Tsarina is an epic, rags to riches tale inspired by the story of Catherine I, who was the second wife of Peter the Great and Empress of Russia from 1725 until her death.

As a fan of historical fiction, I was excited to read this, especially given my knowledge of Russian history is very basic. You do not need to know anything before you pick this up, the author arms you with all the context you need as the drama develops.

Born into poverty in a Baltic village, Marta is sold by her family at the age of 15 and thus begins her journey of survival. She witnesses the heart of wars, death scenes beyond belief and tragic losses. She is poorly treated but at the same time, forms some strong friendships, sometimes in unlikely places.

During the war, she meets Peter the Great, the Tsar and this is how she achieves a somewhat perilous rise to become Catherine I, Empress of Russia.

When reading this, the pace makes you feel almost a little breathless, you feel on edge at times. I imagine this is how Marta would have felt, having to watch her back, not sure who to trust, never quite relaxing. Her resilience, courage, strength, determination and intelligence shine through. Her ability to navigate such a male dominated environment and culture is quite astounding. There seem to be a lot of similarities between the Russian courts of this time and the earlier ones of Henry VIII. The decadent feasts, the bottomless drinking, the politics and scaremongering...all these layers contribute to an epic and enthralling story.

"See your power over men like a hand of cards; play them, to trump other people"

A thoroughly good read, another world to get lost in for a weekend!

UK Publication Date set for 14th May 2020.

Thank you to @netgalley, @ellenalpsten_author and @bloomsburypublishing for the opportunity to review.

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I chose this book expecting an historical novel based on the life of Catherine the Great (it's actually about Catherine I, my mistake there though!).

However it was not really that sort of book at all. Whilst there was some historical content, the book can best be described as a "bodice ripper" underpinned by the skeleton of Catherine's life story - hence my low star rating.

The first part of the book covers Catherine's origins as "Marta", a girl of peasant stock, as she makes her way in the world after escaping a life of serfdom and brutality. The rest of the book covers her life with Peter the Great, an absolute brute who was no doubt intelligent but clearly insane. There are brutal descriptions of his appalling cruelty to anyone who crossed him (not to mention casual and innate cruelty to his own people), along with debauchery, incest, and many sad infant deaths.

Life in Russia was undoubtedly hard and brutal (based on other sources, not just this novel) and maybe Peter the Great was just such a man as he is painted here - but Catherine came through it somehow.

This book has piqued my interest in reading factual information on the lives of Peter the Great and both Cathrines, so that's a good outcome.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC. Opinions my own.

This was an entertaining, gripping read. If you like historical fiction with secrets and affairs, it'll make a good book.

Thanks a lot to NG and the publisher for this copy.

Thanks to Bloomsbury and NetGalley for the Advance Review Copy in exchange for an honest review. 

I really enjoy Russian fiction, as in books written by Russian authors but when I wracked my brain, I couldn’t think of a single Russian historical fiction book I have read. So, time to remedy that with this book.

So, the cover gives off a bit of a bodice ripper vibe which would probably have made me scroll past it if I had not checked the publisher. Bloomsbury are usually pretty discerning however, so I decided to give it a spin.

This tale concerns Marta, a peasant girl who would eventually rise to become Peter the Great’s second wife. This isn’t a spoiler because a) she was a real person and b) the book makes it clear from the beginning that she is Tsarina and c) the title...

The tagline on NetGalley described this book as the “extraordinary rags-to-riches tale of the most powerful woman history ever forgot” and I think that is pretty apt as I'd never heard of her. 

The story itself is quite interesting although the narrative starts to flag somewhat once Marta rises to the dizzying heights of royalty. The brutality of 17th century Russia was well captured, and the author had clearly done her research. 

So, what didn’t I like?

Physical descriptions are always really tricky when books are based on real people. We're constantly told about what a stone cold babe Marta is with men falling over in a stupor whenever she walks by. Contemporary portraits do not suggest this to be the case and the same goes for some of the other women mentioned. A woman can be interesting without having to be stunningly beautiful. Just saying.

Also, I really am no prude and usually don’t give trigger warnings in my review as I tend not to be offended by much but this book has incredibly detailed and graphic descriptions of sexual violence.

There is also a LOT of sex scenes, some bordering on vulgarity. Most notable of which is an incestuous lesbian sex scene which was excruciatingly uncomfortable to read.

I enjoyed this book at first but after a while I honestly started to feel a bit stressed reading it. It was all just a bit too much for me.

Catherine Alexeyevna rose from peasant beginnings to become one of the most powerful women in Russia as the second wife of Peter the Great. Known as Marta to her family she was born in 1684 in the village of Livonia. Her meteoric rise from illiterate servitude to the Russian is one of chance, but also, as the author puts it ‘intellect, wit and sensuality’. Her parents sold her into the service of a man called Vasilly from the town of Walk. The author pulls us into the world of this nine year old girl as she experiences the town for the first time. She is overwhelmed by the number of people and all the chimneys she can see, each one representing a family. In her wonder, she loses the count and becomes mesmerised by the foods being sold by street vendors. This experience inspires her and she begins to work in the kitchen, soon able to prepare delicious meals of her own.

It’s very hard not to admire the way this incredible woman rose through the ranks of Russian high society, almost always by catching the attention of men. This was a dangerous and volatile period of history and it must have taken a great deal of resourcefulness and cunning to succeed. She was observant, able to read people and their interactions, successful at manipulation and doesn’t let herself be used by men - unless she wants to be of course. She takes to heart a lesson taught by Menshikov, the Tsar’s best friend:

‘Use life’s surprises to your advantage. See your power over men like a hand of cards; play them, to trump your life’.

I really enjoyed it when the focus was on Catherine (Marta) and her rise. When she reaches her position as Peter the Great’s wife and Empress of Russia, the story starts to open up and include others within the court. When we’re not concentrating on Catherine, I wasn’t as engaged with the book, but that was just me. Her life becomes swallowed up by the demands of being a monarch’s wife - the demands on her to produce an heir resulted in twelve pregnancies! The cruelty of Peter starts to come to the fore as well as his contrary nature. He upholds religious and cultural custom to a stubborn degree and then when it suits him, simply discards custom for his own advantage. He’s a textbook narcissist. Even though Catherine is surrounded by riches, lavish banquets and incredible jewels I didn’t envy her position. She knows the dangers of being his wife, because his first wife ended up in a prison cell and her lover was impaled alive, on a spike in Red Square.

Despite this being more fiction than biography, I think the author researched her subject well and worked hard to bring Catherine to life. There are some really dark moments of rape and torture, but this is probably an accurate portrayal of very bloodthirsty time in history. Its also a very sensual book, not just the lusty moments, which I really enjoyed, but also the author’s focus on the senses. The taste of the incredible dishes she creates, the smell of the incense and incredible interiors of the Russian Orthodox Church, all the way down to the sweat and fear of the torture chambers. When Catherine’s trying to keep Peter’s death a secret in order to keep the crown, I was drawn back into the action. As he lies there, dying in the Winter Palace, Peter has to face the fact he is leaving his country without an heir. His only son Alexei, was killed under interrogation for conspiring against him. This is when Catherine undertakes her greatest political manoeuvre and becomes Queen, despite Alexei’s son being the heir apparent. I enjoyed reading from Catherine’s perspective, especially considering the way her male enemies spread misogynistic stories about her suppose voracious sexual appetite. The book did its work in making we want to know more about this time and place in history so I’ll be watching the Helen Mirren series to learn more about this fascinating character.

Loved this book! It is set in the times of Peter the great and Tsarina tells us about a poor washer woman who rose to unprecedented heights! The setting, the characters and the plot was all researched very well and made for an interesting and entertaining read.

I got Tsarina by Ellen Alpsten from NetGalley for a fair and honest review



Tsarina is an historical novel about the life of Catherine I of Russia and second wife of Peter the Great. From her illegitimate birth being sold buy her family, through to the Russian court and introduction to the Russian court marrying the Tsar to eventually being the Tsarina.

Ellen Alpsten has written, a really enjoyable novel, which is truly, a rags to riches tale told through the eyes Catherine her self. The story starts of Just before the death of Peter the great, then goes back in time to when Catherine, who was born with the name Marta, was with her family. Telling the story from that point, and every so often going back to the night that her husband the Tsar dies.

The book is well written with each character being well rounded as they each come into her life. With the Tsar being one of the most interesting as he seems brutal one page, and then almost childlike in the next, as he deals with to modernise Russia with brute force .

Catherine her self in novel is no angel, seems to be her reacting to any given situation, as though she did not want to do this but if I don’t something terrible would have happened to me, in most cases this is correct, although as Catherine is the narrator this fits in with the style of the story.

What Ellen Alpsten has done well, which to me is what all good historical novels should be, is a really good story well written, not telling it by what happens but putting the reader in to the mind of the real life person so they can examine, why they took the actions and decisions they did. One other thing an historical book should do is give, the reader an interest in finding out more about the time and place where the book was set. Which after reading I can defiantly that this book has made me do that, with all this in mind I can highly recommend that you pick up and read Ellen Alpsten, new book Tsarina

I got this book, thinking it would be a fictional biography of Catherine the Great which would follow historical events. Well, it kind of (casually) is, but is much more 'Game of Thrones' / entertaining 'romp' complete with sex, savagery and torture. We learn of Catherine's humble beginnings and growth to most powerful woman in 'all the Russias' but it's all much more' sensational than I expected. Perhaps I should have taken the hint from the cover, but my fascination with all things Russian, was strong.

Having said that, I did thoroughly enjoy this romp - particularly the insights into Peter's personality, reminding me of a more extreme lunatic and self-obsessed Henry VIII... An unusual book for my taste but a very entertaining read. Light enough for the casually interested reader of Russian history - a weighty tome it's not! More: grisly, 'lustful', dark entertainment!

Everything historical about this book was great and the character of Catherine was truly empowering, however, I just feel like it lacked a little something extra, which is why I'm not screaming from the rooftops about it.