
Tsarina
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Anna Krippa
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By:
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Ellen Alpsten
"Makes Game of Thrones look like a nursery rhyme." (Daisy Goodwin, New York Times best-selling author of The Fortune Hunter)
“[Alpsten] recounts this remarkable woman’s colourful life and times." (Count Nikolai Tolstoy, historian and author)
Before there was Catherine the Great, there was Catherine Alexeyevna: the first woman to rule Russia in her own right. Ellen Alpsten's rich, sweeping debut novel is the story of her rise to power.
St. Petersburg, 1725. Peter the Great lies dying in his magnificent Winter Palace. The weakness and treachery of his only son has driven his father to an appalling act of cruelty and left the empire without an heir. Russia risks falling into chaos. Into the void steps the woman who has been by his side for decades: his second wife, Catherine Alexeyevna, as ambitious, ruthless, and passionate as Peter himself.
Born into devastating poverty, Catherine used her extraordinary beauty and shrewd intelligence to ingratiate herself with Peter’s powerful generals, finally seducing the Tsar himself. But even amongst the splendor and opulence of her new life - the lavish feasts, glittering jewels, and candle-lit hours in Peter’s bedchamber - she knows the peril of her position. Peter’s attentions are fickle and his rages powerful; his first wife is condemned to a prison cell, her lover impaled alive in Red Square. And now Catherine faces the ultimate test: can she keep the Tsar’s death a secret as she plays a lethal game to destroy her enemies and take the crown for herself?
From the sensuous pleasures of a decadent aristocracy, to the incense-filled rites of the Orthodox Church and the terror of Peter’s torture chambers, the intoxicating and dangerous world of Imperial Russia is brought to vivid life.
Tsarina is the story of one remarkable woman whose bid for power would transform the Russian Empire.
A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press
©2020 Ellen Alpsten (P)2020 Macmillan AudioListeners also enjoyed...




















Wonderful narration
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I highly recommend this read if you enjoy historical fiction.
Wow. This is historical fiction at its best!
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And as well written and full of intrigue and drama that this book has, the narrator is truly the crowning touch to the extraordinary talent of the author. Her beautifully accented voice and inflection throughout the story bring you to every emotion to be experienced. The soothing melodic accent combined with her fluent russian pronunciation sounds beautiful. I believe I would listen to any book she narrated just to hear it again.
Kudos to this author for a masterpiece of well researched and written history, woven into an unforgettable story.
An amazing story and narrator
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Narrator was wonderful
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Wow
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Also, there is A LOT of explicit sex in this novel. I’m not a prude but towards the end of the novel, I started skipping ahead because I was over it. Certainly sex played a significant part of Catherine’s rise to power (as it did with many of history’s most powerful women) but geez, there’s only so many times it can be used in a story without becoming superfluous.
Other than that, “Tsarina” was a wonderful book and I hope to read more from the author in the future.
Russian History for the Win!
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Couldn’t stop listening
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wonderfully detailed
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Very interesting story
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Complicated story...
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