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The Kitchen Boy
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Plot Summary of The Kitchen Boy
"Misha Semyonov, an elderly Russian immigrant living in the Chicago area, tells the story of his life to his granddaughter, Kate. When he was fourteen, his name was Leonid (Leonka) Sednyov, and he was the kitchen boy to Tsar Nicholas II and his family during their captivity in the House of Special Purpose in Yekaterinburg. He claims to be the only living witness to their murders at the hands of the Bolsheviks in 1918, and to know what happened to the two children of Tsar Nicholas whose bodies are missing.

With the help of two nuns from the local convent, Leonka helps to smuggle notes, which supposedly come from a group of Russian officers who want to rescue them, to the tsar and his family. He also observes the family's lives during these last days before the murders, and records his memories for his granddaughter."

Vicki Kondelik, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of The Kitchen Boy
Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book? - depressed
Time/era of story - 1900-1920's
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
War/Revolt/Disaster on civilians Yes
Conflict: - Russian commies!

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - servant
Age: - a teen
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
Ethnicity/Nationality - Russian
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - society
Age: - 20's-30's
Profession/status: - killer
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - throughout most of the book.
How sensitive is this character? - mean, arrogant
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 7 ()
United States Yes
The US: - Midwest
Europe Yes
European country: - Eastern Europe
Asia/Pacific Yes
Asian country: - Russia
Misc setting - fancy mansion

Style
Person - mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death? - explicit references to deaths
Unusual Style: - a lot of flashback and forwards
Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
Most similar books to The Kitchen Boy
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The Wars by Timothy Findley
Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo
Regeneration by Pat Barker


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Robert Alexander Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:
  
Vicki Kondelik  

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