ABOUT THE PASSION OF MARIE ROMANOV

The third daughter of the last Tsar, Marie Nicolaevna, occupied a special place in the constellation of the Imperial family. Two years older than Anastasia, she was closest in age to the youngest and most famous sister. They shared their bedroom and were inseparable to their brutal end. Together, Marie and Anastasia were known as “The Little Pair” while their older sisters, Olga and Tatiana, were “The Big Pair.” All four sisters composed the unusually close sister unit which was the self dubbed acronym of the first letter of their names, “OTMA”. Dressed alike, but very different in personality, the four sisters have haunted the world’s imagination since their death by execution in 1918. Although known for her beauty (Marie was the most ‘Russian” looking with her large blue eyes, rosy cheeks and voluptuous figure), she was the least known. I was moved by her writings and her delicate water color art work. I felt sympathy for her in her early plump years when she was called “Fat Bow Wow”. In the diaries and letters which I read, I discovered Marie led a very different life from her sisters and the result of my exploration of her unique experiences resulted in this book. Killed only days after her 19th birthday, Marie lives again, I hope, on these pages. Here are the Romanov sisters, especially Marie, as we have not yet seen them- playing with their dogs, swimming in the Tsar’s private indoor pool, adoring their father and in Marie’s case, fearing her mother, the Tsarina Alexandra’s criticism.