Tsarina
Book Feature - Tsarina by Ellen Alpsten
HBL Note: I LOVE getting to feature authors and their debut novels. It is so difficult to break into publishing so when a new author makes it through, I want to shout it from the rooftops. It is no wonder that Tsarina made it through all the noise, this novel features an incredible intriguing character, Catherine Alexeyevna, who used her beauty and brains to work her way up from poverty into the arms of Peter the Great. I can’t wait to see what character Ellen Alpsten brings to life next! Scroll down to read more about Tsarina.
Book Feature - Tsarina by Ellen Alpsten
Book Feature - Tsarina by Ellen Alpsten
From the publisher:
St. Petersburg, 1725. Peter the Great lies dying in his magnificent Winter Palace. The weakness and treachery of his only son has driven his father to an appalling act of cruelty and left the empire without an heir. Russia risks falling into chaos. Into the void steps the woman who has been by his side for decades: his second wife, Catherine Alexeyevna, as ambitious, ruthless and passionate as Peter himself.
Born into devastating poverty, Catherine used her extraordinary beauty and shrewd intelligence to ingratiate herself with Peter’s powerful generals, finally seducing the Tsar himself. But even amongst the splendor and opulence of her new life―the lavish feasts, glittering jewels, and candle-lit hours in Peter’s bedchamber―she knows the peril of her position. Peter’s attentions are fickle and his rages powerful; his first wife is condemned to a prison cell, her lover impaled alive in Red Square. And now Catherine faces the ultimate test: can she keep the Tsar’s death a secret as she plays a lethal game to destroy her enemies and take the Crown for herself?
From the sensuous pleasures of a decadent aristocracy, to the incense-filled rites of the Orthodox Church and the terror of Peter’s torture chambers, the intoxicating and dangerous world of Imperial Russia is brought to vivid life. Tsarina is the story of one remarkable woman whose bid for power would transform the Russian Empire.
Book Feature - Tsarina by Ellen Alpsten
