In 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 voice 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 bedchambers – 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?

The first part was amazing! It was wonderful to see Marta as she grew up as a serf. She was sold into another man’s house as a servant by her step-mother. There she sees the cruel world of men and how they operate. Marta manages to get away and finds a preacher’s family to live with before her life is turned upside down by the war between Russia and Sweden. When the town she lives in falls to the Russia she is taken into the camp and manages, by luck mostly, to ingratiate herself into the upper echelons of Russia aristocracy and soon Peter. This is where it went down for me.

I found the second half a bit boring to be honest. There were many pages and pages of sex, pregnancy, and miscarriages. After Marta finds her way into Peter’s bed, there wasn’t much intrigue for me. Later on, when Marta can no longer have children, and Peter takes on a younger mistress there is a small part where we see Marta be ruthless by poisoning the mistress with smallpox. Other than that, there wasn’t much ruthlessness or ambition seen.

Even before she became Peter’s lover and wife, her way of ingratiating herself into the Russia aristocracy was by luck. There was a Russian general who saved her from being raped and then Peter’s right hand man, Menshikov, sees her and likes her. He invites her to his tent with his girlfriend, mistress, whatever the term would be here. Daria and Marta become friends and that’s what helps her with staying in with the higher-ups. I mean she’s sweet and has no intentions of being with Menshikov, which is the reason Daria doesn’t hate her.

While it wasn’t my cup of tea, it would be great for fans of historical romantic fiction.

This is not an easy book to read. It is long, and detailed (you have to pay attention), and some scenes in it were very disturbing to read. If you want a light-hearted novel that you can pick up and read in a couple of hours: look elsewhere.
However if you want a well-written, engaging novel that will teach you something, keep you guessing and never let you relax until the very end: this is the book for you.
This is the story of Marta, an illegitimate girl born into extreme poverty, and how she eventually became Catherine the first of Russia and the wife of Peter the Great.
And no story of someone like that is going to be short or boring. Granted, in the hands of another author, it could have been less gripping or relatable, but Ellen Alpsten has done a great job, drawing in fiction and reality and weaving them together in a tale that will keep you thinking about it weeks after you've finished the book.

Unfortunately, I could not finish reading to the amount of violence and sex. I would love to know more about Catherine the Great, but this was too much for my perusal preference.

A captivating story of Catherine I's life from washermaid to empress. I do not have much knowledge of Russia's history and immediately agreed to reading this book to allow myself to learn more. It was very interesting to read about Marta's obstacles and how she rose above each to become Catherine I of Russia. She was a strong willed woman whom did not shy away from the Tsar Peter and his campaigns to solidify Russia's lands and countries. As I continued to read, I found myself continuing to root for Marta/Catherine. I really enjoyed this book, it has prompted my interest in reading more about this history.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an early copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Disclaimer - I’m not a historian or a history major, I’m but dense about Russian history so I don’t know if there are any historical imperfections. But as a fictional book about Russia’s Tsarina I enjoyed this very much.

{Thank you St.Martin’s Press for the arc in exchange for an honest opinion}

“Only my show of love and grief could make the unthinkable acceptable, my tears more powerful than any bloodline... in a few hours I might be either dead, or wishing I was dead, or I’d be the most powerful woman in all the Russias.”

St. Petersburg, 1725. Tsar of all Russias, Peter the Great is dead and he left a note with no information on his successor. His inner circle decides that his second wife, Catherine Alexeyevna should be take the crown responsibilities as the Tsarina. But who is this Catherine? She is not royalty, then how did she become the most powerful Tsarina for all of Russias?

Flashback to the late 1600s we meet Marta, a young washer-maid from Livonia; a village, a country that no longer exists. She is courageous, honest and beautiful. This Marta later becomes Tsarina Catherine Alexeyevna! A series of unfortunate events fold in-between the transformations of course, but the author has watered-down and polished the history without altering the originality. Everything about this book is beautiful. This is Marta’s biography, her life events from 1699 to 1727. You can say she had great will power as a girl, woman, mother and as a Queen. But this book is not only about her, we meet Peter, his council, Menshikov, Daria and more history of the Romanovs.

Oh the Romanovs!! The names reminds us only about the fall of dynasty in early 1900s, but there is so much greatness to that name. You could feel that while reading Tsarina. Only things that fell short were I wish the author elaborated more on Sophia Romanov The First Tsarina of all Russias, Ivan the Idiot (Peter’s Brother) and how different Russia was under Tsarina Catherine’s rule. Prologue tells the death of Peter and Epilogue tells the death of Catherine, two years later. A perfect bookend.

The book stands a bit short to 500 pages, but when you read this, I recommend you to devour every chapter like you would with a last piece of your favourite dessert, because there is so much detailing that you need to completely enjoy this!! ♥️

I’ve been fascinated by Russia’s imperial history, ever since reading Follett’s Century Series. When @atriabooks gave me the opportunity to review this new release, I jumped at the chance. One of my favorite things about historical fiction is getting to learn about strong women, who defy the odds of a male dominated world. Like Queen Elizabeth in England and “The Dragon Lady” in China, Catherine Alexeyevna did what few women before her had ever done - rule. But her humble background makes her rise to power all the more interesting. While I enjoyed Catherine’s cleverness and perseverance, I did find parts of the book repetitive. The immense cruelty to peasants and animals also made me very uncomfortable. Both of those concerns however, are less a reflection on the book or the story, but on the period of history it portrays. It was a world where power was advanced through war and childbirth. And perhaps the depictions were too accurate for comfort. While this is definitely not a “light” read, I learned a lot and am sincerely impressed by the wily Tsarina that managed to survive in a man’s world.

Thank you to St. Martins Press for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a huge historical fiction fan and love stories about Imperial Russia. While Catherine the Great and the later day Romanovs get a lot of attention, Tsarina is the story of Catherine I, wife of Tsar Peter I (aka Peter the Great) and the first woman to rule Russia.

Catherine's story is extraordinary - born Marta, an illegitimate peasant in 1699, she uses her beauty, tenacity and smarts to not only survive the horrors of war and life as a serf but to eventually marry Russia's forward-thinking ruler. When he dies, she schemes to keep it a secret so she can destroy those who've opposed her and take the crown for herself.

Tsarina is meticulously researched and @ellenalpsten_author provides amazing details about life in turn-of-the-century Russia from the fashion to the building of St. Petersburg. It's a long book filled with drama, romance, war and a lot of violence but I devoured every page. I was fascinated by Peter's interest in the West and how he reshaped everything about Russia, from how people looked (no beards!) and dressed to its borders and the creation of a naval fleet, and how the glamorous life of the Russian elite contrasted with the devastating poverty of so much of their people. I would love to see the novel made into a miniseries - this time in Russian history is truly riveting.

Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and the author for an advanced copy to review.

Had I known that Tsarina was more fictional than historical, I would have passed on the opportunity to read the advanced copy. The Tsarina's Debauchery would have been a better title. The historical context is sparsely sprinkled amongst wild tales of drunken escapades that detail physical and emotional abuse, physical and emotional terror, and repeated and unnecessarily descriptive accounts of lurid and perverse sexual acts.
There isn't a fully developed character in the entire long, seemingly endless nightmare of one Russian battle after the other interspersed with an endless parade of illicit sexual encounters of every description between any number of participants: sisters, uncle and niece, and on and on.
I looked for a redeeming quality. I am sorry that I could not find one. The story is harsh, crude, and long - and not even entertaining in the process.

Today is my spot on the Tsarina blog tour and I'm so excited to share my thoughts! I first picked up this book thinking it was a fictional account of Catherine the Great, but after I started reading I realized Tsarina is about Catherine I, the second wife of Peter the Great. This was exciting because I knew nothing about Catherine and was eager to learn her story.

Tsarina is a beautifully written historical fiction novel that puts a realistic spin on the typical rags to riches storyline. It is graphic, uncensored, and unapologetically real. Alpsten's writing leaves nothing to the imagination, which made this book feel like a nonfiction read more than once. I appreciated that Alpsten held nothing back when describing Catherine's life before she married Peter because Catherine is a very real historical figure and one that I believe not many are familiar with.

The book starts out at the Winter Palace and Peter the Great has just died. We are a fly on the wall as Catherine scrambles to keep the tsar's death a secret until she can figure out how to hold on to power. This is our first chance at seeing how quick Catherine is on her feet, something that served her well throughout her lifetime.

The book then flashes back to Easter 1699 where we meet a younger Catherine and begin to learn her origin story. Catherine grew up as a serf named Marta living a dreadful life in a remote Baltic village. She is beautiful, but illiterate and illegitimate. Marta is sold by her family as a washing maid to a horrible man that rapes and abuses her. As the first sentence of this chapter says, "My life began with a crime." This crime is what sends Marta on the run and sets in motion a chain of events that will lead her to be the most powerful woman in Russia.

I was shocked to learn that this is Alpsten’s debut novel. The amount of research to gather the level of detail in this book must be staggering. Alpsten did a great job contrasting Catherine’s luxurious life as wife of the Tsar with the grittiness and disturbing nature of her journey to the top. She did not shy away from the abuses that were common in this period and in doing so, there are many graphic scenes depicting rape, torture, abuse, and murder. These things only amplify the dangers for a woman in Catherine’s position and expose readers to the gruesome nature of the 18th century. Additionally, Alpsten impeccably portrayed Catherine’s complex nature and personality throughout the novel.

I was very engaged through the first half of the book, which is no short story at 496 pages. However, the second half did slow down a little and seemed to steer more toward Peter and away from Catherine, which resulted in less of a connection to her character. I do wish that the second half would have been more Catherine-centric so that I felt fully invested in the outcome.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it to fans of historical fiction or simply if you enjoy learning about lesser known historical figures.

Thank you to Negalley and St. Martin’s Press for my advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

This is a book you don't wanna miss out on, my historical fiction lovers!

It is a heavy read, as is to be expected for a story which takes place in early 18th century Russia.

This is the story of Catherine I, born as Marta in a remote baltic village. Marta, a serf, was illiterate, illegitimate, and beautiful. She was sold into a household of labor in her early teen years. She committed a crime, causing her to go on the run. There is a lot of torture, rape, death, and sex throughout this story. After a crazy series of events, Marta finds herself in Tsar Peter the Great's court and soon becomes the most powerful woman in Russia.

I'm in awe of Ellen Alpsten's writing and research. This is a debut but in no way comes across as one. While this is indeed historical fiction, it's based on fact. There is a lot of unknowns about Catherine's early years, but Alspten did a phenomenal job of filling in the very real possibilities of what her life was like. Alspten doesn't shy away from just how horrific life during those times were, especially for women. It might be difficult to read, but it shows not only what Catherine I endured, but how extremely intelligent she was.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for my review copy in exchange for an honest review.

The blurb doesn't do this book justice! Tsarina is the life story of an absolutely remarkable woman, who rose from among the lowest of serfs to rule one of the world's mightiest countries.

Tsarina is told entirely from Catherine's pov, and the writing the author employs is enthralling! It begins with the death of Peter in 1725 and from there, her story unfolds. The storytelling is gripping, and follows Catherine's life with occasional interjections of the events in 1725 until Catherine decides to rule, the first woman in Russia to do so in her own right, not as a regent.

At the start, she's just Marta, a serf, property of a monastery in Livonia. When she is bought from the monastery to be a maid for a for an abusive merchant, Marta's life changes, and from that point on, she embraces the attitude of a survivor. From maid and runaway, she survives to live a few years of peace until she is married to a Swedish Dragoon when war comes to her village. When Marta is rescued from rape by enemy soldiers and taken as a spoil of war, she makes the best of it. She builds a friendship with her new owner and his mistress, a friendship that will last the rest of her life. Alexander Menshikov is the best friend and brother in all but blood to Peter, Tsar of Russia, and it is through him that Marta and Peter meet.

Theirs is a long and convoluted relationship. Peter is both great, and terrible. He will do anything to advance his vision of a modern, Westernized Russia. Through battles, wars, love and betrayal, Marta stays with Peter. She helps him build his namesake city, St. Petersburg out of nothing more than dreams in a swamp. She is renamed Catherine Alexeyevna, births 12 children, and walks the delicate balance of Peter's temper.

Make no mistake, Peter the Great is a huge part of Catherine's story. But Tsarina is most definitely the story of a woman, one who loved her husband, loved her children, and loved the Russia that Peter built.

Quote: "The choice to be with them or with their father, was, as always, terrible, but despite the honors that Peter had heaped on me, life with him was like a walk on the first, brittle ice of the Neva in the early winter. It might carry me on to shining joy and glory; it might also break and allow the black, icy water to swallow me forever."

Note: CW/TW: rape, physical abuse, spousal/domestic abuse, pregnancy loss, stillbirth, torture, murder, mutilation,  executions,

The time in which Marta/Catherine lives, 1690s-1720s Russia was incredibly harsh, and more-so for women and serfs. This book features the horrors of that time faithfully, neither glorifying nor minimizing their impact.

When it comes to Russian history, we all likely know the story of the most infamous Romanovs: Tsar Nicolas II and his grand duchess daughters. But Ellen Alpsten takes us 200 years before their time to the reign of Tsar Peter I and his wife Catherine Alexeyevna in the late 1600s to early 1700s. The life of Catherine is extraordinary and Alpsten tells it with beautiful, descriptive language that transports us to frigid St. Petersburg and the harrowing way of life in turn-of-the-century Russia.

I found Tsarina to be captivating and rich with historical details. At the end of each chapter I was eager to keep reading and find out what new drama would befall Catherine and her wild husband. The characters weren't especially engaging, Catherine included, but I thought her tenacity and kindness were endearing and I cared about what happened to her. I would have appreciated a glossary of characters to reference as there were quite a few with complicated relationships to follow.

Alpsten does not shy away from the story's horrors. There is rape, violence, torture, pregnancy loss, war, and death throughout the entire novel, so reader take heed.

In all, this is one of my favorite reads of 2020. It was exactly what I hope for in a historical fiction novel and despite the size of the book, I finished it in two days. A fast and engaging read that taught me something new.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Tsarina is historical fiction at its best. It's everything a true fan wants -- meticulously researched with just enough description to make you feel like you're actually part of the book, but not so much that you feel overwhelmed. This bibliophile loved it!!

Wow, what a book! I have a hangover from this one. Catherine I was born a serf named Marta. She lived quite an interesting life, and from reading her Wikipedia article, the author sticks to the truth, or at least what we know of her. I loved that this book followed Marta's adolescence, including family life, a brutal master, finding a second family and falling in love, marrying a man she did not love, and escaping a pillaged city to be thrust into the court of Peter the Great, first as his mistress and then his wife.

Life during these times was so strange and the description above (by Daisy Goodwin, another historical fiction "real person" author whom I love) is accurate. There were times I felt nauseous reading the gruesome descriptions of torture condoned or even performed by Peter the Great, and I am not remotely squeamish or afraid of gore! And while I did not always like Marta, I admired her so much. She was brave and calculating and truly succeeded and thrived in a world that was completely set against her from her birth.

This was an absolutely epic read and as I said earlier, I feel HUNGOVER. I'm dizzy in the aftermath of this book. The end of the book poses the question, could one love someone as awful as Peter the Great as a man? I was so engrossed in Catherine's story that I feel her fear, bravery, disgust, and love all wrapped up in one. Tsarina left me wanting to learn more about Russian history, but to get through some of the more terrible tales, I think I will need a few shots of vodka next to me much like the historical characters from this book. What an amazing 5 star read, and I must thank St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for giving me a copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book is a fictionalized account of Catherine, the second wife of Peter the Great. She became the first Empress of Russia. Her rise from servant girl to empress was rather flat for me. In this telling, her only claim to fame is her beauty and willingness to have sex with a ruler who was sick with syphilis. She also was extremely fertile and was continuously pregnant throughout the book. I wasn't intrigued by the "person" of Marta/Catherine. This was not a book that drew me in and kept me reading to the end. I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book will make you happy to have a warm bed, food, and thankful it's not early 1700s. There is not much known about Catherine I as I look up after reading this book, which I suggest doing- going in a bit bind. I learned so much from this even though its historical fiction it’s that nice bit when it's an amazing story weaved with facts.
Alpsten does a wonderful job of getting the reader to fall for Marta at the start and hope that she makes it through all her hell. There was a lot of ‘Good GOD” of “Holy HELL” coming from my head while reading this book. Also, after reading so much English Regency it was such a change as Russia was insane during this time period. All the war, sickness, death, and more death! But even with all that I couldn’t stop reading as I wanted to know what was going to happen next.
This is one of my favorite historical fictions yet! Yes, there was some liberty taken with her life and others but man oh man was it good!
After living in Eastern Europe for some years I visited Russia and it was fun to read about the building of St. Petersburg and places I had visited. Along with the food I now miss and parts that were just very Russian.
I can’t wait to read more of Ellen’s books in the future. You can tell she took her time researching for this one and put her heart into it! This one has a lot of steam, death, war, rape, and more death.
Overall, 4.5 stars

Thanks to St. Martin's for this book in exchange for an honest review!

I have mixed feelings about this book. I like the fact the book is well written. It is about the reign of Peter I which is a topic I didn’t know much about and I appreciated learning about. What I didn’t like is the over abundance of sexual scenes in this book, but that is obviously a preference thing and really no reason to completely dislike a book. It took me longer than I would like to finish this book, but it was a solidly written book, that was not just not to my liking. This was a good book and I would probably read this author again.

Tsarina by Ellen Alpsten

Tsarina covers the life of Tsarina Catherine, the second wife of Peter the Great. There are many factors that make her life interesting, but the first and foremost is that she was born into abject poverty in the rural Baltics.

The blurb suggests that Catherine is faced with a great responsibility upon her husband’s death. While this is certainly true, very little of the book is devoted to Catherine’s ascension to power as the first woman to rule Russia in her own right. Rather, this is more of a “record scratch—freeze frame—you’re probably wondering how I got here” narrative, in which we examine the events that led up to Catherine scrambling to cover up her husband’s death until her position is more secure.

That being said, the ascension to power is certainly tumultuous. Daisy Goodwin describes it as “mak[ing] Game of Thrones look like a nursery rhyme”, and frankly, I can think of no better description. Readers who are faint of heart should take those words as a warning, for a romance novel, this is not. There are graphic depictions of rape and torture among the typical manipulative scheming one might find in any royal court.

Catherine is an endearing protagonist who recognizes from an early age that the only person who she can depend on is herself. This is a mentality she holds throughout her entire life; there is no moment in which she can let her guard down. She must occasionally do things that are morally objectionable, but she believes them to be necessary in maintaining her position.

I would absolutely recommend Tsarina. Once I started reading, I was hooked. I read large chunks at a time because I always wanted to know what was going to happen next. The GoT metaphor is apt, not just because of the graphic depictions, but also because of the astounding path to greatness. Certainly, liberties have been, but to quote Drake, “Started at the bottom and not we’re here.” With such an unconventional journey to the palace, it’s surprising that Catherine’s story is not more widely known. Hopefully, with Tsarina’s publication, that will change.

This is a stunning debut, and I’m looking forward to reading more from Alpsten in the future.



I received an ARC of this book from St. Martin’s/NetGalley

Tsarina gripped me from the beginning and didn’t let go until the ugly, bitter end. Like looking at a gruesome car accident or death scene, my morbid curiosity of just how grotesque the events unfolding could get, spurred me on, and just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, it got worse.

This was an incredibly hard, yet addictive and fascinating read. Though I love history, Russia’s past has never been one that has held my attention for long. I have heard of Peter the Great, but the details of his reign are hazy, as are the few tidbits I can remember about Catherine I.

To grasp what she endured in her lifetime is incomprehensible. The abuse and heartache alone would’ve killed a weaker woman. To go through everything she did, including being married to the devil himself, and still be so strong and relatively grounded is shocking.

The incredibly graphic sexual depictions had my stomach churching, as I usually stick with much cleaner reads, and try to avoid graphic sex scenes. I fought with myself the entire time, debating on if I should put the book down and not read further, as there were moments I felt as if I were reading soft core porn. But instead, I chose to skip the graphic parts as much as I could (which was insanely difficult since there are SO many scenes involving some form of sexual acts) and while I skimmed the pages I thanked God that I was not a woman during that time!

If this book is a testament to the treatment of women back then, I can say with clear conviction, that they were treated just a smidge better than the animals! The way men took them with no care for their feelings or desires is grotesque, and fidelity certainly wasn’t practiced by anyone. Sex was used as a tool, a weapon, to get what you wanted, nothing more, and loyalty was out the window.

With intimate details of the wars, and the different Russian towns and countryside, I had a feel that this was well researched, though I haven’t had the time to truly see just how accurate it really is. I will say, the fact that there are not any dates does give me pause about the validity of the details.

Tsarina is clocked in darkness from the beginning, a vice growing ever tighter with each depraved sexual encounter, and every inhumane and unimaginable torture and punishment.

What kept me going was my desire to find out if Catherine herself would ever find the peace, love, and happiness that she so craved. Being the wife of Peter the Great, a man that seriously had no soul, I didn’t have high hopes, and when finished the final page feeling numb and in utter shock...well you can imagine it wasn't he happiest of endings. I couldn't stop thinking about the novel after I put it down, muttering to myself, "There is no way this all happened in real life! This is the stuff of nightmares!"

Though I rated it higher than I originally intended, thanks to the incredible writing and world building, and the fact that I seriously didn’t put it down for two days, I can’t, with a clear conscience, recommend it. Though I do believe it is a story that needs to be told, I also believe this story could’ve been told without the depravity being so graphically detailed.

DNF'd around 55%.

Just sooo boring. What could’ve been an interesting exploration of Catherine the I's rule and how she came to power got bogged down by 200+ pages of what seemed like every day of her life while she was with Peter the Great. And it was so focused on him, just her telling us what he was up to. I don’t care what Peter was up to! Get that over in 100 pages, speed it up, and get to some drama or something. OR steer away from the dramatic historical fiction vibe and offer some real emotional depth to Catherine the I. Sadly, this book was neither.

If this book was shorter and focused more on building Marta/Catherine the I as a dynamic character with an inner life, I could’ve carried on but Im not ready to bother with 500+ pages of her just following Peter around and popping out his babies. Embellish a bit & explore Catherine as a character if you’re going to bother fictionalizing this story!