Bellagrand Paperback – March 6, 2014

I just loved the BH. All other Paullina Simons have been disappointing. I reckon they have not been written by the same author!! Anyway, when I heard Children of Liberty had a connection, I bought it. Found it boring, couldn't see any connection except "Barrington" so didn't even finish it! (unheard of for me!) Then I heard that Bellagrande was part of the saga so I bought that!! Again, could see no parallel and first 25% was awful....but I kept going. When I finally got the message that Gina and Harry were the parents of Alexander, I was hooked to find out about how they arrived in Russia, Alex's birth etc. I was disappointed in the ending a bit, but before I reread the BH to continue the story, I have gone back to Children of Liberty which now makes sense and I love It!! After reading that, I will read Bellagrande again before treating myself to yet another read (about 10X so far) of the Bronze Horseman, Bridge to Holy Cross and The Summer Garden which were brilliant books. By the way, has the 2nd book, Bridge to Holy Cross just been retitled as Tatiana and Alexander or is that another book????

The Bronze Horseman si one of the best books I have ever read - I was enthralled with every word. So, when I heard there was a prequel, I snapped it up immediately. Not sure how I felt about this story - certainly not as rivetting and totally captivating as the story of Alexander and Tatiana - but the story did raise incredibly strong feelinds, just not all good ones. This is a powerful but terrible story that left me at the end with a great sense of despair. It certainly satisfied my desire to understand how young American Alexander Barrington became Alexander Belov the Russian - a story so terrible and so tragic that it was almost hard to believe people could behave the way Harry and Gina did....a powerful history of misplaced Communist idealism and of destructive yet incredibly powerful love.

I have enjoyed the Pallina Simons stories I've read to date, particularly featuring Tatiana and Alexander. I found this book and others in the prequels easier to read from the perspective of their style and sequence, and it was good to gain a backstory to the original trilogy.Purely from a point of personal preference, I found the story itself difficult to enjoy. It was well told, but where I enjoyed the original love story of Tatiana and Alexander and their eventual triumph over tragedy it was difficult to find the same enjoyment in Gina and Harry's story.I chose to give the story 5 stars because, although I didn't find it uplifting, it did evoke strong emotions and did a great job of describing how Gina and Harry came to deliver Alexander from a safe life of wealth and privilege to one of danger and oppression from which his eventual triumph emerges.

An absorbing but cautionary tale about marrying in haste and repenting at leisure. It almost made me believe that arranged marriages have something going for them as the two main characters, although so very much in love, do not face a rosy future. As their lives began to unravel I wanted to shout at the book "Noooo, don't do that! Pleeeease!" But my silent scream went unheard and they continued down the slippery slope until I could barely read the last chapter. I actually grieved for them in their final situation. It takes an extraordinary author to do that.

After reading the Bronza Horseman Saga, (Bronze Horseman,Tatiana & Alexander and the Summer garden there was a piece missing in the puzzle. And Bellagrand came to fit it in: Alexander's mother....What was the story behind her? Why on earth did she agree to leave everything in America and become a proletariat? What happened? Her hartbreakoing love story which she couldn't fulfill out of loyalty to her huband who in turn had left everything to marry her is one of the most deep turmoils a human soul can find..Highly recommended for thos who enjoyed Simmons Saga.

Paullina simons is an amazing author. I’ll read anything she writes. This wasn’t my favorite book from her but i still recommend it 100%

Loved it. Made me cry for Gina. Alexander and even poor disillusioned Harry. Life is stranger than fiction and in reading this book my own understanding of life changed. Gina loved so strongly yet could not make things right, Harry controlled their lives. Paullina has written this book after the bronze horseman yet she must have had it in her head as it flows so well to the rest of the books.

I enjoyed this book but being that it is a typical Paullina Simons book you keep looking for what is going to trip the characters up. Very enjoyable but like I said prior I have not finished the book yet but the question is - does he go of his own accord or does he take his medicine?When is the next book out?

Bellagrand It explained to me my own father's life story. A young Jewish man from small town in Lithuania immigrated with his family to the U.S. at the beginning of the 20th century. He had caught the virus of Russian leninism-social doctrene, joined the Communist party, spent time in the prison, visited Soviet Union in 1934, returned home, but in 1936 left his all family and went to the USSR to build the "new anti-capitalist" society and so on...I expect my son and my daughter to read the book.I am greatly thankful to Paullina Simons for this book, which I found just by chance on the shelf in our library in a small town in Israel. So I bought this book for myself. Bellagrand

Has a plastic cover to protect it.

I have read the children of Liberty then the bronze horsemen trilogy it would have been nice if the books were listed so that I had read Bellagrand in the correct order as you then know how they ended up in Russia. 1 Children of Liberty 2 Bellagrand then 3 The Bronze Horseman. trilogy.

Contrary to some other reviews, I enjoyed both Children of Liberty and Bellagrand. They didn't capture my heart in quite the same way as The Bronze Horseman and Tatiana and Alexander but it was good to find out more about Alexander's past and how he came to be. I also enjoyed the political and historical aspects as it's a period of history that I'm not familiar with.

This just hasn't grabbed me. I thought The Bronze Horseman was the best book i have EVER read. This one had too much history/fact/background for me so i was distracted, i just wanted the story/characters/aching emotions of TBH :(