“I Was Anastasia” by Ariel Lawhon – Fame as an Imposter

Ariel Lawhon takes us on a tour into one of the more psychologically curious cases in history in her novel titled I Was Anastasia, delving into the life of Anna Anderson.

Not long after the Romanovs were famously executed, a young woman was pulled from a canal in Berlin and began claiming to be Anastasia, who was supposed to be dead and buried. Thus began the woman's journey towards becoming potentially one of the most famous imposters in human history.

Ariel Lawhon Dives into the Canals of History

The execution of the Romanov family is arguably one of the more well-known historical moments of the last century, never running short on depictions in popular media as well as new rumours and potential discoveries reviving the story periodically.

As you might imagine, where there is potential for fame and exploitation, there will be people willing to take advantage of it; for some reason, much of the world is holding out hope on finding surviving descendants of the imperial legacy.

Over the years many people have attempted to lay claim to the Romanov name, but were eventually all proven wrong one way or another. Amongst all of those people one stood out in particular, having led her battle for the name for over fifty years, a woman now known as Anna Anderson.

In her novel titled I Was Anastasia, Ariel Lawhon tells us all about this curious woman and the enigmatic storm she managed to create around her identity.

While the basis for this novel is firmly set in reality, it remains a fictional story, one which presents us with two concurrent narratives. In the first one, we are taken to 1918 Russia where the Bolshevik secret police execute the imperial family, leaving allegedly no survivors.

In the second narrative, we are taken to Germany two years later when an unconscious woman is pulled from a canal in Berlin, with an uncanny resemblance to the supposedly-dead Anastasia Romanov.

Her claims to the imperial name give rise to plenty of believers, detractors, and perhaps more importantly, old enemies who shouldn't have been reawakened.

The Thin Line Between Fact and Fiction

To start things off, I feel like I should mention Anna Anderson's claims to the Romanov family have been rejected in real life due to her DNA not matching any of the Romanov family remains. Nowadays the mystery has long been solved, and we know her to merely be one amongst many imposters.

However, with this being said, I believe her story to be much too interesting to be simply relegated with all the other failed claimants; after all, she did lead a longer and harder battle than most for an identity which wasn't hers.

When reading through the story of this book, you would probably do well to ignore what we know in real life, and treat it as more of a novel based on real events.

Though the historical aspect shines through quite heavily in many places, we are always set on the rails of a narrative which attempts to entertain us and keep us guessing where this mystery is going to take us.

I can safely say if I had absolutely no idea about Anna Anderson and her real-life story, I would have been much more on the fence about my predictions for where the story might go.

Lawhon is quite good at drumming up suspense and intrigue by presenting us with potentially conflicting facts and arguments, and I often felt like making a stand based on incomplete information.

I believe it was for this reason the author was successful in defying my expectations and surprising me time and time again with the developments in the story, despite the fact I was acquainted with Anderson's real fate.

The Break Between Wars

As someone who enjoys the study of history, it feels to me the period between the two World Wars is a bit of an overlooked period despite being a very unique and short era in our civilization's development.

Many places around the world were going through their own revolutions in one way or another, at the same time recovering from the largest war mankind had known up until then, none too certain what the future might hold.

I was quite happy to see Lawhon depict this time period with great care and accuracy, and I especially enjoyed the fact she took us on a rather long journey across three continents, always taking the time in detailing how life was back then.

On many occasions the saga does start to feel a tiny bit more like a historical textbook, but I feel the author did manage to skirt the line between education and entertainment quite skillfully.

I felt the strong establishment of the historical setting was quite important in exploring the one aspect which was obviously at the forefront of the author's thoughts when writing the book: the nature of identity itself.

The author's thoughts on the subject are quite profound in my opinion, and forced me to consider the question for myself as to what exactly makes me the person I am.

It's one of those topics which can swallow you whole, for the more you think about it, the more it becomes apparent there are factors in play which we hadn't previously considered, ranging from the time and place we were born to the claims we are allowed to make ourselves.

The Final Verdict

I Was Anastasia by Ariel Lawhon is one of those special books which succeeds in delivering an intriguing fictional narrative while also establishing a strong sense of historical accuracy. If you are generally interested in the Romanovs, the imposters who tried to claim their name, or people who usurp identity in general, then I recommend you add this book to your collection.

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Ariel Lawhon Personal site Ariel Lawhon is an American author whose books have made the list of various publication selections, including Library Reads, Indie Next, Costco, Book of the Month Club and One Book One Country. She began her career as a writer by publishing The Wife, the Maid, and the Mistress, after which her second novel, Flight of Dreams, saw the light of day. Most recently she has published another popular piece of work, titled I Was Anastasia, revolving around one of history's most famous imposters.