Publisher's Synopsis
St. Petersburg, 1905. The air is thick with unrest, and the shadow of the Bloody Sunday massacre hangs heavy. Dr. Andrei Volkov, a man of science with hidden socialist leanings, dedicates his life to healing the city's poor. His unconventional methods and quiet compassion mask a deep opposition to the Tsarist regime. But his world is irrevocably altered when he's summoned to the Winter Palace to treat the Tsarevich Alexei, the hemophiliac heir to the Romanov throne.
Immersed in the lavish, yet increasingly isolated, world of Imperial Russia, Volkov becomes a close confidant to Empress Alexandra, witnessing the family's extravagance, their detachment from reality, and the unsettling influence of Rasputin. Torn between his oath as a doctor and his political convictions, Volkov walks a dangerous tightrope, secretly aiding those harmed by the regime while trying to save the life of the young heir. As World War I erupts and the Russian Revolution tears the country apart, Volkov finds himself increasingly under suspicion, his every move watched.
From the glittering palaces of St. Petersburg to the stark landscapes of Siberia, Volkov accompanies the Romanovs into exile - first to Tsarskoye Selo, then to Tobolsk, and finally to the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg. He witnesses their imprisonment, their growing despair, and their desperate, futile hopes for escape. A story of loyalty, betrayal, and the fall of an empire, seen through the eyes of the last Tsar's physician.
