Witty Little Knitter

I actually wish I could give this book a higher rating because it is very well researched and also well-written. Non-fiction can often appear a bit dry but the author manages to interweave facts, quotes from diaries and letters, and her own take on some events in a way that it's rarely boring.

However: I expected a book about the four Romanov-sisters and I don't really feel I got that. The first few chapters are mostly dedicated to the parents, especially Alexandra, the mother. I understand that you can't write about the sisters without mentioning the parents. After all they lived with them to the very end and their relationship to them is an important part of their life but I don't think it would have to be quite as in-depth.
Then, for more than half the book, the focus seemed to be mostly on Tatiana and Olga, the two older sisters. Anastasia and Maria stayed somewhat colourless. In the final part of the book that did not change too much. Anastasia did get some more depth (still not a lot) but I never felt that I learned very much about Maria.

Perhaps you could argue that Maria seemed to be a quieter person in general and combined with her early death that makes it hard to write much about her so perhaps I'm simply complaining on a very high level.

The decision not to write much about the final days of the Romanovs was also, well, a bit odd. In the introduction the author explained that she did that because she already wrote a book about that which is certainly great but perhaps I would have liked to know more about this without having to buy another book.

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.