St. Martin's Press
11/10/2020
Historical Fiction
Hardcover, 480 pages
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From the sensuous pleasures of a decadent aristocracy, to the incense-filled rites of the Orthodox Church and the terror of Peter the Great’s torture chambers, the intoxicating and dangerous world of Imperial Russia is brought to vivid life. Tsarina is the story of one remarkable woman, Catherine Alexeyevna, the first woman to rule Russia in her own right, whose bid for power would transform the Russian Empire.
“A fascinating and extraordinary ride from slavery to royalty...[for] fans of historical fiction, Russia, political intrigue, and powerful women."
—Booklist (starred review)
“Alpsten shines...Lovers of Russian history, strong women protagonists, and sweeping historicals will savor this vivid portrait.”
–Publishers Weekly
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Dear Reader,
From the moment I came across Catherine the First, I felt hers was a story that had to be told. It is a shocking and deeply sensuous double Cinderella story: from slave to Empress and from backward nation to the beginnings of a modern superpower.
Trying to delve into her world, my research library grew. In the end, I read for a year before writing the first words. I tried to imagine how things really were for Marta, beyond the bare historic facts. History is so much more than the lives of Kings and Queens! The goal was to make the reader see, live, breathe, love, and hate like Marta. She was born lower than the dirt between her toes and rose to the most dizzying heights of history. She is not intellectually trained and not academically schooled but has great cunning and a healthy common sense. She’s a survivor, and you have to like and respect that. I hope for you to be as gripped by "my girl" as I!
Warm regards,
Ellen Alpsten
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TSARINA BOOK CLUB MENU AND RECIPE
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Catherine I grew up on a nourishing and simple Baltic Russian cuisine, allowing her to withstand a lifetime of hard physical labor in a harsh climate. Northern and Eastern European, Caucasian, Central Asian, Siberian, and East Asian cooking traditions influenced this cuisine, which combined plentiful fish, pork, poultry, caviar, mushrooms, berries, along with honey, crops of rye, wheat, barley, and millet, enabling a plethora of bread, pancakes, pies, cereals, beer, and vodka. Soups were a special staple, either eaten hot or cold. I imagine that Peter the Great and Catherine were fond of Borscht (see recipe), a whole meal in a bowl, and of pleasing red color—in Russian, red also means beautiful.
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The average Russian could not afford vodka ("little water") but drank kvass, a bitter brew made of fermented yeast. Once Catherine was with Peter, she drank vodka, and discovered chocolate, which the Spanish wife of Louis IVX had brought to France, making it fashionable: she would have loved a Vodka Alexander: vodka, light cream, and creme de cacao. shaken and strained over ice cubes—also very nourishing!
When she arrives at Peter's court and tastes caviar on buckwheat blinis for the first time, she asks for a second portion immediately, lest her luck runs out. Buckwheat Blinis are a great way to jazz up a Saturday breakfast. Enjoy with smoked salmon and smetana (sour cream)!
-Ellen Alpsten
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©Copyright 2020 The Book Club Cookbook
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