The Last Romanov

2.5 Stars
Dora Levy Mossanen 

 She was an orphan, ushered into the royal palace on the prayers of her majesty. Yet, decades later, her time spent in the embrace of the Romanovs haunts her still. Is she responsible for those murderous events that changed everything? If only she can find the heir, maybe she can put together the broken pieces of her own past - maybe she can hold on to the love she found.

Darya Borodina is one hundred and four years old, living in the old Russian Entertainment Palace among the ruins, haunted by her life and her time with the Romanovs. Born of royal parents who were close friends with the Tsar and Tsarina of Russia, when Darya's parents are killed in a horrible accident she is brought to live in the household of the Tsar. There she became a companion to the royal children, the four Duchesses and the Tsarevich. Darya had healing powers which were important since the heir had hemophilia and could die at any moment. We watch royal life through Darya's eyes. Drawn to the arts, she and the Empress create an artistic salon to showcase the talents of Russia's sculptors, artists and ballet masters. We see the issues that begin in revolutionary Russia and how they begin to tear at the aristocracy . Darya is torn between these two worlds. She is loyal to the royal family, but madly in love with one of the artists, a Jewish painter she knows she can never acknowledge publicly. Through him, she starts to see the turmoil that will soon tear the country apart. After the Revolution and the assassination of the Royal Family, what keeps Darya alive is her belief that the heir was not killed that horrible day with the rest of the family. She spends decades searching for him, and now she receives word that 'the last Romanov' has been found. This starts her final journey to determine the truth once and for all. It was a very slow building book and I feel like the author dragged it unnecessarily. I understand it is a work of Historical fiction and therefore does not need to adhere to all facts, but the fact that all the bodies of the Royal family are accounted for and therefore the events at the end of the story could not have possibly happen annoys me and makes me like the book just a little less.