Anastasia Read online

  For Patricia Clark Smith

  Cover

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Russia 1914

  3 January 1914

  4 January 1914

  7 January 1914

  9 January 1914

  10 January 1914

  11 January 1914

  12 January 1914

  14 January 1914

  15 January 1914

  16/29 January 1914

  18/31 January 1914

  19 January/1 February 1914

  21 January/3 February 1914

  23 January/5 February 1914

  24 January/6 February 1914

  26 January/8 February 1914

  28 January/10 February 1914

  29 January/11 February 1914

  30 January/12 February 1914

  1/14 February 1914

  2/15 February 1914

  3/16 February 1914

  4/17 February 1914

  5/18 February 1914

  6/19 February 1914

  8/21 February 1914

  9/22 February 1914

  10/23 February 1914

  13/26 February 1914

  14/27 February 1914

  16 February/1 March 1914

  17 February/2 March 1914

  19 February/4 March 1914

  21 February/6 March 1914

  24 February/9 March 1914

  26 February/11 March 1914

  7/20 March 1914

  9/22 March 1914

  12/25 March 1914

  15/28 March 1914

  16/29 March 1914

  18/31 March 1914

  19 March/1 April 1914

  20 March/2 April 1914

  22 March/4 April 1914

  24 March/6 April 1914

  27 March/9 April 1914

  29 March/11 April 1914

  30 March/12 April 1914

  31 March/13 April 1914

  1/14 April 1914

  3/16 April 1914

  Easter Day 1914

  7/20 April 1914

  9/22 April 1914

  12/25 April 1914

  17/30 April 1914

  19 April/2 May 1914

  23 April/6 May 1914

  28 April/11 May 1914

  2/15 May 1914

  6/19 May 1914

  7/20 May 1914

  13/26 May 1914

  16/29 May 1914

  19 May/1 June 1914

  20 May/2 June 1914

  24 May/6 June 1914

  25 May/7 June 1914

  26 May/8 June 1914

  29 May/11 June 1914

  30 May/12 June 1914

  31 May/13 June 1914

  1/14 June 1914

  2/15 June 1914

  4/17 June 1914

  5/18 June 1914

  6/19 June 1914

  8/21 June 1914

  11/24 June 1914

  12/25 June 1914

  14/27 June 1914

  15/28 June 1914

  16/29 June 1914

  17/30 June 1914

  18 June/1 July 1914

  20 June/3 July 1914

  23 June/6 July 1914

  26 June/9 July 1914

  30 June/13 July 1914

  3/16 July 1914

  6/19 July 1914

  15/28 July 1914

  16/29 July 1914

  19 July/1 August 1914

  20 July/2 August 1914

  30 July/12 August 1914

  1/14 August 1914

  4/17 August 1914

  5/18 August 1914

  9/22 August 1914

  13/26 August 1914

  23 August/5 September 1914

  24 August/6 September 1914

  28 August/10 September 1914

  30 August/12 September 1914

  1/14 September 1914

  6/19 September 1914

  22 September/5 October 1914

  27 September/10 October 1914

  30 September/13 October 1914

  7/20 October 1914

  15/28 October 1914

  30 October/12 November 1914

  3/16 November 1914

  5/18 November 1914

  8/21 November 1914

  10/23 November 1914

  28 November/11 December 1914

  20 December 1914/2 January 1915

  Christmas Eve 1914

  Christmas 1914

  28 December 1914/10 January 1915

  2/15 January 1915

  4/17 January 1915

  10/23 January 1915

  24 January/6 February 1915

  25 January/7 February 1915

  3/16 February 1915

  5/18 February 1915

  13/26 February 1915

  18 February/3 March 1915

  21 February/6 March 1915

  23 February/8 March 1915

  25 February/10 March 1915

  3/16 March 1915

  6/19 March 1915

  8/21 March 1915

  15/28 March 1915

  22 March/4 April 1915

  30 March/12 April 1915

  5/18 April 1915

  20 April/3 May 1915

  6/19 May 1915

  21 May/3 June 1915

  23 May/5 June 1915

  29 May/11 June 1915

  5/18 June 1915

  14/27 June 1915

  26 June/9 July 1915

  4/17 July 1915

  23 July/5 August 1915

  30 July/12 August 1915

  8/21 August 1915

  16/29 August 1915

  10/23 September 1915

  26 September/9 October 1915

  1/14 October 1915

  25 October/7 November 1915

  14/27 November 1915

  19 November/2 December 1915

  4/17 December 1915

  6/19 December 1915

  7/20 December 1915

  9/22 December 1915

  12/25 December 1915

  19 December 1915/1 January 1916

  25 December 1915/7 January 1916

  29 December 1915/11 January 1916

  2/15 January 1916

  22 January/4 February 1916

  27 January/9 February 1916

  31 January/13 February 1916

  3/16 February 1916

  8/21 February 1916

  15/28 February 1916

  24 February/8 March 1916

  26 February/10 March 1916

  13/26 March 1916

  19 March/1 April 1916

  2/15 April 1916

  10/23 April 1916

  20 April/3 May 1916

  4/17 May 1916

  7/20 May 1916

  14/27 May 1916

  21 May/3 June 1916

  28 May/10 June 1916

  5/18 June 1916

  20 June/3 July 1916

  2/15 July 1916

  30 July/12 August 1916

  12/25 September 1916

  17/30 October 1916

  21 October/3 November 1916

  27 October/9 November 1916

  2/15 November 1916

  23 November/6 December 1916

  24 November/7 December 1916

  5/18 December 1916

  8/21 December 1916

  9/22 December 1916

  18/31 December
1916

  19 December 1916/1 January 1917

  21 December 1916/3 January 1917

  24 December 1916/6 January 1917

  28 December 1916/10 January 1917

  19 January/1 February 1917

  4/17 February 1917

  9/22 February 1917

  17 February/2 March 1917

  25 February/10 March 1917

  1/14 March 1917

  3/16 March 1917

  4/17 March 1917

  5/18 March 1917

  8/21 March 1917

  9/22 March 1917

  11/24 March 1917

  18/31 March 1917

  21 March/3 April 1917

  22 March/4 April 1917

  24 March/6 April 1917

  25 March/7 April 1917

  28 March/10 April 1917

  2/15 April 1917

  4/17 April 1917

  14/27 April 1917

  21 April/4 May 1917

  5/18 May 1917

  22 May/4 June 1917

  29 May/11 June 1917

  1/14 June 1917

  5/18 June 1917

  17/30 June 1917

  29 June/12 July 1917

  7/20 July 1917

  11/24 July 1917

  30 July/12 August 1917

  31 July/13 August 1917

  3/16 August 1917

  5/18 August 1917

  15/28 August 1917

  21 August/3 September 1917

  10/23 September 1917

  21 September/4 October 1917

  27 September/10 October 1917

  9/22 October 1917

  2/15 November 1917

  3/16 November 1917

  24 November/7 December 1917

  26 November/9 December 1917

  30 November/13 December 1917

  1/14 December 1917

  25 December 1917/7 January 1918

  8/21 January 1918

  20 January/2 February 1918

  30 January/12 February 1918

  12/25 February 1918

  22 February/7 March 1918

  4/17 March 1918

  6/19 March 1918

  12/25 March 1918

  17/30 March 1918

  22 March/4 April 1918

  3/16 April 1918

  9/22 April 1918

  12/25 April 1918

  13/26 April 1918

  17/30 April 1918

  22 April/5 May 1918

  23 April/6 May 1918

  26 April/9 May 1918

  28 April/11 May 1918

  6/19 May 1918

  Epilogue

  Life in Russia in 1914

  Historical Note

  The Romanov Family Tree

  About the Russian Language

  About the Russian Calendar

  Glossary of Characters

  About the Author

  Acknowledgments

  Copyright

  3 January 1914

  Tsarskoe Selo

  Well, that’s over, and I’m glad of it. I hate dancing. I’d rather climb trees any day! My feet still hurt — especially the toe that clumsy Lieutenant Boris stepped on while he was trying to waltz. What an oaf.

  Hundreds of people attended the ball — all the court society of St. Petersburg, Papa says. If you piled all their jewels in a heap, they would weigh at least a ton.

  Mama had a headache and left before midnight. Our little brother, Alexei, is feverish again, and Mama wanted to be at home with him. I wish I could have gone with her, but that would have upset Grandmother. She is already annoyed at Mama, I think.

  Grandmother gave us each a diary as a keepsake of the ball. Olga and Tatiana and Mashka (that’s what we call our Marie) have begun pasting things in theirs — the invitation, the menu for the midnight supper, the program of music played by the orchestra, and my sisters’ dance cards signed by the officers who danced with them. (I did not collect my dancing partners’ signatures.)

  It was very late when Papa had the sleigh drive us from Anitchkov Palace to board our train for the ride back to Tsarskoe Selo. He sipped tea while my sisters chattered all the way home. I could hardly keep my eyes open but pretended to be wide awake.

  4 January 1914

  Ts. S.

  I’ve decided to write a play about the ball. I’m calling it The OTMA Snow Ball: A Jest in One Act.

  OTMA is the name we made up with the initials of our first names — Olga, Tatiana, Marie, and Anastasia. That’s me, trailing along at the end, the youngest, the last of the Romanov sisters. Papa calls me Shvibzik: “Imp.”

  When I told my sisters about my play, Mashka said, “What a good idea! We can perform it for Mama.”

  Olga added with that worried look of hers, “Promise you will make it nice, Anastasia?”

  I promised I would.

  The Main Characters:

  GRANDMOTHER — also known as the dowager empress, wearing her diamond tiara and white brocade gown

  PAPA — also known as NICHOLAS ALEXANDROVICH ROMANOV, TSAR OF ALL THE RUSSIAS, in military dress uniform, with lots of ribbons and medals

  THE GRAND DUCHESSES — OTMA

  OFFICERS from the yacht Standart

  The Scene: Grand Ballroom of Anitchkov Palace (actually our library)

  The Grand Duchesses enter. They are dressed in matching gowns of white silk embroidered all over with pearls and crystal beads, and satin slippers.

  My slippers pinched, but at least I didn’t have to wear a corset. This is because I don’t have a “figure,” as Olga calls it. She’s eighteen and has one. So does Tatiana, who’s sixteen, and Mashka, who’s fourteen. I’m twelve and haven’t yet gotten a bosom. When I say “bosom,” my sisters are shocked.

  “Say ‘figure,’ Anastasia,” Olga corrects me. “Proper ladies don’t speak of . . . of bosoms.” She blushes when she says it.

  “But I’m not a proper lady,” I remind her. “I’m a shvibzik.”

  7 January 1914

  Well, we did it. Mama’s friend Anya Vyrubova came to our rooms after supper. And we rounded up Dr. Botkin and his son, Gleb, and Baroness Buxhoeveden and as many of Mama’s ladies-in-waiting and Papa’s gentlemen as could be found to make up the audience. There was no one to play the role of the Dowager Empress, of course, and so we put one of Mama’s tiaras on an embroidered cushion on a gilt chair and pretended that was Grandmother.

  Papa put on his white dress hat with a gold braid. First he bowed to Olga, and she curtsied, and then they danced while he whistled a waltz. Papa is the best whistler! Next it was Tatiana’s turn, and then Mashka’s.

  I would have been next, but I decided not to play myself in this production. Instead, I borrowed a pair of tall black boots and a white jacket from one of the servants and took the role of Lieutenant Boris. Shura, my nurse-governess, painted a huge black mustache on my lip. Alexei made me a cocked hat of folded paper. Then I ordered my sisters to dance with me while I pretended to stomp all over their feet. (Mashka said I didn’t pretend enough, and that I really did step on hers. But it was truly not on purpose.)

  It ended badly, because Alexei insisted that he was going to dance “like Lieutenant Boris,” and he got rowdy and crashed into Mama’s table. Now we’re afraid he’ll get one of those terrible bruises and be ill again.

  9 January 1914

  Faugh! I detest schoolwork! Monsieur Gilliard, our French tutor, says that my efforts “lack inspiration.” What he means is, I am lazy. We’ve been working on the pluperfect tense, and what could be inspirational about that? I was supposed to write my sentences ten times each, but I “forgot” a few of them and instead drew a border of flowers around the paper. M. Gilliard says that my flowers don’t make up for lack of inspiration.

  10 J
anuary 1914

  Just as I feared, Alexei is in bed again, his knee swollen up like a cabbage and paining him horribly. When Alexei is not well, our whole family suffers with him. We take turns sitting by his bed and reading to him.

  The servants tiptoe in and out, asking in whispers, “How is the tsarevitch?” And Mama always gives the report, “He seems a little better today, thanks be to God.” Or, “He needs our prayers. Don’t forget him!”

  Of course everyone in the palace prays for Alexei, because he is the tsarevitch, the son of the tsar, and will be the next tsar of Russia, after Papa. No one must know that he’s so ill. “It would alarm the people,” Mama and Papa tell us.

  Alexei is a bleeder. That means he suffers from a disease called hemophilia. (I probably didn’t spell that right. Mr. Gibbes, my English tutor, complains that I’m a dreadful speller.) However it’s spelled, it means that if my brother hurts himself, there’s no way to stop the bleeding. A small cut on the skin isn’t so bad. But if he injures a joint, or if something happens to make him bleed inside his body, then the blood is trapped. His joint swells up and hurts him, and he cries awfully. Then Mama turns pale and presses her lips together and begs us all to pray.

  There is no cure for this disease, and nobody knows what to do, not Dr. Botkin, who checks all of us every day for signs of rashes and sore throats and such, nor Dr. Derevenko, Alexei’s special doctor.

  The only one who can help Alexei is Father Grigory, the holy man who is Mama’s friend. Mama sent a message to Father Grigory to come.

  Later

  Alexei is much better. He always gets better when Father Grigory prays over him.

  11 January 1914

  A sunny day, but so cold, it makes my teeth hurt. Just as we finished our morning lessons, Papa came out of his study, where he had been working since breakfast, and announced that we must go ice-skating. My sisters and I dressed in our warmest woolen skirts and thick stockings and fur jackets and ran outside with Papa. Alexei couldn’t go, but he waved to us from his window on the second floor in the south wing of the palace.

  We ran to the lake in the middle of the imperial park, where the servants built a roaring fire near the warming hut. As soon as we’d strapped on our skates, Papa got us playing crack-the-whip. I challenged Mashka to a race and won. I couldn’t beat Tatiana, because she’s the tallest and her legs longest, but when I grow more I’ll beat her with no trouble.

  Papa stopped us often to make sure our noses were not getting frostbitten. “Keep moving! Keep moving, my dears!” he called out, but we didn’t need this advice, because to stand still in such weather is to freeze solid as an ice statue.