Paullina Simons's "The Bronze Horseman"

Paullina Simons is the international best-selling author of novels such as Tully, Red Leaves, Eleven Hours, The Bronze Horseman, and Tatiana and Alexander.

Her latest novel is Lone Star.

Here Simons dreamcasts an adaptation of her novel The Bronze Horseman:

In The Bronze Horseman, Alexander the dashing Red Army officer, patrolling the streets of a large city the day Hitler invades the Soviet Union, meets and falls in love with Tatiana, a comet of innocence and desire. I had visualized them in their entirety, him tall, her tiny, him dark-haired her blonde, the fire between them burning on all the pages of my story.

For the last fifteen years my readers and I have engaged in heated discussions about who can possibly live up to the images we have built up in our minds of these two unforgettable characters. This is an instance where the image on the screen, even the Imax version, cannot compare to the vividness of our imaginations.

But if we were to try, if we were to agree that somebody must play them on the screen, then Henry Cavill would be a fine choice indeed as a stand-in for the real thing. He is tall and has a strong face. He has grace in his gait and humor in his gaze. He looks great with stubble and in uniform. He can be a fighter and also carry roses. He’s got the big shouldered full lipped approach to life that is essential in our Alexander.

And Tatiana? Well, there is Lea Seydoux. She plays quite the minx in some of her films, and we’d have to tone down her ostentatious appeal, but she’s got a good look for a Russian girl caught in the crossfire of history and forced to grow up real fast.

The question is, can those two, Henry Cavill and Lea Seydoux, ignite the screen the way the fictional Alexander and Tatiana ignited the pages of my novel? Would there chemistry between them, a spark, a delight? Would there be fire? Because if there is, everything else in the film will be built on that. If they work, everything works. If they don’t work, nothing else will, no matter how full and well realized.

I think they can work. They’d be amazing. If wishes were horses.

Visit Paullina Simons's website.

The Page 69 Test: Lone Star.

Writers Read: Paullina Simons.

--Marshal Zeringue

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