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Romanov #2
Rasputin's Daughter
From the author of the national bestseller The Kitchen Boy comes a gripping historical novel about imperial Russia’s most notorious figure.
Called “brilliant� by USA Today, Robert Alexander’s historical novel The Kitchen Boy swept readers back to the doomed world of the Romanovs. His latest masterpiece once again conjures those turbulent days in a fictional drama of extraordinary depth and suspense.
In the wake of the Russian Revolution, Maria Rasputin—eldest of the Rasputin children—recounts her infamous father’s final days, building a breathless narrative of intrigue, excess, and conspiracy that reveals the shocking truth of her father’s end and the identity of those who arranged it. What emerges is a nail-biting, richly textured new take on one of history’s most legendary episodes.
Called “brilliant� by USA Today, Robert Alexander’s historical novel The Kitchen Boy swept readers back to the doomed world of the Romanovs. His latest masterpiece once again conjures those turbulent days in a fictional drama of extraordinary depth and suspense.
In the wake of the Russian Revolution, Maria Rasputin—eldest of the Rasputin children—recounts her infamous father’s final days, building a breathless narrative of intrigue, excess, and conspiracy that reveals the shocking truth of her father’s end and the identity of those who arranged it. What emerges is a nail-biting, richly textured new take on one of history’s most legendary episodes.
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
195 people are currently reading
2916 people want to read
About the author
Robert Alexander
129Ìýbooks279ÌýfollowersRobert Alexander is the author of the bestselling novels Rasputin's Daughter, The Kitchen Boy, and the forthcoming The Romanov Bride. He has spent over thirty years traveling to Russia, where he has studied and also worked for the U.S. government. He speaks frequently to book clubs, and the schedule for his live video webcasts can be found at his website:
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 473 reviews
February 3, 2009
I wanted to like this book. I'm a big fan of historical fiction and devour any of Phillippa Gregory's books and others like it. I figured this would be in a similar vein, so I eagerly bought it.
Well, there was a reason it was in the discounted books bin at Borders. Stink city. The main character, Maria Rasputin, seems whiny and I felt like the book never explained her motives. For example, she witnesses her father's debauchery, but after a brief period of dwelling on it, inexplicably seems to forget all about it. She also watches him "heal" the Tsar's hemophiliac heir and is convinced that Rasputin is God's vessel, channeling the power of the Mighty One to heal. She meets Sasha, a mysterious man on a boat trip and for no discernible reason, falls in love with him instantly. I could never figure out why she had the unrelenting love for her lunatic father, nor could I fathom why she was "in love" with a man she barely spent time with.
I felt like she spent the whole entire book running here and there like a hamster on a wheel, trying to warn her father that his enemies were plotting against him, but failing in the end (as we all know). She was a total drama queen, but never seemed to accomplish anything for all her hysterics. She has no depth whatsoever. She catches her father shagging the beloved housekeeper and second mother to Maria, yet she barely even ponders it.
This book made me wonder if the real Maria Rasputin was that boring and one dimensional? I highly doubt it. The real daughter of Rasputin escaped Russia and spent the remainder of her life working for the circus and then babysitting in Los Angeles. Someone who worked for the circus must be more interesting than this book makes out. The main character is flat, has no motivation, and was just downright annoying to me.
Thumbs down.
Well, there was a reason it was in the discounted books bin at Borders. Stink city. The main character, Maria Rasputin, seems whiny and I felt like the book never explained her motives. For example, she witnesses her father's debauchery, but after a brief period of dwelling on it, inexplicably seems to forget all about it. She also watches him "heal" the Tsar's hemophiliac heir and is convinced that Rasputin is God's vessel, channeling the power of the Mighty One to heal. She meets Sasha, a mysterious man on a boat trip and for no discernible reason, falls in love with him instantly. I could never figure out why she had the unrelenting love for her lunatic father, nor could I fathom why she was "in love" with a man she barely spent time with.
I felt like she spent the whole entire book running here and there like a hamster on a wheel, trying to warn her father that his enemies were plotting against him, but failing in the end (as we all know). She was a total drama queen, but never seemed to accomplish anything for all her hysterics. She has no depth whatsoever. She catches her father shagging the beloved housekeeper and second mother to Maria, yet she barely even ponders it.
This book made me wonder if the real Maria Rasputin was that boring and one dimensional? I highly doubt it. The real daughter of Rasputin escaped Russia and spent the remainder of her life working for the circus and then babysitting in Los Angeles. Someone who worked for the circus must be more interesting than this book makes out. The main character is flat, has no motivation, and was just downright annoying to me.
Thumbs down.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 14, 2017
Not worth reading
October 28, 2009
Easily one of the worst books I've ever read, Alexander's take on Rasputin is drawn nearly exclusively from the 500 pages of testimony given by those closest to him to the Thirteenth Section in the months after his murder. The author's near abandonment of the revolution, despite it being a major player in the lives of all characters involved is a disappointment, not to mention that none of his characters show themselves in any sort of multi-dimentional way. The "shock" at the end is embarassingly contrived and the narrative overly simple. Overall, the book is miserably plebian, its pages better served as a table leveler or fire kindling. For a book worth reading, read its source material in Edvard Radzinsky's 'The Rasputin Files.'
May 20, 2025
Gostei.
Mas a tradução deixa a desejar e a revisão foi muito deficiente :-(
Mas a tradução deixa a desejar e a revisão foi muito deficiente :-(
April 9, 2008
I wrote this too...watch the trailer at
May 15, 2020
Great book. The author does an amazing job setting the scene and keeping the reader entertained with their detailed character descriptions. There’s also great historical context given throughout the novel, especially with the timeline at the end. Although the actions of the characters are purely fictional, their existence in history isn’t. Rasputin did have a family, both in Siberia and with him in Russia. The authors use of these characters to better tell Rasputins story helps to humanize him, as well as debunk the tales surrounding his death. Giving this book five stars for its ability to keep me entertained and intrigued- I finished it in less than a day. I’d recommend it to anyone with an interest in Rasputin or the Romanovs, as this is one of the more detailed novels I’ve read surrounding their lives.
August 17, 2018
I don’t know much about this period of time in Russia, so I enjoyed learning about Rasputin, even though it was through a mostly fictional story. The book was a quick read, but not very deep. The characters are one dimensional and the storyline not particularly creative. But it did intrigue me to find more books about the revolution and life in Russia. Any recommendations?
Read
July 23, 2012Really enjoyed this novel about Rasputin's last week on earth, told by his daughter as she discovers all of the conflicting facets of her father's personality.
March 25, 2018
The subject matter alone, though studded with speculation and invention, makes it an interesting read.
July 26, 2016
Maybe I want too much from fiction. I want it all to be literature, so I'm often set up for disappointment.
The author gives a good description of how Rasputin might have lived in St. Petersburg (Petrograd) and Siberia, and and how he might have healed his petitioners, but fails to describe the protagonist. The title hints that we will get to know her, but we don't.
The compressed time frame of the action interferes with our knowing her; so does the first person narrative. Maria spends a lot of time afraid while searching and being chased in dark places. We don't feel her terror, because we know she will survive and her father will die.
She quickly snaps out of horror and anger at her father's strange healing methods. She falls in love with Sasha who seems to stalk her. She bravely searches the city alone for her father to answer the Empress's call for help. She dines at the palace. The author tells us what she does, but there is no character development. She gives us no sense of who she really is or why we should care about her.
The author gives a good description of how Rasputin might have lived in St. Petersburg (Petrograd) and Siberia, and and how he might have healed his petitioners, but fails to describe the protagonist. The title hints that we will get to know her, but we don't.
The compressed time frame of the action interferes with our knowing her; so does the first person narrative. Maria spends a lot of time afraid while searching and being chased in dark places. We don't feel her terror, because we know she will survive and her father will die.
She quickly snaps out of horror and anger at her father's strange healing methods. She falls in love with Sasha who seems to stalk her. She bravely searches the city alone for her father to answer the Empress's call for help. She dines at the palace. The author tells us what she does, but there is no character development. She gives us no sense of who she really is or why we should care about her.
December 27, 2007
This was a captivating pre-quel to The Kitchen Boy, exploring the myths surrounding this man who rose from a Siberian peasant to become a direct spiritual advisor to the Tsar. Told from the perspective of his daughter who was intricately involved in his life and got caught up in the fray as the murder plot was carried out with her as a witness. Maria was close to her father and struggled with the gossip as she learned to understand him and his life more fully. Well developed characters and situations made this both an eye-opening and engaging read.
December 16, 2009
First of all, the picture of Grand Duchess Tatiana on the cover of a book with this title is a little unnerving. But I don't think this was the author's doing because the authors often have no say about the cover art... Having said that, I can't say that this is a book I would recommend. It's not the worst of historical fiction I have ever read on the subject, but it's far from best. Written from the perspective of -who else? - Rasputin's daughter Maria, it has some good moments, but on the whole it will probably mostly appeal to hardcore fans.
September 15, 2016
This book just wasn't for me. I got to chapter 10; and I just found myself unable to continue. Maria, the main character, never seemed to develop. The author jumped around with her "memories" of her father and how they connected to the present situation. The Romanov's and Rasputin are some of my favorite historical books to read; but this one didn't' do it for me.
November 20, 2018
Historical fiction told in the voice of Rasputin's daughter, I forced myself to read this book until it just became uninteresting. I stopped two-thirds of the way through. The tone and the formulaic characters and plot development left me cold. In my opinion, the book was written to sell to the masses rather than be a good piece of literature. What a wasted effort by the author. Too bad - such an interesting period of Russian history he had the chance to portray.
September 6, 2019
I really wanted to like this book. In fact I did for a long time. But the end was so messy, the characters fairly unlikeable (Rasputin in particular), I wanted it to end differently than it did. Now I'm sitting here thinking of how I would have changed it. I need a book to cleanse my pallet.
June 18, 2018
Little over the top at times, and use of “okay� from Rasputin’s daughter a few times bothered me, but a pretty good historical fiction read. (Own)
January 6, 2011
Because our book club enjoyed The Kitchen Boy so much, I recommended Rasputin’s Daughter, having read it years ago before I became a Romanov enthusiast. I gave it three stars then, and I’m sticking with that rating now. For starters, I didn’t really care for the title character Maria. She recounts the week prior to Rasputin’s death, but to me it seems like she hardly knew the enigmatic man prior to that. One would think, having grown up with her father being who he is, she would be familiar with his character and his customs. As she witnesses Rasputin’s debauchery and miracles during his final week, she acts like she had never before encountered anything like it before in her life. She is constantly wavering in her opinion of him. One moment she thinks him an immoral pervert and the next she is in awe of his piety and talent. Also, I found it perplexing that she would be so blindly devoted to and put so much trust in Sasha, who was a virtual stranger.
I did think the portrayal of Rasputin was done well. The man is a total contradiction; pious yet lustful, miraculous yet depraved. The author successfully illustrates why Rasputin was of such importance to the Imperial Family. I think, though, that I would much rather read a non-fiction account of Rasputin’s final days than this mediocre version.
I did think the portrayal of Rasputin was done well. The man is a total contradiction; pious yet lustful, miraculous yet depraved. The author successfully illustrates why Rasputin was of such importance to the Imperial Family. I think, though, that I would much rather read a non-fiction account of Rasputin’s final days than this mediocre version.
August 5, 2020
It was a fair read. I did not enjoy it nearly as much as I did The Kitchen Boy (another book by the same author). There is nothing new or novel about Rasputin in this. Granted, he is not the main character -- but his imminent demise is absolutely the focus of the drama. The character of Maria (the daughter) is weak at times, inexplicably flighty and inconsistent at others, and everyone else is very shallow in terms of development. The book might have been more interesting had the narrative extended beyond the brief episode that occurs four months after Rasputin's murder. To expand on the largely unknown life of Maria following her father's death offers more latitude for creativity and a potentially more interesting story than what the reader gets here, which is a fairly unimaginative rehash of well-known (to history buffs, anyway) details of the pre-Revolutionary period in Russia -- but with none of the interest and tension of those days, because we are living them entirely in the head of a wishy-washy teenage girl who moves in and out of spaces where she does not belong with truly unbelievable ease and lack of consequences.
For a quick, take-my-mind-off-stress-of-lesson-planning-for-online-teaching-during-COVID device, it was serviceable. It is not, however, a book I will keep on my shelves now that I have read it.
For a quick, take-my-mind-off-stress-of-lesson-planning-for-online-teaching-during-COVID device, it was serviceable. It is not, however, a book I will keep on my shelves now that I have read it.
February 3, 2013
I would have rated this just two stars, but then I read Bill Moynahan's biography, Rasputin: The Saint who Sinned, and realized that Robert Alexander must have read it, too, because so much of the information in the novel is practically verbatim from the biography. Alexander takes poetic liberties by adding a love interest for Maria Rasputina, but even that seems like a composite of several real-life characters that appear in the biography. So, I upped my rating to three stars for meticulous historical accuracy. The problem with both the novel and the biography, frankly, is that Rasputin just isn't all that fascinating after a while - he drinks, he has these piercing eyes, he seduces women, he manipulates people. And the next night, he does it all again. More fascinating, as I suppose Alexander discovered, are the people around Rasputin who are moving history. The biographer Moynahan has much more liberty to expand on these than Alexander does, as he limits his perspective to the first-person narrative of Maria Rasputina.
January 18, 2013
Sakit hati
Kecewa
Takut
Perasaan yang berkecamuk di dada Matryona Grigorevna Rasputina, Maria saat melihat ayahnya dikhianati oleh orang-orang terdekatnya. Orang-orang terdekat yang kebetulan adalah para bangsawan. Di depan matanya Maria menyaksikan sang ayah yang selama dihormati oleh para bangsawan dibunuh secara keji. Entah mengapa mereka tidak membunuhnya juga walau melepaskan dirinyas etelah puas menyiksa.
Bukan rahasia lagi kemampuan supranaturalnya membuat ia dengan mudah diterima di lingkungan istana serta dikagumi oleh banyak warga bahkan cenderung menunjukan fanatik yang mengkhawatirkan. Misalnya saja memerintahkan seorang putri menjilati jemarinya yang kotor. Para pemujanya bahkan sering memohon diperlakukan seperti itu sebagai wujud kepatuhan dan kepasrahan.
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Kecewa
Takut
Perasaan yang berkecamuk di dada Matryona Grigorevna Rasputina, Maria saat melihat ayahnya dikhianati oleh orang-orang terdekatnya. Orang-orang terdekat yang kebetulan adalah para bangsawan. Di depan matanya Maria menyaksikan sang ayah yang selama dihormati oleh para bangsawan dibunuh secara keji. Entah mengapa mereka tidak membunuhnya juga walau melepaskan dirinyas etelah puas menyiksa.
Bukan rahasia lagi kemampuan supranaturalnya membuat ia dengan mudah diterima di lingkungan istana serta dikagumi oleh banyak warga bahkan cenderung menunjukan fanatik yang mengkhawatirkan. Misalnya saja memerintahkan seorang putri menjilati jemarinya yang kotor. Para pemujanya bahkan sering memohon diperlakukan seperti itu sebagai wujud kepatuhan dan kepasrahan.
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November 5, 2013
This take on the "Mad Monk" of Russia, whom the Empress Aleksandra Fyodorovna Romanov trusted and relied upon to keep her son alive, shows the holy man with all of his faults as well as his talents. Rather than perpetuating the official revolutionary depiction of an evil, grasping, magician whose Satanic powers held the Romanovs in thrall, Robert Alexander gives us a man who allowed his vanity to get the better of him. Told from the perspective of his daughter, Matryona (known as Marie in Petrograd), Rasputin becomes an ordinary, dirty, uneducated, lustful peasant whose faith in God and in his own power to heal knows no bounds. Marie tells of the last few weeks of her father's life, leaving out none of her father's faults, nor her own misgivings about him, while emphasizing Rasputin's extraordinary gifts.
While the book is fiction, there are (at the end) notes on the characters who were real people as well as a timeline of the real Marie's life.
While the book is fiction, there are (at the end) notes on the characters who were real people as well as a timeline of the real Marie's life.
May 6, 2013
3.25 stars
This is a fictional account of Rasputin (the Russian healer or womanizer, depending on the point of view), starting some time shortly before he was murdered, from the point of view his oldest daughter, Maria, a teenager. Also during this time, Maria finds her first love.
This didn't draw me in liked I'd hoped. I really liked The Kitchen Boy, but this one just didn't quite interest me nearly as much. Will also say that I listened to the audio, and it wasn't done very well. The sound wasn't that great, and it would occasionally cut off � it did that a few times. I do wonder if I would have liked it more if I'd read it in print. Overall, it was ok � there were some parts that held my attention and the last bit was probably the best.
This is a fictional account of Rasputin (the Russian healer or womanizer, depending on the point of view), starting some time shortly before he was murdered, from the point of view his oldest daughter, Maria, a teenager. Also during this time, Maria finds her first love.
This didn't draw me in liked I'd hoped. I really liked The Kitchen Boy, but this one just didn't quite interest me nearly as much. Will also say that I listened to the audio, and it wasn't done very well. The sound wasn't that great, and it would occasionally cut off � it did that a few times. I do wonder if I would have liked it more if I'd read it in print. Overall, it was ok � there were some parts that held my attention and the last bit was probably the best.
March 4, 2012
fascinating period piece; I knew nothing of the history and politics of Russia until I began reading Alexander's novels; after reading this one, I went scurrying to the internet to research a little more about Maria Rasputin and her father; much of the novel is historically accurate, although I do question whether Maria's narrative is true to the actual behavior, motives, and supposed healing abilities of the man, Rasputin. Still a fascinating read!
September 22, 2011
Had read Kitchen Boy by same author so found this book intrigueing. Fascinated by this time in Russian History and found this a very interesting read. Will go soon to Romanoff Bride by the same author. Now want to do more research on Rasputin's daughter Maria.
August 27, 2017
I actually really enjoyed this! I'm a huge history nerd and the Russian revolution time period is definitely one of my favorites. Rasputin has always interested me, and I loved this take on the classic story-Maria was a really great character.
December 6, 2020
It’s certainly fascinating to think what Rasputin’s daughter had to say about her infamous father. But I think she did actually write a memoir.... Anyhow, after you read either the novel or the memoir, think about reading one of Stalin’s daughter’s memoirs. They’re not bad either.
March 28, 2009
Very good novel about Rasputin's last days as told from the perspective of his real-life daughter Maria.
June 24, 2010
I love historical fiction and this was no exception. Went to the library to find a book on Rasputin and came away empty-handed!
June 4, 2017
Aside from the fact that the cover shows Tatiana Romanov and not Maria Rasputin, it was a very good book!
February 18, 2015
Im kind of stuck between three and a half and four stars. While i enjoyed reading this book, ultiamately i found the characters to be undeveloped and therefore the book unfulfilling. Womp. Womp.
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