This was my most anticipated read for this autumn and it did not disappoint. Having two timelines one 1918 onward in Russia and the other 1970’s onwards in Australia. Gill Paul is now a must read author for me. This is the third of her books I have read and all have been very enjoyable. The ending to this one did make me tear up. ( )

I’ll admit that I wasn’t sold on the book when I first picked it up, but it wasn’t long before I was proved wrong. Paul blends these two women’s lives skillfully and made me care about them (almost) equally. I’m just floored by how much I loved every single word of this book. ( )

The events surrounding the Russian revolution of 1918 are horrific and unimaginable. The loss of the entire Romanoff family was unthinkable to their family and to the world. However, what if one of the daughters had survived? How would they have survived such carnage in the basement of that house and how would they have survived in the tumultuous revolutionary world? Gil Paul weaves an amazing story around grand Duchess Maria and her survival of the Russian revolution and life as an ordinary individual in hiding. ( )

This book contains two points of view. The first is Grand Duchess Maria and begins when her family is sent to Yekaterinburg and follows her unlikely survival and the ensuring years. The second pov is Val, an abused women in the 1970's. On her father's deathbed, he confesses to Val - "I didn't want to kill her." While Val struggles to leave her husband, she searches for the truth of her father.

I thought this book was a bit mediocre. It was extremely predictable and a bit slow moving. The time transitions were not handled very well and large periods of time were glossed over. Overall, not a book I would re-read or recommend. ( )

Tales of the Romanovs always tend to fascinate but mostly tend to remind the reader of the horrors of that time in history for the last Russian Tsar and his family. The Lost Daughter is the third book I have read by Ms. Gill and the second in which she offers an alternative ending for one of the Romanov daughters. It’s certainly wonderful to dream of a different finish for these young ladies as the sins of the father are often felt by the children.

This book is told in two time periods as so many books today are wont to be; the historical sections are in the early 20th century when the Romanov family was under house arrest in Ekaterinburg. Maria is just entering her teens and doesn’t understand the whys of their forced stay in a place that is so different from what she knew. She is a vivacious, outgoing girl and dreams only of walking outside, being free and marrying and having children some day. She is friendly with the men guarding them and innocently flirtatious. Some guards don’t understand her overtures and others feel for her.

In the more modern era of the 1970s a young married woman named Val is suffering in an abusive marriage. She learns her father – who was also abusive – is dying. He keeps calling out in his delirium that he didn’t want to shoot her and the nurses are concerned. Val goes to visit him behind her husband’s back and has no clue what he means but feels it’s just ravings. After his death she learns so much of his history that she did not know and it shocks her.

As Val pursues her father’s past it crosses with the last days of the Romanovs.

Sometimes a What If? story is just the thing. There is a sad romance about the Romanovs so the thought that one or more of them actually might have survived is dreamy concept. Ms Paul does a very convincing job in her tale of this lost daughter. As is usual with this dual timeline books I was more invested in the historical story than the more modern one but of course, one drives the other.

Once I got into this book I couldn’t put it down. The family drama on Val’s side and the ultimate family story on Maria’s side were both very compelling. The description of the deprivations during WWII in Russia were horrifying. Ms. Gill brought all of the time periods to vivid life – whether good or bad. Her writing brings you into the story to experience it with the characters. It’s one of those books where I felt like I was watching a movie in my head rather than reading a book. The words just formed the pictures so easily. It’s at times a very sad book but at others a very hopeful book. ( )