Oksana, by Susan May Warren with Susan K. Downs is the fourth novel belonging to the Heirs of Anton series. The series follows the faith journey of four generations of a Russian family. Since the series goes backward in time starting with the latest generation, and since this is the fourth book, we have come to the start of the family saga. I began this novel wondering who Anton was, but it soon became apparent after delving into a couple of chapters that I should have been asking who Oksana was.
It is March 3rd, 1917. Anton Klassen accidently meets Tsar Nicholas II in the forest when the train that he is on makes a temporary stop and he steps off the train momentarily in search of some food. The Tsar asks Anton to take on the care of a family servant, Oksana, until the political situation becomes safer, which would permit Oksana's return in service to the Imperial Family. The Tsar also entrusts to Anton the care of the Crest of St. Basil until his mission is finished. Accompanying Oksana is another servant of the Tsar's household, Yulia Petrovna, and her brother, Monk Timofea, who has come from the monastery at Pskov to help Anton escort the two women to safety.
Anton doesn't know quite what to make of Oksana when he meets the servant. He is impressed by her beauty and is puzzled by her regal manner, her fine clothes and her ability to converse in several languages. When the party reaches Petrograd, Anton expects to receive orders soon from the Tsar, directing him to return Oksana to the Imperial Family, but instead finds that political upheaval has spread to this city. Yulia is attacked. The two women fear that the intended target may have actually been Oksana. They realize that it would be best for Yulia and Oksana to separate to make it more difficult to track Oksana. In fear for her safety, Oksana asks Anton if he would be willing to enter into a marriage in name only, so that her identity can be disguised and so that it would allow them to travel together without raising the suspicions of others. Because servants of the Royal Family are not allowed to be married, they would need to have the marriage annulled when the Tsar sends for Oksana. Oksana is confident that the Tsar, who is the head of the Orthodox Church, will allow this to happen.
Just before the marriage, Anton is given a verse by the Lord: Psalm 100:5, which says, "For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations." It gives him the confidence to take a step of faith and to enter into a marriage with Oksana, even though he knows that she is looking to leave it in the future. It is a verse that both Anton and Oksana need to cling to, because Oksana is not who she says she is, and the political turmoil caused by the Russian Revolution brings a huge wave of destruction and heartache into their lives.
I had been prepared to read another romantic tragedy, such as the one that I found in Marina, which is the third volume of the Heirs of Anton. However, I was satisfied with how Oksana concluded for Anton and Oksana, except for what happened to their child, Marina.
The author also points out in one of her notes that Oksana is a "What If?" story, and is "not a chronicle of history but a fictional parallel to historical events." Oksana was published in 2005, and since then, history has revealed what really happened to the person who was represented by the character of Oksana in the novel.
Once I realized who Oksana really was supposed to be, I experienced quite a bit of a reshuffling in my mind about who Marina, Nadia, and Ekaterina were. I wonder, though, if readers will be the only ones who know what special lineage they have, because after reading Oksana, it becomes apparent that although these women may know of their connection to their forefather, Anton, they may not really know who Oksana was unless Timofea told someone or if Anton made note of it in his journal, which has been referred to throughout the series. This journal, as Anton explains, is a record of his spiritual journey, to be left for his heirs and descendants, so that they might learn from his experiences.
I enjoyed reading the series as a reverse chronology. I think that the revelation of who Oksana really is has a greater impact when read in this order, but it would be interesting to read the series in a forward chronological order and see how different that experience is.
