Dynasty: A True Story by Christina Oxenberg
Quartet Books Limited, London
February 2, 2018
219 Pages
From the Publisher:
Part memoir, part royal history – this is the intimate and enchanting true story of Christina Oxenberg’s discovery of her remarkable and illustrious Serbian heritage. In 2014 Christina Oxenberg visited Serbia for the first time on the trail of her family history. What she discovered was not only the astonishing story of her origins – a descendant of the Karadjordjevic dynasty who rose from shepherds to kings – but also the hair-raising history of Europe and its royals from the 18th century to the present day. Deftly weaving Oxenberg’s own family history with that of Europe’s tumultuous recent past, Dynasty is a gripping and at times controversial royal saga, illustrated with 8 pages of beautiful images from Christina’s private collection.
My Thoughts:
I highly recommend this book. Period. End of sentence.
Christina Oxenberg writes a weekly essay about life and the absurdities of her own life and others from her southernmost locale of Key West, Florida. She was, I assume, writing from her cozy abode on the island until her home was blown away by the recent hurricane. Not to let this tragic situation daunt her, she took to the road for a time, and has been traveling abroad off and on to promote her latest book. This book is very different from her previous tomes, but still has that irreverent honesty that makes reading her work so delightful.
If the title “Dynasty” and the name Oxenberg ring a bell, don’t be confused. Christina’s sister, Catherine, played the role of Amanda Carrington on the show of the same name all those years ago. When I first found Christina’s website, I wondered if she was related to the actress. I not only learned that Christina is the sister of the actress, but also that her mother descends from Serbian (Yugoslavian at the time) royalty. After reading Christina’s book, Royal Blue, (‘Darkly Funny’ according to The Chicago Tribune. Royal Blue (Simon & Schuster 1998) is a memoir of half fact half fiction chronicling the early years of Christina Oxenberg’s hectic life) I was hooked on Christina’s engaging writing style.
After ordering some books directly from Christina, knowing she schlepped to the Key West post office to mail my books and that she was thoughtful enough to personalize and sign each book, I have appreciated Christina and her stories and observations of “large mammals” ever since.
Dynasty: A True Story schools her readers on her most famous descendant, Karageorge, or “Black” George Petrovic, a Serbian pig farmer who led his people against the Ottoman Empire to gain independence for Serbia. Besides this famous man whom Napoléon deemed one of the greatest soldiers, Christina devotes a chapter to various relatives down the family tree. Lovingly, she begins with her grandfather, Prince Paul, and her grandmother, Princess Olga. Then she continues with Karageorge and his sons and grandsons, plus a princess.
—Karađorđe Petrović, by Vladimir Borovikovsky, 1816 (from Wikipedia)
I appreciate how Christina gives her just due to her friend from Facebook that she surprised by meeting her on one of her first trips to Serbia and how this friend knew more about Christina’s family history than she herself did. They visited the family crypt and after this I am sure Christina was really inspired to find out more about her royal relatives.
Dynasty: A True Story was a pleasure to read and I truly enjoyed learning much about Serbian history and some European backstories that were completely unknown to me.
–Author Christina Oxenberg (Steffen Thalemann)
Links for Christina Oxenberg:
Thank you, Denise!
Thanks for reading and following, Martha!