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Once in a while a book comes along that will capture you and doesn't let you go until it has shared its last word. This is such a book.

The Bronze Horseman is the first book of three that deal with the lives of Tatiana and Alexander, a young couple who meet and fall in love amid the first waves of WWII.

A nearly 17 year-old Tatiana Metanova wakes up one morning to a radio announcement that Hitler has just invaded the Soviet Union. The country is now at war and Tatiana is sent out in a rush to buy whatever she can get her hands on. Overwhelmed with the frenzy of her countrymen and having no luck securing provisions for her family, Tatiana takes an ice cream break on a street bench waiting for her bus. From across the street she notices a young Red Army officer watching her intently. He crosses the street towards her and from then on Tatiana's life begins a rollercoaster ride of passion, tragedy, betrayal, danger, and profound love.

Alexander is a young man with a dangerous secret and a tragic past. He has one desire which he has been carefully planning for since he was a teenager--to escape from Soviet Russia. His plans are dangerously close to changing forever when he spies the beautiful young woman sitting on a bench from across the street. She is humming to herself, eating an ice cream cone; the red strappy-heeled shoes she borrowed from her big sister, Dasha, on her feet swinging to and fro. Alexander is lost at the vision of this young woman in her white dress with the roses. Her image is forever imprinted in his mind. Should he walk away? Stick to his plans with no complications? Or should he cross the street? He takes the step into her life and into her heart. But the horrors of war loom in the near distance. Will it tear them apart? Will they survive?

Paullina Simons gives a harrowing account of the seige of Leningrad and pays homage to her beloved grandparents in this well crafted story of love and war. It kept me engaged from beginning to end never once letting me go to catch my breath. Every detail is lovingly embellished with beauftiful prose drawing you in to breathe, eat and drink their experiences as if they were your own. It is masterful storytelling, but a double-edged sword as some of her detail can become too much information, making me feel like a voyeur in their most intimate moments. Yet, it does not disappoint.

I highly recommend this book.