The evil that men and women do in the pursuit of power, love, and jealousy. In short, that sums up this novel based on real events from eighteenth century Russia. Pain and Power go hand in hand together.

This is a well-researched and well-written tale, except for a section in the middle that did not hold my interest. The reason for this lapse of mine is through the narrative's sudden change in direction - to the point that, for four or five chapters, it felt like a different novel.

Reason being that from one chapter to its successor time moves on 20 years and the reader is introduced to a new set of characters, none - except for Natalie (the daughter of an empress) - can match those from the first half of the book. The character of the pope comes across as especially dull and many of his appearances strike me as pointless.

After the four or five uninteresting chapters the narrative improves once again, though it doesn't engage in the way the first half of the novel does. It does, however, finally throw up a character that the reader - or this one, at least - can sympathise for. Natalie is charming and, whether or not she was in reality as she is portrayed in this biographical fiction, I really felt for her.

Natalie is said to be daughter of Empress Elizabeth, making her granddaughter of Peter the Great. Having little knowledge of Russian history I decided to do an internet search for Natalie after completing this book and read the info I found with interest. I won't share my findings or thoughts here in case I spoil anything for potential readers of "The Daughter of an Empress".

Former Russian rulers had the power to order the cruelest of punishments and were not known for holding back. Quite often these barbaric (as they seem to this Englishman of the twentieth & twenty-first century) punishments would be issued for the most trivial of matters. At times I shuddered at some of the tortures that the Russians had to endure. At times this was like reading a horror story and I feel for those poor people from yesteryear that actually experienced such nightmares.

I'm glad I read this book and recommended it to others. I really liked it because it affected me, making me empathise for the unfortunates in this tale, but owing to my feelings of empathy I would not wish to read this novel again. If in doubt, it's available for free download from Project Gutenberg.

Luise Mühlbach has done a fine job. I will read more of her historical tales in the future. ( )

2163 The Daughter of an Empress, by Louise Muhlbach (read 18 Sep 1988) This book was first published in 1867 and tells of Natalie, daughter of Empress Elizabeth of Russia. It is fiction but uses historical trappings. Like all historical fiction, one is not sure where fiction begins and history ends. I was dismayed at the anti-Catholic bias. It says good things about Pope Clement XIV, who made himself a hero, apparently, to the Protestant world by destroying the army of Jesus. Cardinal Francesco Albani is depicted as a villain--while Cardinal Bernis is portrayed favorably. Pope Pius VI is portrayed most unfavorably. I own numerous volumes of Mulhbach's works. Will I waste my time reading any more? [I did.] ( )