The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar

Adult Leonka takes a break from recording his story for Kate, reflecting on the discovery of the Romanovs’ burial site on July 11, 1991. When the excavation team uncovered the Romanovs’ bodies, they discovered two of the children missing: Aleksei and Maria. This prompts Leonka to reread a magazine article on the Romanovs’ assassination: The article speculates Aleksei switched places with the family’s kitchen boy on the night of the assassination and successfully escaped. A frightened Leonka knows “[n]othing before had ever come so close to the truth” (89), and he throws the magazine in the trash.

On June 26, 1918, the Romanovs continue to await the White Army’s reply. Early in the morning, Leonka notices a ruckus involving the tsar’s daughter, Tatyana, and a Bolshevik guard outside of the bathroom. Leonka watches from the hallway as an embarrassed Tatyana leaves and the Bolshevik laughs. Soon, the tsar himself marches over to the bathroom and studies something inside. After the tsar storms away, Leonka goes into the bathroom to see what caused the commotion: The Bolsheviks drew obscene graffiti in permanent paint on the bathroom mirror, mocking the tsar and his wife.

Later, during morning inspection, Komendant Avdeyev antagonizes the tsar and asks if the family has any questions about the state of the house.