Wednesday 12th January 2022 – The Storyteller by Kathryn Williams

 Happy new year, everyone! Hope you're all well. 

I know it's been a while since I've written a blog post, and it'll probably be a while before I write another one again. However, I wanted to share my thoughts on a book that I just finished reading. (The book is actually available now! You can find it here!)

It was such an exciting book to read, and one that's slightly different from the usual books I go for. It was still YA, but with some historical fiction to it!

Let me start by saying this. The book is based on the lives of the Romanov family. If you don't know who they are, I can fill you in. 

The Romanovs were the Russian imperial family from 1613 to 1917. What surprised me the most was that the Russian imperial family was once linked to the British royal family. All to do with Queen Victoria. It's quite complicated, because Queen Victoria had many children. However, I do think it's essential to make that link, as it is important to the story. 

The final Romanovs to reign were Tsar Nicholas॥ and his wife, Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna. (Alexandra's mother was Queen Victoria's second daughter, Princess Alice. This made Queen Victoria Alexandra's grandmother.) They had five children; Tatiana, Olga, Maria, Anastasia, and Alexei. In 1918, after Nicholas had abdicated the throne a year earlier, the Romanov family was executed. And up until 2008, people believed that at least one of the Tsar's children had survived. 

Anastasia Romanov's survival had been greatly debated and questioned for nearly a century. Quite a few women claimed to be her, and the fact that only five bodies had been found and confirmed dead allowed people to believe that maybe she was alive. (In 1991, the remains of Nicholas, his wife, and three of their children were found. Two years later, the confirmation that it was them came. The bodies of Alexei, and one of the princesses, were not found, and so began the story that they had escaped their execution.)

The Storyteller is set in the years 2007 and 2008. Our protagonist, Jess Morgan, is 17, spends a lot of her time pretending to be someone she isn't just to please others, and is desperate to write her own story. She just can't seem to get the words out onto the page.

In the summer of 2007, Jess and her mother are clearing out the attic of her great-great aunt's when they come across a trunk full of diaries. At least, they appear to be. Jess can't read them, but a memory from when she saw her aunt in hospital tells her that these diaries could be something special. She decides to keep the trunk of diaries and take it home with her. After realising that the diaries are written in Cyrillic, and unable to translate them herself, Jess creates a post on her school's job board asking if anyone can help her understand the diaries. 

Enter Evan Hermann. 

Although they both seem to be initially a bit cold around one another, Jess realises that Evan is the first person she can finally be herself around. She's not honest about who she is with her parents, nor her boyfriend. The only person who knows the real Jess is her best friend, Katie. 

Evan agrees to translate the diaries, however, what neither of them expect is that Jess's great-great aunt could have been Anastasia Romanov. They are written in the same time period that the princess was alive. They tell the story of her life as a princess, how she escaped the execution, and how she made a new life for herself away from Russia. 

And so begins the challenge of Jess's life. Can she uncover her family's past? And can she take control of her life and make it her own?

Throughout the novel, Jess learns to be more honest, it's quite easy with Evan Hermann by your side. (He never lies.) Jess also wants to be more than what the people around her believe her to be. She's tired of living as someone else. And, Jess is desperate to find out whether her great-great aunt Anna could have been Anastasia Romanov. 

The Storyteller keeps you on your toes until the end. The writing is beautiful, and you can see yourself in 2007. It's easy to read. You want to read the book in one go and have all the answers to Jess's mystery. It's brilliant and clever, and I hope that everyone reads it and enjoys it as much as I did. 

This book is for all those who have always been drawn in by the Romanov story and family. People are still fascinated by the Romanovs. There have been a few films about Anastasia, a TV documentary about Anna Anderson, perhaps the most famous person who claimed to be Anastasia Romanov, and even a musical. And recently, even my best friend told me that she'd always been interested in the Romanovs and their story. 

The Storyteller is also for those who change a little part of who they are in order to please them, but wish they could be their honest selves. And, most of all, The Storyteller is a book for all those who like to tell stories. 

I'd happily read it again and again.