Rasputin's Daughter

October 31, 2005
In an endeavor similar to his debut novel, The Kitchen Boy
, Alexander couples extensive research and poetic license, this time turning his enthusiasm toward perhaps the most intriguing player in the collapse of the Russian dynasty: Rasputin. This eyebrow-raising account of the final week of the notorious mystic's life is set in Petrograd in December 1916 and narrated by Rasputin's fiery teenage daughter, Maria. The air in the newly renamed capital is thick with dangerous rumors, many concerning Maria's father, whose close relationship with the monarchy—he alone can stop the bleeding of the hemophiliac heir to the throne—invokes murderous rage among members of the royal family. Maria is determined to protect her father's life, but the further she delves into his affairs, the more she wonders: who, exactly, is Rasputin? Is he the holy man whose genuine ability to heal inspires a cult of awed penitents, or the libidinous drunkard who consumes 12 bottles of Madeira in a single night, the unrestrained animal she spies " holding housekeeper by her soft parts"? Does this unruly behavior link him to an outlawed sect that believes sin overcomes sin? The combination of Alexander's research and his rich characterizations produces an engaging historical fiction that offers a Rasputin who is neither beast nor saint, but merely, compellingly human.

January 15, 2006
In this follow-up to his popular debut "The Kitchen Boy", Alexander again mines the considerable lore of the Russian imperial family. Rasputin, the legendary mad monk, is also a family man raising two daughters in 1916 St. Petersburg. As he ministers to the tsaritsa and her royal brood during the last week of his life, 18-year-old Maria strives to understand the menacing aura surrounding her father. She is both loving and rebellious, but her adventures are limited to a flirtation with a young man who will betray her in a plot against her father. Alexander's wild-eyed romp through a period much studied for its contradictions and cruelties will be a staple of most historical fiction collections." -Barbara Conaty, Moscow, Russia"

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2005
In " The Kitchen Boy" (2003), Alexander creatively imagined an answer to the mystery of the last days of the Russian imperial family during the revolution--the question centering on whether any family member survived the slaughter in the basement of their Siberian house of exile. Now he ventures into the -never--cleared-up last days of Gregory Rasputin, the monk who held sway at the prerevolution court. Employing the fast pace of a thriller and the ability to make a remote historical episode personal to the reader, Alexander views events from the perspective of Rasputin's elder daughter, Maria. World War I rages on, and the auxiliary members of the Romanov family are fit to be tied over Empress Alexandra's obsessive need for the ministrations of the hated Rasputin; Maria soon realizes her father's life is truly in jeopardy. What finally happens to him involves not only conspiracy within the imperial family but also a personal betrayal by a young man Maria had fallen for. The author lends great understanding to the time and to actual historical figures.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)