Tsarina

Inspired by the early life of Catherine I of Russia (not to be confused with the more famous Catherine II, or the Great) the novel’s early chapters tell the story of how in the late 17th Century, a lowly washerwoman called Marta from the Baltic States would find her way into the heart of Tsar Peter I and eventually become his wife.

Knowing a little of the history of the rule of the Romanovs in Russia, I was not expecting this to be an easy or lightweight read and some of the earlier chapters held promise, including this rather accurate paragraph on the Russian character:


“How strange the Russians were, forever caught between a zest for life and seeking penance of their sins; filled with deep religious belief, yet capable of heathen violence and full of disdain for common decency, swaying between hair-raising cruelty and deep, tearful regret that might haunt them for years. A Russian soul knew no calm, no balance and no peace, ever.”

But the promise soon deteriorated into an agonising, bodice-ripping, tortured and torturous gory shambles of a book. I stuck it out, admittedly scanning through much of its repetitive and gratuitously violent descriptions of rape, sadism and cruelty of an order that defies description.

Any admiration I might once have had for Tsar Peter, who pulled Russia out of the dark ages, and built the magnificent city of St Petersburg, was soon dampened by his war-mongering, his merciless and endless brutality, especially towards his son and heir, who was eventually executed (as was anyone associated with him) – but that’s if this book can be relied upon for a true reflection of history – and that’s where I have a big problem with historical fiction that is written purely for lurid sensationalism rather than any measured interpretation of what might really happened.

Marta/Catherine is the narrator, but there is little to recommend her – at least in this telling. She’s an ambivalent character, occasionally showing determination but much of the time she’s an acquiescent brood mare, bearing numerous children, most of whom died young. While it was a time when people didn’t invest too much in their offspring until they survived the dangerous early childhood years, more narrative is given to her sexual encounters (consenting and non-consenting) rather than to expressions of maternal grief.

The interminable wars that Peter waged between Sweden and the Ottomans are covered in passing, but there is little on his famous reforms that also included dragging Russia towards Western enlightenment and in establishing industries and the navy.
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Apart from a brief epilogue, there is nothing here either on the life and achievements of Catherine after the death of Peter. Even if she was no saint, she certainly deserves a better legacy than this disappointing novel.
 
One-and-a half Stars

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