Ksenia Godunova; Solomonia Saburova; Natalya Naryshkina

Alexandra Konstantinovna Sizova (d. 1908) was a writer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the wife of Vladimir Ilyich Sizov, the academic secretary of the Historical Museum. Her work spans a wide range of genres: novels, novellas, short stories, legends, and historical essays. Sizova published extensively in journals and major publishing houses of the time, including those of I. D. Sytin, and left a significant legacy addressing Russian history and culture.
This volume includes three of her historical narratives about prominent women of Muscovite Rus'. Xenia Borisovna Godunova (1582-1622), daughter of Tsar Boris Godunov, lived a tragic life-from royal grandeur to monastic confinement; her image has long endured in fiction and painting. Solomonia Yuryevna Saburova (1490-1542), the first wife of Vasily III, was accused of infertility and forcibly tonsured into a convent under the name Sophia of Suzdal. She went down in history as one of the most dramatic figures of the Moscow court. Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina (1651-1694), the second wife of Alexei Mikhailovich and the mother of Peter the Great, played a significant role in shaping the dynastic line that led to the accession of Peter I.
Sizova, combining literary talent with an attention to historical accuracy, created portraits of three women whose destinies became symbols of their time, embodying the drama of personal choice and the inexorability of political history.