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