The Last Grand Duchess: A Novel of Olga Romanov, Imperial Russia, and Revolution

Rasputin and Anastasia have long captured the world’s imagination and are often the first two figures thought of in the doomed Romanov family. Turnbull (The Woman Before Wallis) flips the script, however, and focuses instead on the eldest Romanov child, Grand Duchess Olga Romanov, in this moving historical drama. Olga comes of age during a tumultuous time in Russia. Her family’s way of life is on the way out, and she is struggling to come to terms with it. As war looms, Olga and her sisters trade the glittering palace life for nursing and do what they can to help the wounded soldiers, but they question whether it is enough for the Russian people. Equal parts gleaming and romantic, listeners will cheer for Olga’s romantic exploits, and they will hope that she somehow escapes her fate. Yet the story slowly gets darker and gloomier as the end creeps closer. Expertly narrated by Mary Jane Wells, whose cadence and accent lend well to the esteemed Romanov court.