The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar ~ Robert Alexander

Funk Rating: 7 out of 10

This is another one of my catchup posts. While I was avoiding a few books, I snuck in this one...

The Kitchen Boy is historical fiction. Set in the last days of the Tsar Nicholas and his family, it's a novel of what might have happened in the last days of the Imperial Family. Its plotline is what really happened during the imprisonment and execution of the family, and explains the missing remains of two of the Romanov children.

As stories go, this is a pretty good one. Alexander turns a nice tale with some good character development, and you feel a little bit like you're there. Unfortunately, not unlike The Last King of Scotland, I have real heartburn when historical fiction is about people and not as much about events. I find myself thinking that this is how Czar Nicholas really was, and how his children really were. And that creates in my mind a false sense of understanding history. For I really have no clue. I don't know the details of the Russian royal family and the revolution. And I hate that someone is mucking with my mind and creating a memory/impression that is fictional, but doing it with real people and real events. If someone asks me about Czar Nicholas now, I can't help but conjure up what I know about him from this book. Argh.

That said, when I can successfully step back, this is a well written tale that gets you to turn the pages. It's clear the author has a real fondness for the family, and deplores the national tragedy brought on by the Bolsheviks. Can I recommend it? Sure -- it's a quick and good read. But be careful about keeping the distinction between fact and fiction clear; this is a novel, not a biography...