I Was Anastasia: A Novel by Ariel Lawhon

“’Compelling and utterly fascinating.’ —Lisa Wingate, author of Before We Were Yours

An enthralling feat of historical suspense that unravels the extraordinary twists and turns in Anna Anderson’s fifty-year battle to be recognized as Anastasia Romanov. Is she the Russian Grand Duchess or the thief of another woman’s legacy?

Countless others have rendered their verdict. Now it is your turn.”

Ever since we went to Scotland, the story of Anastasia Romanov has been on my mind. I never really knew much about the imperial family. When we were there, they had a Russian exhibit at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh. They were showcasing this exhibit because the Empress Alexandra was a granddaughter to Queen Victoria. The only story I ever knew was from the 1997 animated movie “Anastasia.” Although it was very entertaining, I learned quickly that it was very far from the truth of the real-life story. This novel was so interesting to read.

Ariel Lawhon did a nice job of telling this story. She had two stories going on. The first was about Anastasia’s life beginning from the imperial family’s house arrest. The other was about a woman named Anna Anderson who was trying to convince everything that she was in fact Anastasia and that she had survived the awful thing that had happened to her family. Lawhon wrote the two stories a little different from one another. She wrote Anna’s story backwards starting with her at an older age. She then goes on to tell about different things she has had to endure as she tries to convince everyone she is the Grand Duchess Anastasia. How she wrote the story line of Anastasia was a regular story line. She wrote about the journey that Anastasia took from being under house arrest at the Alexander Palace to the undeniably awful end to her family at the Ipatieve House, or House of Special Purpose in Yekaterinburg. The whole time, Lawhon wanted the reader to decide on whether or not Anna truly was the Grand Duchess and had survived the killing done by the Bolsheviks who had seized majority control of Russia.

Throughout the whole reading, I kept going back and forth on my decision on whether or not I thought Anastasia and Anna was the same person. I won’t ruin the ending. I did like the way that Lawhon described different situations on both characters. I felt like I was drawn into their lives, and I just wanted to keep on learning more. If there is anyone out there who likes a good history book or even a slight mystery story, then I would recommend this story. I will say that the ending was not what I expected. Please make sure that if you do read this book, don’t ruin it for yourself. Read it from start to finish. I feel like you will appreciate it even more that way.