The Bronze Horseman: Volume 1

Paullina Simons

Jul 2013 · The Bronze Horseman Book 1 · Harper Collins

About this ebook

An epic story of secrets, betrayal and an impossible love. Called “a Russian Thorn Birds” The Bronze Horseman by Paullina Simons is a sweeping saga of love and war that has been a monumental bestseller all over the world. The acclaimed author of Tully, Simons has written a stirring tale of devotion, passion, secrets, betrayal, and sacrifice. “A love story both tender and fierce” (Publishers Weekly) that “Recalls Dr. Zhivago ” (People Magazine ), The Bronze Horseman is rich and vivid historical fiction at its finest. The golden skies, the translucent twilight, the white nights, all hold the promise of youth, of love, of eternal renewal. The war has not yet touched this city of fallen grandeur, or the lives of two sisters, Tatiana and Dasha Metanova, who share a single room in a cramped apartment with their brother and parents. Their world is turned upside down when Hitler’s armies attack Russia and begin their unstoppable blitz to Leningrad. Yet there is light in the darkness. Tatiana meets Alexander, a brave young officer in the Red Army. Strong and self-confident, yet guarding a mysterious and troubled past, he is drawn to Tatiana - and she to him. Starvation, desperation, and fear soon grip their city during the terrible winter of the merciless German siege. Tatiana and Alexander’s impossible love threatens to tear the Metanova family apart and expose the dangerous secret Alexander so carefully protects - a secret as devastating as the war itself - as the lovers are swept up in the brutal tides that will change the world and their lives forever.

Ratings and reviews

Read this book when i was 15, handed down from older sister who too read it at 15 and its been our favorite book ever since. Anything i had read before were cheesy love stories that never went into depth about love and surrounding life issues and this book completely threw me off track. I was expecting a simple love story but the emotion and detail put into the suffering of russia during ww2 was overwhelmingly heartbreaking. I knew so much more about ww2 after this book and the experiences millions would have endured. Ive read the other 2 sequels and its now grown apart of me and i will forever love this book. Although some moments may be cheesy or over the top, if you grow to love the fictional characters and their story, you will completely enjoy the whole journey the 3 books take you on. Paullina Simmons is a fantastic writer and she does not fail to impress me through out all 3 books.

In this stone age the author could have found a person born before 1980 who has grown up in Russia, to read this book before it was published. Could have saved a lot of ridiculous mistakes. Oh, and an American speaking Russian with a slight accent pretending to be Russian during the times when everyone was paranoid about spies and enemies of the state! Really!? And the writing, easy to read, yes, but simplistic and lacking emotion, like a teenager trying to write for the first time. Not to mention the underlying idea that the only good brave worthy soldier in Russia was American?! And all the other 20 million Russians that died in the war were just pathetic weak and at times cowardly cannon fodder.

The most exciting love and war story I've ever read! Full of history and drama! Takes you into the heart of soviet Russia!

About the author

Paullina Simons is the author of Tully and The Bronze Horseman, as well as ten other beloved novels, a memoir, a cookbook, and two children’s books. Born in Leningrad, Russia, Paullina immigrated to the United States when she was ten, and now lives in New York with her husband and an alarming number of her once-independent children.