Customer Reviews

Royal Monastic: Princess Ileana of Romania

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If you enjoyed the 1952 I Live Again by Princess Ileana of Romania and wondered what she did in the years until 1991, this book will take you through her life. Princess Ileana's deep Orthodox faith gave her strength to live through two world wars, suffering under both German and communist regimes, while raising six children. Her life of sacrifice led Princess Ileana to become a monastic in France and to later to build and open the Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration in Pennsylvania. This inspiring book is highly recommended.

A fascinating portrayal of an Orthodox "royal" whose life was one of love and self-sacrifice during the turbulent years of the Second World War and communist take over of eastern Europe. Her privileged childhood was no impediment to the deep Christian faith which sustained her and eventually led her to the monastic life, and the desire to share this life with those in her adopted country of America. Bev Cooke has done a masterful job of bringing to life Mother Alexandra, nee Princess Ileana of Roumania.

There are certain types of Royal histories and biographies I usually don't collect or read: ones that should have been annotated but are not, ones that do not distinguish between quoted letters/memoirs and "imaginary dialogue" concocted by the author, ones whose publishers have a religious or political bias.

On all the above counts, I should have not ended up with "Royal Monastic" in my library. But life is most interesting when things cease to fit the usual pattern... I recently had a common type of surgery and for over a week was unable to do little more than walk around, rest, or read in a lounge chair. I quickly found that my abdominal muscles were not happy with my holding heavy books so I picked through my books and created a small library of items that weigh almost nothing. The other day I picked up the slim paperback "Royal Monastic." A quick flip-through sent my "inner historian" to ringing all the alarm-bells, but as I was not in the mood to get up and shop around for another book, I decided to plunge in...

Well, there is no doubt that if this book were a an American beer, it would have the word "Lite" as a suffix. To be honest, the book was moderately appealing once I decided to suspend judgement as to which dialogue and scenes were imagined and which possessed a degree of historical accuracy, and just go with the flow. Clearly on the agenda is the promotion of Christian faith, hope and charity as well as the virtues of monasticism, but having attended Catholic grade school, high school and college, "nun" of that was particularly distracting to me.

Like many lesser members of reigning families, Ileana did not leave behind a massive and easily navigable paper-trail, so the US-based Ms. Cooke certainly did not have at her disposal mountains of original research material. Nevertheless, the author successfully rooted out archival material (correspondence), several lesser known articles and lecture notes, and appears to have been accorded ready access to anything Mother Alexandra's convent had to offer. (On becoming a nun, Ileana was known as Mother Alexandra.) Cooke's tale also benefitted from her familiarity with some of the better biographies of Ileana's mother as well as Ileana's and Queen Marie's autobiographies.

Though her book is chronological in its approach, Ms. Cooke uses a simplistic back-and-forth style that I found unusual for a royal biography. Rather than analyze it here, I will leave it to her readers to make what they will of it: there is the underlying straitghtforward narrative, with a recurring overlay of texts titled either "Imagine this..." or "Ileana remembers..." Burp. - Excuse me, that must have been the Biography Lite...

I met Ileana's late second ex-husband in the 1990s. At the time he was having photocopies made of mountains of correspondence to Ileana, mostly from Queen Marie. How Ileana's ex-husband came to have custody of the correspondence, I did not dare ask! If I recall correctly, he was preparing to send the originals to the Archives at Windsor. There was also a French author writing a book about Ileana's mother in the 1990's, but apparently by the time he received copies of the correspondence, the book was too far along. Too bad -- the letters Queen Marie wrote to her daughter were full of juicy stuff relating to the serious strife within the Royal Family during the 1930's. It surely would have been fascinating had the talented and thoughtful Ms. Cooke been able to use that material in the telling of her tale.

Finally, without giving anything away as regards what is fresh and new in Cooke's tale (and also what is totally ignored or overlooked- hence my withholding of a star), I will say that those who are well-read on the Romanian Royal family will find at least one interesting revelation/explanation in the book regarding a certain "black mark" long associated with Princess Ileana. For me, even without being able to gauge the merits of the explanation, this alone made "Royal Monastic" worth reading.

Royal Monastic doesn't just tell a story, it creates the world in which Princess Ileana lived and it invites the readers to enter in and engage it fully, with all its harsh realities a hidden graces. You learn what it meant to be royalty in Romania during this war-torn century, and how the queen and the princess held up their people with tender acts of service even as their people embraced them.

Royal Monastic is also smartly-formatted for ease on the eyes, with sections of each chapter devoted to Princess Ileana telling the story in her own words, as well as "imagine this" sections that allow the reader intimate and sometimes humorous glimpses into Princess Ileana's life.

At first I didn't know if I would be able to relate to Princess Ileana, as I have never been to Romania and I don't have any experience as a princess or a monastic. But Bev. Cooke's careful, colorful, richly-textured storytelling of a fascinating woman who responded to war, illness, betrayal and death with courage and resourcefulness gripped me at page one and didn't let me go until I finally, sadly, sighed and closed the book.

The life of a European princess. Abundance, compassion, adventure... Risk, mystery, danger, tragedy, want?!? Contrary to expectations, these are all facets of the life of Princess Ileana of Romania. Cooke has presented all of these in a gem of a book that is part diary, part history lesson, part novel, part scrapbook... Readers come away from this book grateful for the comparative ease of their own life experiences, enriched by learning from the life of a Godly woman, and challenged to care for others more than for themselves. Readers of all ages learn with Princess Ileana/Mother Alexandra that it is possible to live happily ever after, despite all circumstances... If your heart is in the right place.

Bev. Cooke does a very satisfying job in providing a narrative chronicle of the life of one of the twentieth centuries most unheralded, yet fascinating, persons. Mother Alexandra, formerly Princess Ileana of Romania, lived through two world wars, the communist takeover of her country, and finally saw it's liberation. She lived a life of royalty and privilege, yet knew poverty, encountered opulent materialism, yet lived as an Orthodox nun founding a monastery in Pennsylvania in the later years of her life. Mother Alexandra's experiences were varied and deep to the extent few others can claim. She was, by birth, related to some of the most powerful and historically significant people in modern history, yet never sought celebrity status. I was blessed to know her for a few years before her repose in 1991 and have seen her unique gifts and work continue to bring peace and joy to so many in the years since. If you seek an inspirational biography, read this one. Royal Monastic: Princess Ileana of Romania

I like Bev Cooke's book about Princess Ileana of Romania because she provides a third person narrative, plus information from Ileana's (or Mother Alexandra's) own journal. There are interesting family trees and photographs that add to the reader's understanding of this woman who was so devoted to God and to living a Christian life. Her story is so fascinating and inspiring.

Princesses are often depicted as fluffy, pampered, and spoiled. "Royal Monastic: Princess Ileana of Romania" tells of Princess Ileana of Romania, who served as a leader of her people through two world wars and a communist overthrow of her government. A story of hardship and a harsh life through harsh times, "Royal Monastic" is a story about a princess that few would expect.

Not read as yet. Trying to finish The House of Versace first. But, great topic. Will be enjoyed.