The Winter Palace: A Novel of Catherine the Great

VERY well written, excellent prose. The author weaves a tale of intrigue,love ,friendship,trust and the price of power and revenge. Fast paced and gripping the story of young Catherine the Great and her rise to power told through the eyes of her best friend.

The ladies were certainly busy as they lurked behind closed doors and bedroom hopped. I am not a fan of historical novels and would rather read the facts provided my researchers. The depiction of Peter was not accurate.

I love historical novels so this one fit the bill. It is really about her childhood and is told through the eyes of a servant girl who becomes her friend and her spy. Great story, well told. I loved it.

Amazing historical fiction told in the voice of Catherine's polish lady in waiting/maid/friend. I listened and what made it special was the reader who was Polish and told the story in her accent.

Catherine did actually have a polish maid servant. You can find it in Robert k massie's bio

The Winter Palace is about Catherine the Great's rise to power in Russia, although her actual rise and rule is only about the last 10% of the book. It is also the tale of a faithful servant, Varvara, who is employed at a young age as a servant/spy in the palace. It is heavy with themes of friendship, family, love, deceit, and betrayal.

This book is not one you can just pick up to read and stroll on through. It does require some thought (deep at times) and close attention to detail. It is not uncommon for a single sentence to prove important three chapters later. It is well-written, but not 100% engaging. At times I felt a bit bored, but at others I was turning the pages with anticipation. All in all, I just feel lukewarm about this book. It is a good historical fiction read, but mostly lacking in intrigue.

The author does an excellent job of placing a ficticious character in a position which gives her a very interesting perspective on the goings-on in the Russian court of the time... and the story is solidly based in historical facts. Very enjoyable.

Good book, but often confusing, hard to understand what was going on, with multiple names for characters that left he reader to figure out. Also, no mention of Catherine's third child who she gave to neighbors to care for temporarily - did she ever go get him and bring him to the palace? And who left the gross drawing under Varvara's pillow?

I enjoyed reading about Catherine the Great from a "friend's/servant's" point of view. It was interesting how she manipulated everyone to become the Empress after everyone thought she was down and out. This book has just whet my appetite -- I am ready to read another book about Catherine now. The only problem with the book, was that it was a bit difficult keeping all the characters straight since many names were somewhat similar.

An interesting historical read. Catherine the Great was ambitious, ruthless and ruled during an extravagant period in Russia. The novel is unusual as it is told through the eyes of a woman who befriends Catherine.

The book was interesting. It clarified some incidents that appeared in other bios of Catherine. The emotional and intellectual changes that must have occurred to make her "the great" were certainly evident in the book.

I love historical fiction, and the fact that a book uses the perspective of a woman doesn't bother me; the same could be said of the "fly on the wall" approach to historical fiction. For example, I'm a big fan of Margaret George and some of Phillippa Gregory's books. However, this one was just a bit too much of both, and I found it a bit hard to take. Oh, it's written well enough and not at all hard to read, but I found myself longing for a scene in an 18th-century man cave or the like. The history is fascinating, and on balance it's worth reading, but it's a bit too chic-litty for me.

This is an interesting book with the main character being a spy or "tongue" who leads a life of political intrigue in the palaces of the Russian Empress. It moves a little slow sometimes but maintained my interest.

From being a well loved child of a blockbuster & his wife to penniless orphan in a short span of time. Promised to be cared for by the Empiress of All the Russia's, life was not what it had been praised to Barbara 's father nor would it ever be calming or pleasant again. Taught the skills of a spy at the age of 14, Barbara 's life would never be her own again, at least not without a cost to someone.

It was an interesting novel on a historical level. I got through it easily enough but I would not be interested in reading it again or recommending it to someone. I would not say I could not put it down.