The year is 1913 and Katya is 12 year-old. She lives with her mother, Countess Baronova, and Misha, the sixteen-year-old son of her mother's best friend. Both Katya's and Misha's fathers died in a war, and the Countess took in Misha when his mother died, too. The Countess has great wealth, and she surrounds herself with luxury. Katya has no idea how the rest of the people in Russia live, but Misha does. Misha hates the government, and he meets with revolutionaries who want to overthrow the Tsar and bring democracy to Russia.

Katya's mother is good friends with the Empress Alexandra, the wife of the Tsar. Empress Alexandra asks the Countess to be her lady-in-waiting. This is a very great honor, even though a lady-in-waiting is really just a servant. Katya is proud of her mother, and happy to move into the Tsar's palace. She looks forward to being friends with the Tsar's four daughters and his son, Crown Prince Alexei. After the family is settled in the palace, Katya becomes closest friends with the young Grand Duchess Anastasia.

In many ways, growing up in the palace is not as grand as living in her own home in St. Petersburg, because the Empress lives plainly rather than luxuriously. But even as Katya enjoys her new life, she begins to recognize differences in lifestyles between the aristocracy and the peasants of Russia. She likes the Tsar for his gentleness with his family, but she is troubled by his indifference to the misery of the Russian people.

Then, in the summer of 1914, the First World War begins, and Misha joins the army to fight for Russia even though he hates everything the Tsar stands for. He tells Katya that he and the other revolutionaries will help defend the country; then they will liberate it. But the war goes very badly for Russia. Katya worries about Misha because Russian soldiers don't have enough guns or ammunition. The people all over Russia are starving. All kinds of revolutionaries are fighting among themselves to take control of the empire, and some of them are evil men. Finally, they force Tsar Nicholas to abdicate his throne, and they imprison the royal family.

ANGEL ON THE SQUARE brings history alive in the form of a fictional story. The book is history that is very relevant to our world today, but it is mostly the story of a little girl who grows up in the midst of terrible events beyond the control of anyone, even the Tsar. What happens to Katya and her mother when the revolutionaries topple the monarchy? Does Misha survive the war? Even if you don't like reading your history books, you will definitely enjoy this book.

   --- Reviewed by Tamara Penny

Click here now to buy this book from Amazon.com.

Back to top.