To be honest, this book wouldn't have even made my reading list if I didn't listen to it on audio. A lot of the audio books on my reading list weren't available so I got this one.

This book followed two characters, Ella, the sister to Alexandra Romanov, and a fictional character Pavel, a revolutionary. After the death of her husband, Ella turns her back on the pampered life of royalty and becomes a nun dedicating her life to helping the poor. Pavel dedicates his life to the revolution after the death of his wife and unborn child. There were some interesting parts throughout the book but overall, it was just an okay book. I wouldn't mind reading more about the Romanovs and Rasputin. In the book, Ella lays out all her jewels in order to sort out which to give to family and which to sell. The amount of jewelry was astounding! We're talking about a room full of jewelry with gemstones 100's of carats in size!