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Pilgrim Princess : The Life of Princess Zinaida Volkonsky

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Princess Zinaida Volkonsky was apparently one of those handful of beautiful and charming women who scent the pages of 18th c. histories. Cultured, wealthy, aristocratic and intellectual, they held sway over Tsars and Kings, salons and balls, their glittering jewels and extravagant gowns highlighting their beauty, their wit and learning flavoring their conversation.

A talented musician, poet, hostess and political medler, Princess Zinaida was born into the Russian aristocracy, and came to adulthood during a fascinating chapter in that country's history. Russia of the late 18th c. was more open, more Western and more powerful than it would be for centuries. This exotic and connected Princess had the ear (and heart) of the young Alexander I who had just defeated Napoleon after his diasterous attempt to conquer Mother Russia. She was friendly with Gogol, Pushkin, Turgenev and other writers who were at that moment raising Russian literature to glorious heights. She traveled from St. Petersberg to Venice to Paris to Rome to Vienna and back at a time when such travel was rare and arduous. She captivated young men, ignored her too patient husband, and impressed all around her with her many alluring attributes. Pulled toward the Church of Rome, she finally converted to Catholicism, settled in Rome, built a lovely villa with enchanting gardens and worked her charms on Cardinals and Bishops. She died of pneumonia after giving her warm petticoat to an old street woman, but not after establishing a number of religious schools for girls in and around Rome.

So why is this book so deadly dull? The ingredients for a delicious biography a la Nancy Mitford's "Pompador" are so readily to hand, but first-time author Maria Fairweather is unable to bring her fairy Princess to life. She remains flat on the pages, alway busy, yes, but also annoyingly neurotic, selfish and, frankly, not very interesting. Her faith and conversion is never convincingly explored, her circle of friends is impressive, but there is no hint of what drew these fascinating men to the lovely Zinaida. The central character of this book is missing. She isn't a mystery, she is a cipher.