The Bronze Horseman: A Novel (Hardcover)

by Paullina Simons (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Set in her native St. Petersburg, Russia, Simons's latest thick novel (after Tully, etc.) focuses on a WWII love affair. As the story opens, Tatiana, the youngest member of the Metanova family, is just 17; she still shares a bed with her older sister, Dasha. Not long after the country goes to war with Germany, Tatiana meets Alexander, a soldier, and sparks fly. It turns out, however, that Alexander is the same soldier Dasha has been crowing about. Possessed of a strong sense of family loyalty, and living under conditions that permit no privacy, Tatiana refuses to interfere with her sister's happiness, but the attraction between Tatiana and Alexander proves too powerful. Complicating matters, another soldier, Dimitri, has information that could destroy Alexander, and Dimitri likes Tatiana, too. In order to protect both Dasha's feelings and Alexander's life, the star-crossed lovers become part of a deceptive quadrangle as war intensifies around them. Taking her title from a tragic poem by Alexandr Pushkin, Simons skillfully highlights the ironies of the socialist utopia. Despite the novel's sprawling length and its seemingly epic scope, the nearly single-minded focus on dialogue between Tatiana and Alexander leaves other character development shortchanged and the reader with the impression of a peculiarly tiny canvas. Nave and occupying the Cinderella role in her family, Tatiana is certainly a survivor though one who finally outstays her welcome. While her love story is often both tender and fierce, it is also overwrought and prolonged past the breaking point. (June)Forecast: An advertising blitz, five-city author tour and glamorous jacket may distract readers from the novel's shortcomings and ensure short-term success (foreign rights have been sold in 10 countries), but this is not the Russian Thorn Birds the publisher hopes it will be.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
In 1941 Leningrad, two sisters share everything including a passion for Red Army officer Alexander. Simons, the author of Tully and other titles, was born and raised in St. Petersburg.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 656 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1st edition (May 22, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060199261
• ISBN-13: 978-0060199265
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (161 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #439,229 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Beautiful Romance Set Against The Siege Of Leningrad, March 10, 2004

By	Jana L. Perskie "ceruleana" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Bronze Horseman (Mass Market Paperback)

"The Bronze Horseman" is more than a beautiful love story set against the backdrop of WWII Leningrad, where author Paullina Simons was born and raised. Ms. Simons portrays here, with great sensitivity and realism, the terrible suffering that the citizens of Leningrad experienced during the Nazi siege and their struggle to survive. She also probes the intricacies of family relationships, the ties that bind, especially in times of terrible hardship. Simons alludes frequently to Alexander Pushkin's tragic epic poem, "The Bronze Horseman," from which this novel takes its title.

Seventeen year old Tatiana Metanova was wearing her "splendid white dress with red roses" and enjoying an ice cream cone when she looked up and saw a soldier staring at her with "an expression she had never seen before." Thus begins the intense and complex relationship between Tatiana and her Alexander (Shura) Belov, a First Lieutenant in the Soviet Army. Vyacheslav Molotov, Stalin's Foreign Minister, had announced the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union only a few hours before the two young people meet for the first time.

Tatiana lives in a tiny two room flat with her sister and best friend Dasha, her twin brother, parents and grandparents. Her sense of family is very strong, especially since she has never had a truly close relationship with anyone other than her kin. When Tatiana brings Alexander home for the first time she discovers that her sister Dasha had already met him in a club and had bragged about him as her new boyfriend. Dasha takes what had been a casual romance very seriously and believes she is in love. Alexander does not reciprocate her feelings, however. Tatiana has been very sheltered by her family and is quite naive and very innocent. Slight, blonde and lovely, she is thought to be the most fragile member of the family. Tatiana and Alexander continue to see each other, keeping their relationship a secret from everyone. As the love and friendship grows between the couple, Tatiana becomes determined to sacrifice her own happiness for her sister's.

The consequences of war, bombings, starvation and death, overwhelm the city, and take a terrible toll, especially on Tatiana's family. Alexander tries his best to protect them but he has a terrible secret that must be kept at any price, and this secret complicates the intertwined relationships even more.

This is an epic tale that I found almost impossible to put down. It takes unexpected twists and turns that highlight the horrors of war and the inner strength of Tatiana and Alexander, as well as the weaknesses and vulnerabilities of the characters. At first I was impatient with Tatiana's obsession to "give" Alexander to her sister. However, as Ms. Simons continues to develop her character the motivation becomes more clear and does make sense.

The author writes with great passion of love, war and survival. Ultimately I think this novel is as much about the human spirit's will to survive as it is about love. The dialogue between Tatiana and Alexander, as well as their love scenes are beautifully written. I will admit to sobbing more than a few times before the final page. I highly recommend this wonderfully romantic and tragic historical novel.
JANA

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bronze Horseman is a golden treasure, November 29, 2003

By	M. L Lamendola (Merriam, KS USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Bronze Horseman (Mass Market Paperback)

Review of The Bronze Horseman, by by Paullina Simons
Reviewer: Mark Lamendola

This is one of the most spell-binding books I have read in a very long time. Actually, I heard it on cassette, narrated by Kate Burton. Ms. Burton, a stage presence in her own right, is the daughter of Richard Burton. Obviously, the publishers thought highly of this book. And they had good reason to.

Ms. Simons was born and reared in Leningrad, and immigrated to the USA. She's written other books, including a sequel to this one. Unfortunately, the sequel (Tatiana and Alexander) is available in some countries (e.g., Australia) but not yet in the USA.

As a reader, you can't help but yearn for Tatiana and Alexander to realize their hopes and dreams. Yet, they face so many obstacles along the way that it's never certain they will. Their immense and powerful love for each other is evident, time after time.

The siege of Leningrad, in World War II, is something few American history books talk about. But, those of us who have read about what happened know how horrific it was. Ms. Simons lived there, and was able to talk to people who had--barely--lived through it. And that siege formed the backdrop for this intense tale of passion, betrayal, and danger.

It all began when 17-year old Tatiana was eating an ice cream on a beach when she noticed a Red Army soldier staring at her. Events moved forward from there. As Tatiana suffered one loss after another--her twin brother, her father, her mother, and her sister--Alexander showed his love for her. He often did so at great risk.

In fact, Alexander risked everything for Tatiana at the end of the novel. But, this love was not one-sided. Tatiana gave of herself, repeatedly--and also took great risks. This story is not about two young people who survive war. It's really about two young people caught in a complex web spun by other people--like the devious Dmitri--while the circumstances of war also bear down on them.

The Bronze Horseman brings romance, suspense, and adventure together into a story that is memorable and moving. That it's also entertaining, breathtaking, and heartbreaking is simply icing on a very tasty cake.

Ms. Simons has a few books published. I hope she writes many more of this caliber.

20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Too many shortcomings to be really good, November 16, 2004

By	H. Wolf (Frankfurt, Germany) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Bronze Horseman (Mass Market Paperback)

I was surprised to see the many raving reviews about this book. It seems that many people don't notice - or don't mind - its obvious shortcomings. First, the general story idea - a moving love story in war-beaten Russia - is wonderful. The history is well-researched and equally well-presented. Actually those parts that concentrate on describing the effects of the blockade on Leningrad and the current events are the best of the book and would deserve five stars. One can feel the despair, the hopelessness and the desparate will to survive. Great writing, riveting story. However, this great five-star-deserving part unfortunately stands out alone next to the other parts of the book which range from medium to simply unbearable.

The first threehundred pages of the book have a tendency to be slightly repetitive and the setting of the love story is not really believable. Tatiana - who is so altruistic that it gets annoying - falls in love with Alexander - who in the beginning is a bit too perfect to be true. However, Alexander is the boy-friend of Tatiana's sister Dasha and so Tatiana and Alexander agree (or rather: Tatiana insists) that they hide their feelings for each other in order to protect Dasha's feelings. The lengths to which they go for this are unrealistic and slightly unnerving. The arrangement also sets the stage for an ever-repeated pattern of conversations between Tatiana and Alexander which goes like this: one of them does something in order to hide the love between them - the other one doesn't get the true intention and is annoyed - they argue without clearly saying what's actually bother them. Sometimes they make up, sometimes they don't. If one stops being annoyed, the other starts being annoyed. If they get ready to actually talk openly to each other, some kind of interruption prevents them. This happens a bit too often to still be interesting and actually by page 300 I was ready to stop reading, but forced myself to go on.

The pattern of using the same scene over and over again with slight alterations dominates most of the book, be it the above-mentioned misunderstandings or the family meal situations. The most blatant use of this technique is to be found later in the book: after the wonderful and thrilling historical bit, the story plunges deeply into the smutty romance-novel level. On 90 pages of the book, the same scene happens 33 times (!) - yes, I counted, because I thought I was suffering from a deja-vu. There are slight alterations in background and dialogue, but basically its thirty-three times (!) the same: young couple talks to each other while enjoying some leisure activities or doing daily chores, conversation becomes slightly teasing and either ends with ambiguous remark or with ambiguous remark followed by deatils about their physical intimacy. After a while I was terribly bored by the repetitions and felt ready to throw the book down and explain "Yes, I got the point, they're crazy about each other and enjoying the carefree days they have together." I seriously can't understand why no editor shortened this passage. The tendency of the author to make her point again and again seriously got over the top there.

Another issue that spoiled the reading for me was the partially bad writing. I noticed that some reviews here mentioned it as well. This bad writing is amazing, because parts of the book are written so extremely well and other parts are almost embarrassing to read because of the bad writing - mainly the dialogues.

This could have been a marvelous book - the historical details, the story idea, the well-described characters, the ability of the author to really create the atmosphere. But it has so incredibly many terribly weak points - the partly bad writing, the repetitive scenes, some extremely annoying characters (the four old village women, for example) and the plunges into the depths of a smutty schmaltzy romance novel - that it takes away too much reading pleasure. A real pity, but apparently it didn't harm the commercial success.