The Kitchen Boy by Robert Alexander

This book is subtitled "A Novel of the Last Tsar" and it tells the story of the last few weeks of Nicholas and Alexandra and their children--from the kitchen boy's point of view.

I've read a few things about this family, most notably a big compilation of Nicholas' and Alexandra's letters to each other and Nicholas' diary entries. Very interesting and equally heartbreaking. I thought this was just another point of view on the same tragic story... and it was, but it was also surprisingly different.

The kitchen boy is telling this story as he is an old man. He's recording his version of this story for his beloved granddaughter. He has a legacy for her and a mission for her.

And the end of this book is great. I was totally surprised. I really enjoyed it.

Warning: there is a bit of graphic violence in here--the royal family is horribly murdered, after all--and there is one very foul word (the soldiers are awful).