I was raised by maternal grandparents who were born in 1890 and 1899, respectively. They were British subjects; George V was the cousin of the tsar. The Romanovs were very real in their household.

Next quotes

• Kathryn Harrison:

  Rasputin's daughter understands the revolution. She would have been an outsider, a spectator in the

• Kathryn Harrison:

  I got history solidly under my belt, reading Russian history and biographies. I couldn't change the

• Kathryn Harrison:

  I like vampires, tuberculosis, anything to do with blood. Then I read a biography of Rasputin and f

• Kathryn Harrison:

  Lives that are so conspicuous have a claustrophobic feeling. Once you're in charge of running a cou

• Kathryn Harrison:

  Looking at the Obamas, they have a lot to manage with their children and having Michelle go out and

• Kathryn Harrison:

  It's hard for me not to have a great deal of compassion for the last Romanov family because, really

• Kathryn Harrison:

  I wrote 'The Kiss' 12 hours a day for six months.

• Kathryn Harrison:

  It is my conviction that secrets are more costly in the long run than honesty.

• Kathryn Harrison:

  I'm always sorry to finish a book, to let go of characters I love, people I've struggled to underst

• Kathryn Harrison:

  Whether writing fiction or nonfiction, I've never had the sense I was 'making up' a character. It f