The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar

1.  Did you ever suspect that the narrator, Volodya, was lying about his identity as Leonka the kitchen boy? If so, what made you suspicious that he was not telling the truth? If not, how did the novel’s twist ending affect you?

What is the purpose of Robert Alexander’s frame narrative (a story within a story)? How might this structural choice relate to the novel’s theme of hiding and ascertaining truth?

How does Volodya’s past as a Bolshevik guard affect how one reads the novel upon completion? Does Volodya’s past strengthen it? Or does his past weaken the novel’s political critique?