Title: Painful to read, worse to contemplate
Product review: Dear God this is one wretched book. By page 40 I thought if Sullivan used the phrase "the beautiful Grand Duchess" one more time I'd scream; then he managed to use that phrase twice on ONE PAGE. All of which is made worse by the fact that you can't help wondering "Is she related to Mr. Ed the Talking Horse on her mother's side or her father's side?" as you look at the pictures provided of Victoria Melita. If this woman was one of the great beauties of her day then these were ugly times. This book is riddled with factual errors - WHERE was the editor on this one? - at one point the author actually gets the century wrong. It's also contradictory, fawning and downright stupid at least once per page. Why the author felt the need to canonize Victoria Melita instead of presenting an honest portrait of a clearly complex (and selfish) woman is a mystery. Then again, it's also a mystery how this book ever found a publisher. Don't waste your time or your money.
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