RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars
AFTER THE ROMANOVS: Russian Exiles in Paris from the Belle Epoque Through Revolution and War by Helen Rappaport is a nonfiction novel about the Russian emigres specifically in Paris from the 1870’s to the early 1930’s. While most people are interested in the history happening in Russia during this time, this is an interesting look at many who fled.
Paris is a city of cultural excellence, fine wine and food, and the latest fashions, but it is also a place of refuge for those fleeing persecution before and after the Russian Revolution and the fall of the Romanov dynasty. For years, Russian aristocrats had enjoyed all that Paris had to offer, spending lavishly when they visited, but the brutality of the Bolshevik takeover forced Russians of all social backgrounds to flee their homeland, sometimes leaving with only the clothes on their backs.
Many former soldiers worked in the manufacturing plants and former princes learned to drive taxicabs and waite tables, while their wives who could sew worked for the fashion houses or set up their own. Talented intellectuals, artists, poets, philosophers, and writers struggled in exile, eking out a living at menial jobs. Some encountered success over time, but it was not always lasting. Political activists sought to overthrow the Bolshevik regime from afar and reestablish the monarchy while double agents on both sides plotted espionage and assassination. Many could not cope and became trapped in a cycle of poverty, depression, and an all-consuming homesickness for the Russian homeland they felt forced to leave.
I found this novel very interesting because I always read about the history in Russia itself and never really considered the refugees other than the few who left and then made names for themselves worldwide after the Revolution. I felt the plight of the refugees is described without bias. Not only did they have to deal with their losses, but the world was dealing with an economic depression at the same time which always makes the acceptance of refugees in another country difficult. The story of the first generation of refugees was depressing and sad, whether you agree with the Revolution or monarchy, due to the human suffering and lost dreams.
This nonfiction book can easily be the stories of refugees anywhere at any time which makes it an important read.
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About the Author
Helen Rappaport is a historian specializing in the Victorian period, with a particular interest in Queen Victoria and the Jamaican healer and caregiver, Mary Seacole. She also has written extensively on late Imperial Russia, the 1917 Revolution and the Romanov family. Her love of all things Victorian springs from her childhood growing up near the River Medway where Charles Dickens lived and worked. Her passion for Russian came from a Russian Special Studies BA degree course at Leeds University. In 2017 she was awarded an honorary D.Litt by Leeds for her services to history. She is also a member of the Royal Historical Society, the Genealogical Society, the Society of Authors and the Victorian Society. She lives in the West Country, and has an enduring love of the English countryside and the Jurassic Coast, but her ancestral roots are in the Orkneys and Shetlands from where she is descended on her father’s side. She likes to think she has Viking blood.
Social Media Links
Author Website: https://helenrappaport.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/helenrappaportwriter
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HelenRappaport
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/146124.Helen_Rappaport
