Ella: Princess, Saint and Martyr [Hardcover]

I have to say when I finished reading this book I was sory to have come to the end of the story. Ella is a true story of human courage and goodness, she was a remarkable woman yet so humble and unasuming. Considering she married in to the wealth and splendour of the Russian court she never let it get the better of her and stayed the same person she had been before her marriage. She met a cruel end yet never gave up her faith or goodness. The sad thing is if she had been Empress of Russia perhaps history would have turned out differently, maybe the Tsar married the wrong sister. I strongly recomend this book its a great price and a really good read.

The life of the Grand Duchess Elisabeth, sister of the last Czarina and by marriage her aunt, seems to be made for legend: the society beauty who marries the prince charming who in terns got assassinated, she then turning to religion, becoming an abbess before being killed my the ruthless revolutionaries. Well, all this is true but it is only half of the story.

Christopher Warwick unfolds the events of the life of the Grand Duchess step by steps, putting them into context and being quite frank about things, like the doubtful sexual orientation of her husband. He does not writes in order to promote the cult of an saint and therefore refrains from the religious connotations or myths, like those surrounding the Grand Duchess 's death. This is very much appreciated.

Still there are certain elements missing which could explain how this person really was like. Born into a family of strong woman, she was

during her marriage a rather weak person, ordered about and publicly humiliated, only in widowhood she came into her own. How very different form her sister, the Czarina, who dominated her husband. There is not too much about her, but the relationship was not all good. Here the reader relies on guesswork. Her change from Grand Duchess to Abbess could have merited a more in-depth study. I liked that C. Warwick points out that she was as an abbess still a grand duchess and that she showed in her way of life.

The reader will meet a remarkable woman, an interesting woman and the biography is very solid giving the reader a great inside, but I feel the author has not really taken all available material into account. In my own library I have some books with shed more light on certain aspects of the grand duchess's life than this one. But still it is a very good book and enjoyable to read. However, I would not go as far as the previous reviewer in my praise I still believe it is worthwhile reading this very book

This is a truly moving book, of a profoundly beautiful princess and saint of the Orthodox Church. Of course, as an Orthodox Christian I wanted to know more of her monastic life and witness. The profound seeds of love of Christ, were visible so early in Ella's life. The book clearly shows that revisionist anti-Tsarist polemic is plain wrong. Russian Imperial society was at it's best rooted in the Orthodox Christian faith, and the Westernization of the 19th century intelligentsia led many towards socialism and atheism and materialism. Around the world Ella's icon, with Nun Barbara martyred with her graces Russian churches and Orthodox homes. This life of Ella has some beautiful and touching photos and memories of a remarkable woman.