So enjoyable!It is always quite enjoyable to read a book which is so well written and engaging. This book of historical fiction brings one man's past and present together. Eighty-year-old Georgy Jachmenev is currently living in England with his wife Zoya. His wife is ill and as he reflects on their life, it is evident that their life was not as common as their friends believed. Georgy Jachmenev's life began in Russia and as he looks back on his life, we learn about his ties to Tsar Nicholas II,

Tender and compelling, a fascinating and engrossing story that make me grateful for historical fictional novels like The House of Special Purpose Just the book I needed to take me out of my reading slump 5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ John Boyne is one of Ireland’s most diverse and creative writers and I absolutely love when he has a new book published however when I am awaiting his next book release I have to make do with a re-read and when my bookgroup chose The House of Special Purpose as our monthly read I re

A story of escape, exile, survival and love which spans nearly eighty years and three continents.Georgy finds the course of his life is altered when he becomes the young bodyguard to Prince Alexei Romanov. I is here that he also finds the love of his life. It is a time of growing unrest in Russia and fate steps in to shape their lives in a way they never expected. Once the Bolsheviks have taken control of the Palace, the outcome for the Romanov family was a fait accompli. It is no place for Roma...

3.5 starsI still rank The Heart's Invisible Furies and A Ladder to the Sky as my favorite books by this author (and some of my favorite books in general, go read them!). However, this is still pretty good and renewed my faith in Boyne's writing after reading his somewhat lackluster latest release, A Traveler at the Gates of Wisdom. This book is a fictional account of the ill-fated Romanov family, but delivered by a character/narrator that is outside of the royal family. This new view point and s...

4.5 stars - Incredible. I really loved it.This was the first novel I read by John Boyne, and I am thrilled that I have more to choose from as I really enjoyed his writing style. This poignant tale about the Romanovs, the Russian civil war, and 60 years of a married couple's love story was simply wonderful. The author did take a few liberties with known historical facts which is bothersome in historical fiction (I prefer the liberties to be with the unknowns, but such is personal preference), som...

Not my favourite Boyne. Maybe because I couldn't buy into romanticising the story. A story which objectively I know caused the suffering of many, many, many people, not just one family. So I kept thinking of all the families not written about, forgotten, like Georgy's own family. Lost into oblivion. And so why all the special care for one family.I like the pace and the writing in his The Heart's Invisible Furies and A Ladder to the Sky much better.

3.5⭐️I’m running out of praises for this author.

The House of Special PurposeJohn BoyleGeorgy Daniilavich is a Russian peasant whose life takes a dramatic turn when he saves the life of Grand Duke Nicholas Nicholavich, the uncle of Tsar Nicholas II. Moved to the Winter Palace in Petrograd, Georgy finds himself at the centre of the Royal life at a time of great turmoil in Russian history.Going back and forth between the Russian Court and Georgy’s later life in London - where he lives in exile with his wife Zoya – the story follows the events th...

A stand alone novel by John Boyne published 2009.As with every John Boyne book I have read this is, again, something special.This is a love story with the Russian revolution as a backdrop.For all the horrors that surround the Russian revolution there is a grace and gentility here that is quite uplifting.A young man, Georgy, is removed from his hard working, impoverished life and dropped right into the middle of opulence that he found hard to comprehend. The opulence is so over whelming its like

This is one of those books that people kept telling me to read because I am a Romanov buff. I have read just about everything about the last Tsar and his family, so it's difficult for me to read fictional accounts of them sometimes. It's not impossible, though. I love historical fiction, and the Romanovs are classic pickings for the genre - especially when you consider the aftermath of the Russian Revolution. Everything I knew about the book going in pointed to my thoroughly enjoying it.My revie...

I have always been interested in Russian history/people but for some reason have only ever read one other book that deals with the Romanovs.Through the eyes of the personal bodyguard of the only son of Tsar Nicolas II, the opulence of the royal family was put in sharp contrast beside the hunger, exhaustion and discontent of the masses during World War 1.Initially the writing was wonderful and effortlessly pulled me into the story and culture of rural Russia however this great momentum started sl...

John Boyne definitely knows how to tell a story and I would have enjoyed this a lot more if it wasn't for the historical inaccuracies. Being very interested in the story of the Romanows and having read quite a bit about them, I just couldn't look past them.I am however very much looking forward to reading other Boyne novels as I very much enjoyed his authorial voice.On a very sad note....I will always remember this book as the one that I finished reading the night that Notre Dame burned down in

This is the tale of a young Russian, Georgy, who finds himself as bodyguard to the Tsarevich Alexei in the final years of Romanov rule. Georgy often finds himself in the thick of things as Russia moves from a monarchy to a republic. The novel centres around Georgy's improbable romance with one of the Grand Duchesses and his unshakeable love for his wife, another Russian emigre.The story moves backwards and forwards between time periods as Georgy tells of his life. We see young Georgy coming to S...