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Amazon.co.uk Review
Simons was born in Leningrad and emigrated to the US in the 1970s. She sets her love story in the war-torn Leningrad of 1941. Utilising as her setting this phantasmagoric city of decaying splendour, Simons expertly involves the reader in the fate of two sisters, Tatiana and Dasha, living a penurious existence with their brother and parents. Their lives are ineluctably changed when Hitler invades Russia in June 1941. On that day, Tatiana meets a confident and attractive young officer, Alexander. As the Russian winter wreaks its havoc and the bombs fall, Alexander and Tatiana struggle with their growing love in the face of death and destruction. Simons' most impressive coup here is to ensure that the troubled love affair at the centre of her narrative is not engulfed by the terrifying conflagration that surrounds her characters. Tatiana in particular is drawn with a truly felicitous grasp of character: idiosyncratic, strong-willed and charismatic, she possesses all the requisite qualities to support a tale such as this.
However, the author isn't content to merely soothe and stir the reader: by using Hitler's war machine on the one hand and the dehumanising Soviet system on the other, she is able to make some powerful statements about the durability of the human spirit, but never at the expense of descriptive passages refulgent with power and beauty:
The train station crumbled like wet paper. Tatiana crawled from the beams and the fire, but there was nowhere for her to go. Through the smoke she could feel bodies around her. Hot and faint, she felt for them with her hands. The gunfire came from right outside the door, but when the lattice beam fell from the ceiling, all sounds faded away, all faded away and there was no more fear. Only regret was left. Regret for Alexander.--Barry Forshaw --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not Just A Romance,
By
This review is from: The Bronze Horseman (Paperback)
I picked this book up from my local library expecting another run-of-the-mill romance novel- lots of posturing, fainting and possibly some orphans thrown in somewhere. What I got was completely different. The beauty of the novel lies in Simons' gorgeous and heavily layered prose- the city of Leningrad is described in such detail that by the end of the novel I was left longing to visit this historical city. The book touches on some impressively heavy issues- dialogues between Alexander and Tatiana on the meaning of religion, personal identity and communism- particularly touching is his attempt to explain the concept of 'privacy' to his lover when no such word exists in the Russian language.Simons' manages to insert some history in the novel also; although it never reaches the depths of the dreaded 'historical novel'. What sets this novel apart from other romances is the strength of the relationship between Alexander and Tatiana- unlike most romance novels they don't spend the entire time double-guessing and testing the other's affection for them. The author does a good job in creating sympathy for all the characters, not just the protagonists but also those that surround them and Tatiana's emotionally damaged family. This is possibly the only romance I have ever read which allowed the reader to empathise with the third member of the love triangle (Tatiana's sister, Dasha)and the 'villains' may not be likeable but they are understandable. I have heard other readers complaining that the couple are typical 'Mary-Sues' but despite their overwhelmingly good natures they are significantly flawed enough to make for interesting reading. Much of the second half of the novel deals with the undercurrents of violence in their all-consuming relationship, contrasted poignantly with their attempts to build a lasting home for themselves in Lazerevo. One warning though- the ending of the novel is heart-wrenching, to say the least, and although a sequel has now been released when I first finished this novel I had to hide it, simply to stop myself crying!
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
no praise high enough,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Bronze Horseman (Paperback)
I cannot praise this book highly enough.I have never read anything which has effected me so deeply and for so long.I found myself in tears for days afterwards.Tatiana and Alexander are like dear friends by the time you reach the end of this epic journey.I have been trying to console myself by making up a sequel in my head, anyone else who has read the book will understand why!It's captivating, heart breaking, breathtaking, deeply moving, soul warming and epic.It will fling you into the pits of despair and help you discover romantic bones you never knew existed, but be warned - you will NOT be able to put it down once you have picked it up.The history surrounding the seige of Leningrad and the rest of the war in the Soviet Union is amazingly detailed - my knowledge of the geography of Russia is much improved for reading this absoutely incredible book.Buy it now !
15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A book that I will carry with me through life.,
This review is from: The Bronze Horseman (Paperback)
Like many, I bought this book because I had previously read and enjoyed Ms. Simons novel, 'Tully', but nothing I had read previously prepared me for the emotional rollercoaster I travelled as I delved deeper and deeper into the heart of this story.It is truly the greatest book that I have ever read and one that I will continue to read again and again over the course of my life. It is the most heartbreaking, gut-wrenching tale of love and war that has ever been told, and since finishing it, I have been unable to enjoy any other book. I still feel emotionally and physically drained from following the ill-fated paths of the two central characters, Alexander and Tatiana and I challenge anyone who finishes it to deny the same. Yet now, my one fear is that I myself will never experience a love so powerful and a need so great, but at least I now know what to look for. All I can say is, "Thankyou Paullina Simons."
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