Love Outside the Law or The Countess-Cherry on the Royal Cake

The love between the grandson of Nicholas I and the granddaughter of Pushkin occurred at the turning point of two eras. Against the backdrop of fateful events: the Russo-Japanese War, World War I, uprisings, and revolutions. But the roots of that love lie back in peaceful 1890 in France. It was there, on the French Riviera, that Grand Duke Mikhail Mikhailovich met the beautiful Sophie. In violation of the laws of the time, he married his new choice, thereby provoking the royal anger of Emperor Alexander III. The marriage was deemed morganatic, and the duke was forbidden to appear in Russia.
However, his love for Countess Sophie de Torbi, granddaughter of the poet, was savior for the Grand Duke, as three of his brothers, Nikolai, Georgy, and Sergey, were executed by the Bolsheviks during the Civil War.
The book presented to readers can be classified as a literary sensation. As an appendix, for the first time, the novel of Grand Duke Mikhail Mikhailovich "Do Not Be Sad" dedicated to Countess de Torbi is published in Russian. Readers can learn all the twists and turns of forbidden love from the firsthand accounts of the characters in this book.