A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOKFrom Kathryn Harrison, one of Americas most admired literary voices, comes a gorgeously written, enthralling novel set in the final days of Russias Romanov Empire. St. Petersburg, 1917. After Rasputins body is pulled from the icy waters of the Neva River, his eighteen-year-old daughter, Masha, is sent to live at the imperial palace with Tsar Nikolay and his family—including the headstrong Prince Alyosha. Desperately hoping that Masha has inherited Rasputins miraculous healing powers, Tsarina Alexandra asks her to tend to Aloysha, who suffers from hemophilia, a blood disease that keeps the boy confined to his sickbed, lest a simple scrape or bump prove fatal. Two months after Masha arrives at the palace, the tsar is forced to abdicate, and Bolsheviks place the royal family under house arrest.
