There are also her own words: from her letters, from her memoirs, plays, books for children, articles she penned for various journals. There are many excellent biographies of Catherine, which I’ve all read and then re-read as I prepared to write my novels. Under her rule, Russia expanded her influence and territory, and ensured her position in 18th century Europe. She is a pragmatic ruler who managed to reform some of Russia’s institutions and undermine others and continued the vision of Peter the Great. She is a born politician able to build a coalition of friends, supporters, and spies who, in the end, allowed her to overthrow her husband and reach for the crown. In historical accounts she is an immigrant to Russia, a minor Princess of Anhalt-Zerbst chosen to marry the Russian heir to the throne precisely because she was considered weak and without influence. Who was Catherine the Great, the woman who inspired two of my novels, The Winter Palace and recently published Empress of the Night? To mark the ebook publication of Empress of the Night, I’m delighted to host a guest post from Eva Stachniak in which she talks about the figure who has inspired her, the great 18th-century Russian queen Catherine the Great. I’ve always been fascinated by the ways in which writers of historical fiction take figures from the past and introduce their lives and times to modern readers. Its successor, Empress of the Night, was just published last month. Eva Stachniak’s first novel on Catherine the Great, The Winter Palace, was published in 2012.
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