The Lost Crown

Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia--like the fingers on a hand, Tatiana the tallest, Anastasia the smallest, Maria the one most desperate for a ring. These are the daughters of the Tsar, the daughters of the last royal Russian family. Acclaimed author Sarah Miller writes with lyricism, criticism and true compassion as she tracks this loving cluster of sisters from the decks of their yacht to the prison walls of their final home. What do abdication and revolution mean to these young women? Told through each of their voices in alternating chapters, we see their day-to-day lives, in many ways, remain the same; they dote on their dogs, flirt with the soldiers, and are followed constantly by guards. But their desires for the future have all but disappeared. As conditions worsen and the provisional government loses power to the Bolsheviks, the girls huddle together to make sense of what is happening. At the same time hopeful and hopeless, na�ve and wise, their voices become a chorus singing the final song of Imperial Russia.

Impeccably researched and utterly fascinating, the story of these Russian sisters is one part Ann Frank, one part Daisy Buchanan from The Great Gatsby—and is sure to stay with you long after you’ve turned the final page.