![]() This is a period of Russian history I knew almost nothing about, so I can’t comment on how accurate any of the novel is. The Winter Palace is really Varvara’s story rather than Catherine’s. Varvara is a young Polish girl, the daughter of a bookbinder, who is employed as a spy, or ‘tongue’, at the court of Empress Elizabeth. Beginning with her arrival at court as the Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst, a prospective bride for the Empress Elizabeth’s heir, Grand Duke Peter, Catherine’s rise to power is described by her friend, Varvara Nikolayevna. The Winter Palace is described as ‘a novel of Catherine the Great’, which is slightly misleading as Catherine is not the main character and the book only covers her early years. Or not for me, anyway – the majority of people who have reviewed this book seem to have loved it, which makes me feel even more disappointed that I didn’t. It would be the perfect book to lose myself in over the Christmas holidays, I thought. I love historical fiction novels set in Russia and this one sounded wonderful (and has such a beautiful cover too). I was so looking forward to reading this book. ![]()
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