L.M. Montgomery wrote a passage in Anne of the Island (1915) describing letters from years past, which were written by her parents and which Anne was reading, “The sweetness of forgotten things clung to them – the far-off, fond imaginings of those long-dead lovers”. I feel much the same
I have often written about letters and my passion for reading other people’s thoughts and descriptions of their lives. I have already written a post on one of the letters written by Empress Alexandra of Russia to her husband, Tsar Nicholas II. It was taken from the book Letters of
Lately I have read pieces both in fiction and non-fiction which have claimed my grandfather, Pavel Voronov, “stepped over the line” when in the presence of the Grand Duchess Olga, daughter of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. These pieces have been very obviously written through a contemporary Western lens, most
Was I named after Empress Alexandra (pictured above), wife of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia? It is a question I have been asked time and time again. It was not something I ever discussed with my mother. How do parents decide on names for their children? I had a few
Rasputin, friend to Empress Alexandra of Russia and enemy of so many more, was murdered on 30 December 1916 – (17 December in the old calendar). As a follow up to my post a couple of weeks ago, here is how the Empress expressed her fears in a letter, the
Empress Alexandra, wife of Nicholas II, the last Tsar of Russia, wrote frequently to her husband, numbering each of her letters. Several years ago, at a second hand book stall, I found a book of her letters, written between 1914 and 1916. It is called Letters of the Tsaritsa to