Locked away in the seclusion of the Terem Apartments, the Romanov Tsarevnas were no threat to the crown. Yet the same Romanov blood flowed through their veins, and they weren’t so easily forgotten – one of them ruled Russia for seven years. Maria Alekseyevna writes her deepest thoughts in her diary, hides away to read, and has a forbidden love that lives in her secret script. 

Natalya Alekseyevna has dedicated her life to her sister, Anna Alekseyevna, who suffers from a condition that claimed her brother, Tsar Feodor Alexeyevich. She fills her days by creating her own versions of the ancient poems sung to the Romanov children. Fyodora Alexseyevna, the youngest, is nurtured by Maria, who hopes for a better life for her youngest sister. Sofia Alekseyevna fights tradition and rules the terem and eventually the country.

Covered from view, rare excursions outside the Kremlin enhance their lives and the discovery of a secret passageway – changes everything. Sofia’s absences from the terem are explained when Maria follows Sofia and learns her secret.

The author, Shirley Forrest Nomakeo received a B.S. in Graphic Design. She worked
in the printing industry for twenty years. Before turning to writing
full-time, she was a partner in a Golf Marketing and Promoting business
in western Massachusetts.
Currently, she is a published author. As an Independent author,
audiobook producer, editor, and APA member, she writes full-time. She
edits manuscripts for new authors and reviews audiobooks.
She lives in MA with her husband and two children.

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