The Lost Daughter by Gill Paul

 

From Goodreads

A Russian princess. An extraordinary sacrifice. A captivating secret...

From the author of The Secret Wife, a gripping journey through decades and across continents, of love, devastating loss and courage against all odds.

1918

With the country they once ruled turned against them, the future of Russia's imperial family hangs in the balance. When middle daughter Maria Romanova captivates two of the guards, it will lead to a fateful choice between right and wrong.

Fifty-five years later . . .

Val rushes to her father's side when she hears of his troubling end-of-life confession: 'I didn't want to kill her.' As she unravels the secrets behind her mother's disappearance when she was twelve years old, she finds herself caught up in one of the world's greatest mysteries.

My thoughts

I really enjoy books set around the time of the Romanov family and I was drawn to this one due to the story being centred around the middle daughter Maria Romanov.  I was more than happy to request a copy of it from NetGalley, it's just taken me some time to get around to reading unfortunately.

Told in different time frames the story draws you in and relates the events happening to the characters at different times in their lives.  Whilst some readers don't always enjoy stories told in this way, I find them easy to cope with and sometimes they can engage you in the story even more than if it had been told chronologically.  Based on real people and real events the Author has woven a story that could be true and could be what happened to Maria, if she had escaped from the execution or attempted execution of all the close family members that took place one fateful day.

As I was reading the story I came across this passage that had me gasping ~ Maria has fallen on some ice and has broken her leg.

'Once they left the room, she gripped a pillow between her teeth and felt along her thigh with her fingers, poking through the swelling to see where the bone was cracked and how it should lie. Biting down hard, she pushed it into place, almost passing pout with the pain. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she tied the chair leg to her thigh as a splint, pulling hard to tighten the knots. When it was done, she dragged the bed covers over herself, laid her head on the pillow, and lost consciousness.'

How many people would be able to do something like this?  I know that I doubt that I would be able to do so.

This was a well written and researched story, the Author includes a section at the end of the book that relates facts that some of the story was based on that was interesting to read.