The book follows Anastasia Romanov from the time of the royal family’s removal from their home in Tsarksoe Selo to the massacre in Ekaterinburg* and Anna Anderson, the most well-known (and well-accepted during her time) woman who claimed to be Anastasia Romanov. The structure of I Was Anastasia is non-standard to say the least. Of the two I’ve read, this is my favorite and it’s bumped Flight of Dreams up my list. I Was Anastasia was a book I wanted to move quicker, not for the writing this time, but because it was hard to wait to see what would happen next. The hang-up for me, I think, was that it felt at times like Wife/Maid/Mistress dragged a tiny bit towards the end and I wanted to get moving. If that means nothing to you, suffice to say I really like Lawhon but I don’t love Lawhon. If you’re a bookish person, I feel like that should accurately convey my feelings about Lawhon. Flight of Dreams, however, has not yet made it off the TBR. I was a fan of Lawhon’s last historical fiction offering, The Wife, The Maid, and the Mistress-enough so that I picked up her first Flight of Dreams. When I am finished, and only then, will you have the right to tell me who I am. But first you must understand why the years brought me to this point and why such loss has made the journey necessary. That is for you to decide of course…You will have your answers.

Are you ready for that? Can you hold this truth in your hand and not crush it like the rest of them?…But, like so many others through the years, you have asked:Īm I truly Anastasia Romanov? A beloved daughter. A confession for which you may never forgive me. It will be the gift and the curse I bestow upon you. If I tell you what happened that night in Ekaterinburg I will have to unwind my memory-all the twisted coils-and lay it in your palm. I’m grateful to Doubleday for their generosity and, because I enjoyed the book, was happy to post this honest review. I received a bound galley ARC of this book from DoubledayBooks as part of a sweepstakes.

I was anastasia book