Introducing Helen Rappaport

Helen Rappaport, author, historian and former actress, will be discussing her novel 'Ekaterinburg', at the book festival on Sunday 16th June. 

'Ekaterinburg' tells the story of the final days of the Romanovs, the last Imperial family to rule over Russia.

Helen kindly agreed to be interviewed for the blog.

Thank you ever so much for agreeing to be interviewed.

You've written a number of books about Russian history, tell us a little bit about yourself and where your interest in Russia came from.

I came to writing quite late and by a rather long and circuitous route, but thankfully this is one profession where you can begin at any age.  My interest in Russian goes back to my teens when I first read the short stories of Anton Chekhov and fell in love with all things Russian. I remember struggling with Dr Zhivago at the age of 15, and with it the enigma that was Russia – I was hooked and have remained so ever since. I read Russian Special Studies at Leeds University, but during my time there became heavily involved in student theatre. An on-off career in acting followed, during which I also  worked as a literal translator of Russian plays for the theatre, as well as taking on small writing commissions for historical reference books.  Later, I took up copy editing and proof reading and after I moved to Oxfordshire I became an academic editor for Blackwell and OUP before finally moving into full time writing.

Your talk will be around the 1918 murder of Tsar Nicholas II, his wife Alexandra and his four daughters, and your next work will be about the four girls in particular, is this a favourite period of history for you and what makes it so intriguing to you and so many historians?

I was relatively late coming to the Romanovs, at my agent's suggestion. They are indeed a fascinating and tragic family – there are so many what ifs in the story that it is of course a minefield for conspiracy theorists.  I have never believed that anyone escaped the bloodbath in Ekaterinburg but the rumours still persist, making the story endlessly intriguing.
My preferred historical period is from the reign on Queen Victoria, 1837, to the end of the Russian Civil War in 1920. I find late imperial Russia particularly interesting though my interest originally was in the revolutionary movement.

This year’s festival is ‘a sense of place’, is there anything or anywhere in particular you’ve visited in Russia which feels unmistakably 'Russian', and if so, why? 

All of Russia used to be unmistakably Russian from the minute you stepped off the plane, but now, sadly the big cities are becoming very westernised and commercial and I absolutely hate that. I sigh when walking down the Nevsky Prospekt and seeing Next and Gap and all the British and US stores. I want Russia to stay Russian – and it is, quintessentially so, once you go out of the cities.
St Petersburg, for all the westernisation, still has a magical quality all its own. I adore it – it's my favourite city in the world. I have loved everywhere I have been in Russia – it has such a powerful spirit of place that it sucks you in and you are beguiled by it. I always feel very spiritually at home there.

You were an actress before becoming a full time writer, what made you change career?

Being broke, unemployed and depressed. It's a horrible profession for women as they get older, so cruel and unforgiving, and so much rejection unless you are at the top of the tree. The insecurity was terrible, although having had a period of reasonable financial security as a freelance editor I then took on another insecure life – that of the writer. And it is a very solitary life too, for much of the time.

How did you get involved with the Felixstowe book festival?

Book blogger Elaine Simpson-Long, who is friends with the organizers, asked me if I would give it my support in this, its inaugural year, and I was only too happy to do so as I am a champion of the smaller, more intimate literary festivals.

Aside from appearing at the festival, what are you looking forward to seeing and doing in Felixstowe when you’re here?  

I don't know the area at all, so I look forward to discovering it!

Helen Rappaport will be speaking at The Orwell hotel at 11.30 on Sunday 16th June.

Tickets cost £5. Click here to book your tickets.