The Winter Palace: A Novel of Catherine the Great (Catherine #1) by Eva Stachniak

Final Rating: 3/5

A prettily painted glass bead marketed and hyped as a genuine gem of a novel...

  Closing my borrowed copy of The Winter Palace early this morning, I could not help but feel I was holding a prettily painted glass bead marketed and hyped as a genuine gem of a novel. While the reader is promised and enticed by a "keyhole" view of the 18th-century Russian court, the splendor is soon overshadowed and left this reviewer shaking her head in bewilderment and frustration. Although, the attention to historical detail is impressive and Ms. Stachniak has a true talent to capture the grandeur of the era with her meticulous elements; sadly those alone could not prevent the chips and peeling later caused by: undeveloped characterization, irksome one-note narration, unexpected vulgar language, weak foreshadowing, and at times out of place Victorian to Modern language that jarred this reviewer out of a couple chapters.

   If the potential reader is seeking a novel that keeps an even balance of education and entertainment on all aspects and viewpoints of 18th-century Russia, you may be slightly disappointed. While the novel supplies only the basic facts of Catherine the Great's life at the Winter Palace it focuses more on her intimate life and the drama of those of the court, that may leave the reader wondering what genre or audience the author was really striving for. With all of the displayed private sordid details that unfortunately borderlines on a cheap bodice ripper, it can get overwhelming and another narration would have been appreciated to break up the monotony of the numerous scandalous encounters. With the focus mainly on the elite and powerful, the poor serve as a limited back round-that leaves much to be desired and explored. In the end, I did not exactly come away wanting to read any type of sequel but it did spark an interest in learning all I can about Russian rulers, superstitions, and history.

-Reviewed in June 2012, review written June 2012/copy of THE WINTER PALACE borrowed from local library

Next in series:

Empress of the Night: A Novel of Catherine the Great (Catherine #2)

by Eva Stachniak