Candace Fleming's Blog, page 5
July 14, 2014
All That Glitters….
Alexandra Romanov and her girls did not suffer for a want of jewelry. Take a look at some of the highlights of their jewelry box:http://bit.ly/1lRlExO
(Photo credit: Carmel Wilson-Fromson, State Diamond Fund of the Rusian Federation)
Brownie Cameras
Much of the Romanov family’s entertainment came from their fascination with Brownie cameras. This is also the reason we have so many photographs of them—they took a lot of themselves.
Brownie cameras (which still exist!) are celebrating one hundred and fourteen years in existence.http://bit.ly/1qHkawj
July 8, 2014
The Family Romanov Launches!
Today The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion & The Fall of Imperial Russia, written by Candace Fleming, hits the shelves of your local bookstore. Perfect summer reading—accessible and well-written, a story full of intrigue and excitement, and it’s history, so you learn something!
Take a look at the book trailer!
Outtakes
Q: What got cut from the book?
I cut so much from the story—anecdotes and photographs. The biggest reason was length. I simply couldn’t tell the reader everything. But I sure wanted to! So I’ll tell a few of those stories here.
One day in 1909, an old peasant couple arrived at the palace. Clutching a burlap sack, the old man explained to the court official that he and his wife had used all their money to travel from Siberia just to bring their “Father Tsar” a present.
Q: What kind of present?
The...
July 5, 2014
The Sailor Nannies
Tsarevich Alexei and Klementy Nagorny
Alexei had hemophilia, a genetic disease that affects only males. Hemophilia is transmitted by the mother. The disease was wide-spread in Alexandra’s family—her own brother had died of it. She suffered tremendous guilt over having passed the disease on to her son. There was no cure (there’s still no cure) and there was no treatment for the symptoms. Alexei was often in agony from internal bleeding—each episode life-threatening.
Two sailors were appointed to...
July 3, 2014
Researching the Romanovs
1991 was a seminal year for Romanov researchers. Many documents previously held private under the Soviet Union were released for scholarly access. I have to thank experts for my access to those recently released documents. They did the legwork, compiling, translating and putting them into the context of history. I merely stood on their shoulders, examining and asking questions of their work. In truth, it wouldn’t have been feasible for me to dig around in the Archive of the Russian Federation...
July 1, 2014
Language Lesson
Did you know? The Romanov family’s language was not Russian.
Tsar Nicholas spoke Russian, but no one else in his immediate family did. Alexandra was German. As a family, they spoke English.
Many primary historical documents about the Romanovs are accessible to the English speaker/reader (without a Russian translator) because Nicholas and Alexandra wrote in English.
Left to right: Grand Duchess Olga, Grand Duchess Maria, Nicholas II, Alexandra, Grand Duchess Anastasia, Tsarevich Alexei, Grand Duc...
June 28, 2014
It’s a Boy! Boom!
Alexandra and her son Alexei at the Alexander Palace, 1911 (photo credit: Pushkin Imperial Family Alexander Palace archive A. Vyrubovoy)
Russia’s law of succession specified that only males could inherit the throne. The tradition at a royal birth dictated that three hundred thunderous rounds of cannon fire would announce the birth of a future tsar, a son. If a girl was born, one hundred and one shots would serve as the announcement.
The Russian people heard four instances of one hundred and one...
June 26, 2014
Russian Names
Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna and Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich of Russia at Livadia Palace (photo credit: Romanov Collection, General Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University)
From “Before You Begin,” inThe Family Romanov:
“Russians have three names: a first name, a father’s name with –ovich or –evich added (meaning “son of”) if male, or –evna or –ovna (meaning “daughter of” if female); and a last, or family name.
“Therefore, Nicholas II’s daughter’s full name...
June 24, 2014
Writing The Family Romanov
I was recently interviewed about writing The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion & the Fall of Imperial Russia. Join us for the next few weeks as we share my answers with you.
Q: What drew you to writing the Romanovs’ story?
A: I first read Robert Massie’s Nicholas and Alexandra the summer between my 7th and 8th grade year after pulling it off my mother’s bookshelf. “You’re not going to like that,” she warned. “It’s pretty dense history.” She was right. It was dense, but I loved it! And I longed...
