01.1917 Roku to dzień, w którym odnaleziono ciało Rasputina w rzece Newa, a kilka godzin później jego osiemnastoletnia córka Masza zajmuje jego miejsce. Caryca jest przekonana, że dziewczyna ma te same umiejętności, co jej ojciec. Masza towarzyszy młodemu carewiczowi w trudnych chwilach po abdykacji ojca i areszcie. Młodzi mają zaledwie kilka miesięcy, ale to aż kilka miesięcy.
Myślę, że nie ma osoby, która nie zastanawiała się jak wyglądały ostatnie chwile Romanowów. Co myśleli? Kathryn Harrison próbowała odpowiedzieć na to pytanie, ale jednocześnie zrobiła to w sposób nudny. Te wszystkie historie, które tworzyli Masza i Aleksy były ich ucieczką przed nudą, ale uważam, że można je było opisać lepiej. Na okładce widnieje napis „Znakomite dzieło historycznej wyobraźni” – nie wiem, gdzie jest to dzieło, bo z pewnością nie są to „Uroki”.
Przeszkadzało mi bardzo, że trzynastoletni carewicz, został przedstawiony, jako bardzo dojrzały człowiek pod względem emocjonalnym jak i seksualnym. Następca tronu cierpiał na najcięższą postać hemofilii, co powodowało, że bardzo często był izolowany od reszty oraz od zżycia pałacowego. Nie sądzę, żeby w jego głowie było coś więcej niż chęć wygrania z bólem i cierpieniem, ale to tylko moje zdanie.
Zagłębiłam się w temat hemofilii w rodzinie Romanowów. Wiemy, że ten gen carewiczowi przekazała matka caryca Aleksandra Fiodorowna. Ona z kolei otrzymała go od swojej matki Alicji i była jego nosicielką. Sama nie miała objawów choroby. Jej matka była nosicielką, ponieważ była córką królowej Wiktorii (nazywanej babką wszystkich europejskich monarchii). Ważne jest to, że w poprzednich pokoleniach rodziny królowej Wiktorii nie zauważono problemów z krzepnięciem krwi. Jest, więc duże prawdopodobieństwo, że ten gen powstał u królowej Wiktorii spontanicznie w wyniku mutacji de novo. Ta mutacja musiała, więc powstać w XIX wieku, między drugą a trzecią ciążą królowej Wiktorii.
Ciężko czytało mi się opisy traktowania Romanowów w niewoli. Nikogo nie powinien taki los. Każdy zasługuje na szacunek. Tak po prostu. Tak samo nie popieram tego jak podczas panowania monarchii w Rosji byli traktowani inni ludzie.
Rozumiem zamysł książki, ale niestety było nudno. Myślałam, że szybko ją pokonam, ale trochę mi się z nią zeszło.
Większość z nas, jeśli nie wszyscy słyszeli o postaci, jaką był Grigorij Rasputin. Dla carycy Aleksandry był cudotwórcą, ponieważ potrafił pomóc jej synowi, następcy tronu, gdy ten miał wylew spowodowany hemofilią. 01.01.1917 Roku to dzień, w którym odnaleziono ciało Rasputina w rzece Newa, a kilka godzin później jego osiemnastoletnia córka Masza zajmuje jego miejsce. Caryca jest przekonana, że dziewczyna ma te same umiejętności, co jej ojciec. Masza towarzyszy młodemu carewiczowi w trudnych chwilach po abdykacji ojca i areszcie. Młodzi mają zaledwie kilka miesięcy, ale to aż kilka miesięcy.
Myślę, że nie ma osoby, która nie zastanawiała się jak wyglądały ostatnie chwile Romanowów. Co myśleli? Kathryn Harrison próbowała odpowiedzieć na to pytanie, ale jednocześnie zrobiła to w sposób nudny. Te wszystkie historie, które tworzyli Masza i Aleksy były ich ucieczką przed nudą, ale uważam, że można je było opisać lepiej. Na okładce widnieje napis „Znakomite dzieło historycznej wyobraźni” – nie wiem, gdzie jest to dzieło, bo z pewnością nie są to „Uroki”.
Przeszkadzało mi bardzo, że trzynastoletni carewicz, został przedstawiony, jako bardzo dojrzały człowiek pod względem emocjonalnym jak i seksualnym. Następca tronu cierpiał na najcięższą postać hemofilii, co powodowało, że bardzo często był izolowany od reszty oraz od zżycia pałacowego. Nie sądzę, żeby w jego głowie było coś więcej niż chęć wygrania z bólem i cierpieniem, ale to tylko moje zdanie.
Zagłębiłam się w temat hemofilii w rodzinie Romanowów. Wiemy, że ten gen carewiczowi przekazała matka caryca Aleksandra Fiodorowna. Ona z kolei otrzymała go od swojej matki Alicji i była jego nosicielką. Sama nie miała objawów choroby. Jej matka była nosicielką, ponieważ była córką królowej Wiktorii (nazywanej babką wszystkich europejskich monarchii). Ważne jest to, że w poprzednich pokoleniach rodziny królowej Wiktorii nie zauważono problemów z krzepnięciem krwi. Jest, więc duże prawdopodobieństwo, że ten gen powstał u królowej Wiktorii spontanicznie w wyniku mutacji de novo. Ta mutacja musiała, więc powstać w XIX wieku, między drugą a trzecią ciążą królowej Wiktorii.
Ciężko czytało mi się opisy traktowania Romanowów w niewoli. Nikogo nie powinien taki los. Każdy zasługuje na szacunek. Tak po prostu. Tak samo nie popieram tego jak podczas panowania monarchii w Rosji byli traktowani inni ludzie.
Rozumiem zamysł książki, ale niestety było nudno. Myślałam, że szybko ją pokonam, ale trochę mi się z nią zeszło.
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April 19, 2024Jag köpte boken för mycket länge sedan (när jag fortfarande gick på högstadiet) och hade faktiskt glömt bort den, men av någon anledning fångades min blick av den och jag bestämde mig för att till slut läsa den. Och det är jag mycket glad över: att läsa den här boken var som att befinna sig i en härlig feberdröm. Masjas "sagor", vilka hon berättade för Aljosja var verkligen underbara och tillsammans med det lyriska språket blev det som att läsa poetiska drömmar. Språket var verkligen så vackert och jag har strukit under så många meningar för att jag kan läsa om dem.
Men det var inte bara språket som fick mig att falla för den här boken, jag tyckte också mycket om berättelsen och speciellt dess skildring av karaktärernas relationer. Masjas och Aljosjas relation tyckte jag var mycket fint angiven; hur två mycket olika personer fann varandra samt trygghet i varandras sällskap under mycket svåra omständigheter. Vidare tyckte jag att boken gav ett mänskligt porträtt av familjen Romanov, hur deras position som ledare över Ryssland inte var något de valde själva men var något som “tvingades” på dem.
Sist tyckte jag mycket om hur Rasputin framställdes, precis som familjen Romanov tyckte jag att författaren gav ett nytt ansikte till honom. Ett mer sårbart och mänskligt porträtt, då han under så många år i olika media gestaltats som en dålig man med onda intentioner. Vilket jag tror är långt från sanningen. Visst var boken skriven från Masjas perspektiv, Rasputins dotter, vilket kan ha vridit historien åt hans fördel, men samtidigt tror jag att en person som står en mycket nära är kapabel till att ge ett trovärdigt porträtt av en. De har ju trots allt möjlighet att komma nära och se både ens bra och dåliga sidor. Sedan är det här ju en fiktionaliserad version av berättelsen om familjen Romanov och Rasputin och hans familj, men jag tror att det ligger en del sanning i den; speciellt med tanke på att författaren själv sagt att hon är beläst om dessa personer.
För att knyta samman det hela lite vill jag bara säga att detta nog kan bli en ny favoritbok, vidare att jag är mycket nyfiken på författaren och vill gärna snart läsa mer av henne!
Men det var inte bara språket som fick mig att falla för den här boken, jag tyckte också mycket om berättelsen och speciellt dess skildring av karaktärernas relationer. Masjas och Aljosjas relation tyckte jag var mycket fint angiven; hur två mycket olika personer fann varandra samt trygghet i varandras sällskap under mycket svåra omständigheter. Vidare tyckte jag att boken gav ett mänskligt porträtt av familjen Romanov, hur deras position som ledare över Ryssland inte var något de valde själva men var något som “tvingades” på dem.
Sist tyckte jag mycket om hur Rasputin framställdes, precis som familjen Romanov tyckte jag att författaren gav ett nytt ansikte till honom. Ett mer sårbart och mänskligt porträtt, då han under så många år i olika media gestaltats som en dålig man med onda intentioner. Vilket jag tror är långt från sanningen. Visst var boken skriven från Masjas perspektiv, Rasputins dotter, vilket kan ha vridit historien åt hans fördel, men samtidigt tror jag att en person som står en mycket nära är kapabel till att ge ett trovärdigt porträtt av en. De har ju trots allt möjlighet att komma nära och se både ens bra och dåliga sidor. Sedan är det här ju en fiktionaliserad version av berättelsen om familjen Romanov och Rasputin och hans familj, men jag tror att det ligger en del sanning i den; speciellt med tanke på att författaren själv sagt att hon är beläst om dessa personer.
För att knyta samman det hela lite vill jag bara säga att detta nog kan bli en ny favoritbok, vidare att jag är mycket nyfiken på författaren och vill gärna snart läsa mer av henne!
October 12, 2020
I am right in the middle on this book. It's been a long time since I've read anything set in Russian history, so I appreciated the opportunity to revisit. Harrison's prose is quite lovely; I don't usually like such long-winded descriptors, but they're well placed in Russia/SP.
The premise is interesting--one of Rasputin's daughters living with the Romanovs after the murder of her father. The family hopes she possesses her father's healing powers, and she starts to develop a close relationship with Alexei. He has to be in bed most of the time, so she tells him stories of the past, of her father, of Baba Yaga....a lot of stories...
and that's kind of what the book is, and not a lot else. If you want a lot more, or a fast, solid plot--this is not your book. This is the kind of book you read in a bathtub with some wine, or on a rainy day with soup. It's not the most challenging book I've ever read and that is fine. Everyone knows the main story here --the Romanovs-- and I appreciate the author didn't try to make it any crazier than it already is. She just found a new lens.
The premise is interesting--one of Rasputin's daughters living with the Romanovs after the murder of her father. The family hopes she possesses her father's healing powers, and she starts to develop a close relationship with Alexei. He has to be in bed most of the time, so she tells him stories of the past, of her father, of Baba Yaga....a lot of stories...
and that's kind of what the book is, and not a lot else. If you want a lot more, or a fast, solid plot--this is not your book. This is the kind of book you read in a bathtub with some wine, or on a rainy day with soup. It's not the most challenging book I've ever read and that is fine. Everyone knows the main story here --the Romanovs-- and I appreciate the author didn't try to make it any crazier than it already is. She just found a new lens.
January 19, 2019
Spoiled Tsarevich
Hard timepiece spoiler for a story which everyone knows the ending. This is a sympathetic telling of the end of Russian oligarchy. It's easy to believe they were all unaware of public scorn. Yet we are given the sense that most of the common population didn't blame them for their poor living conditions, nor could they believe the demise of the Romanovs would end the tradition of monarchy & splendor in their country. Masha's role of entertaining the invalid tsarevich is a creative device to fill in details we wouldn't have known otherwise. It isn't a seamless device and often feels artificial. And it's hard to know which parts of her story are real and which are inventions of the author. An amusing read in a dreary winter, but not quite compelling.
Hard timepiece spoiler for a story which everyone knows the ending. This is a sympathetic telling of the end of Russian oligarchy. It's easy to believe they were all unaware of public scorn. Yet we are given the sense that most of the common population didn't blame them for their poor living conditions, nor could they believe the demise of the Romanovs would end the tradition of monarchy & splendor in their country. Masha's role of entertaining the invalid tsarevich is a creative device to fill in details we wouldn't have known otherwise. It isn't a seamless device and often feels artificial. And it's hard to know which parts of her story are real and which are inventions of the author. An amusing read in a dreary winter, but not quite compelling.
April 9, 2019
I think I got this book for the Indigo Bargain table at a high discount and the plot line did interest me. What spiked my interest was that this story was fairytale mash up of history and magical realism. This was not a story of love but rather a story of the imagination of the historically famous Masha. After reading this book I found myself wanting to learn more about the famous Masha, daughter of the mad monk Rasputin.
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