The Bronze Horseman

[Read by James Langton] 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 golden skies, the translucent twilight, and the white nights all hold the promise of youth, of love, and 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.