A magnificent epic of love, war and Russia from the international bestselling author of TULLY and ROAD TO PARADISE Leningrad 1941: the white nights of summer illuminate a city of fallen grandeur whose palaces and avenues speak of a different age, when Leningrad was known as St Petersburg. Two sisters, Tatiana and Dasha, share the same bed, living in one room with their brother and parents. The routine of their hard impoverished life is shattered on 22 June 1941 when Hitler invades Russia. For the Metanova family, for Leningrad and particularly for Tatiana, life will never be the same again. On that fateful day, Tatiana meets a brash young man named Alexander. The family suffers as Hitler’s army advances on Leningrad, and the Russian winter closes in. With bombs falling and the city under siege, Tatiana and Alexander are drawn inexorably to each other, but theirs is a love that could tear Tatiana’s family apart, and at its heart lies a secret that could mean death to anyone who hears it. Confronted on the one hand by Hitler’s vast war machine, and on the other by a Soviet system determined to crush the human spirit, Tatiana and Alexander are pitted against the very tide of history, at a turning point in the century that made the modern world.
The Bronze Horseman is the perfect blend of romance, history and excellent storytelling! I can’t say enough about this book. I read it back in 2001 when it was scarcely published in the US and I found it on the bargain table of a Crown Books (anybody remember those?) that was closing. Little did I know I’d be swept into one of the most beautiful romances in the midst of a raging war. This author does a beautiful balance of mixing historical detail with with love, devotion, deceit, starvation, sadness, longing and beauty. The recent popularity of this book felt like a special secret of mine being spread to the world, but I’m so happy it did because everyone should spend at least a week with Alexander and Tatiana.
Quotes I liked:
We walk alone through this world, but if we’re lucky, we have a moment of belonging to something, to someone, that sustains us through a lifetime of loneliness.”
-“Love is,” she repeated slowly, looking only at Dasha, “when he is hungry and you feed him. Love is knowing when he is hungry.”
-“They had no past. They had no future. They just were.”
Now even younger children can follow the little green caterpillar as he eats his way to becoming a beautiful butterfly in this sturdy board book Great for early development Children will enjoy this delightful tale Ages 2 to 5
2 Comments
Anonymous
on April 18, 2012 at 4:40 am
I read it about the same time as you, and it’s one of my favorites as well. Marilyn B.
Carly M.
on April 19, 2012 at 3:24 am
you recommended this book to me and i absolutely fell in love! amazing plot and characters. kept me on the edge of my couch
Review:Strangers in the Night by Heather Webb was an intimate introduction to Frank Sinatra and his lifelong love, Ava Gardner. Admittedly, I knew next to nothing about the man or the woman behind their star status. I for sure have heard Frank’s music as my parents were, and still are, fans of his songs.The good news is that by writing in the first person from Frank’s POV and Ava’s POV, the reader is introduced to them in an accessible way. It didn’t matter if you’ve been a lifelong fan or not familiar with either of them, we all start the book as equals.I was shocked at the at how fast their relationship could go from cold to hot. The way they could both love and fight with such passion and acrimony was crazy. Yet they always, well almost always, came back to one another.Learning about how they were raised, the struggles they went through, and the allowances given to men (not women) were all addressed throughout the book. Depression, alcoholism, addiction, and infidelity were commonplace in star-studded Hollywood.Fans of movies and old Hollywood will adore this book and folks like me, who knew little to none about Frank and Ava will enjoy it too!Heather Webb, Author @msheatherwebb @williammorrowbooks 📘 What's your favorite song? 📘#newreview#bookreader#bookreview#goodbookfairybookreview #tbr #AddtoTBR#goodbookfairy... See MoreSee Less
I read it about the same time as you, and it’s one of my favorites as well.
Marilyn B.
you recommended this book to me and i absolutely fell in love! amazing plot and characters. kept me on the edge of my couch