The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar

“As he looked back from these United States and through the distance of the decades, it was all so clear. A great curse was unleashed that night, inundating every corner of his vast homeland. If his comrades could commit such an act, was it any wonder that Stalin could kill upward of twenty million of his own people? Of course not.”

Volodya is introduced in Chapter 1 under the false name “Misha”—some of his first thoughts involving guilt, violence, and Russian fate. While Volodya’s true identity is not yet known, his narration already introduces that which haunts him through the novel. Volodya’s use of “comrade” is also important. Robert Alexander’s inclusion of this term, which is typically only used by Communists or those who lived in the Soviet Union, suggests that his narrator is not who he claims to be and foreshadows Volodya’s past involvement with the Bolsheviks.

“Turning around, Sister Antonina nodded ever so slightly to Novice Marina. The girl edged slightly out into the hall, looked one way, the other, then offered a small nod in return. Sister Antonina, satisfied that the guard with the blond beard was no longer nearby, reached into her basked and lifted the glass bottle of milk.”

In Chapter 2, Volodya begins recording his version of history for Kate. Here, Volodya attributes the delivery of the “White Army” letters to Sister Antonina and her ward, Novice Marina; this change in narrative is just as important as Volodya’s decision to hide under the false identity of Leonka. By changing the true courier, Volodya erases Bolshevik involvement with the letters and, in the process, erases himself from this history.

“Katya, do you know what is as asinine as kommunizm? Autocracy. One man, one person, cannot rule the hearts and minds of millions. Liberty, freedom, truth—this America can be such a silly place, so fickle and naïve—sometimes so childish!—but it saves itself because of those first three things. If only Nikolai hadn’t so ardently believed in divine rule.”

Volodya attributes the Russian Revolution (the toppling of the Russian monarchy) to national frustrations over autocracy. In the early 20th century, tensions in Russia reached their breaking point, due in part to Tsar Nikolai II’s poor attempt to unite a nation with great ethnic, ideological, and spiritual diversity under his vision for Russia.