pickThis is solid historical fiction and I particularly enjoyed the first half; watching young Marta emerge from poverty to become Peter the Great‘s wife Catherine, the Empress of Russia. The story would be unbelievable were it not true. I admit however that I did tire of the second half; there‘s only so much constant war, mistresses, brutal murders and doomed pregnancies I felt able to take!
bailedI clearly need to find a lighter audiobook than the ones on my planned TBR. I only got 7% through this one but I guessed, based on what I‘ve already listened to, that there are rape scenes coming up (which I verified by skimming the ARC) and I do not want to listen to those. Clearly this is darker than I can handle at the moment, so I‘m letting it go.
pickReview is up on my blog. Check it out. This had some problems but it was still fascinating
https://reecaspieces.com/2020/11/24/tsarina-by-ellen-alpsten-stmartinspress-ealp...
pickI loved this book. It took awhile to read it but that's just cause I would stop reading to look something or someone up. It's an Epic Historical Fiction and Alpsten researched it well.
Thanks Netgalley for the book. Pub date Nov 10, 2020.
pickThis is historical fiction about Catherine I of Russia. I thought this author did a great job. Marta is a young serf (soul) in the Baltic area. She catches a man's eye and is then sold to him for a piece of silver by her step mother. And that's just the beginning of a truly interesting life.
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Pub date is 11/10/2020
so-soThanks to Penguin Random House and NetGalley and MacMillan USA for sending me this Advance Reading Copy. Expected publication date is October 13, 2020.
This book opens up in 1725 and Russia‘s Peter the Great is lying on his death bed. He leaves no legal heir because of the atrocities perpetrated by his only son. Catherine Alexeyevna, Peter‘s second wife manages to keep the country from falling into complete chaos.
Looking forward to reading this ARC bookmail Tsarina by Ellen Alpsten on sale 10/13/2020
Tsarina | 
