Here, take this, she would say, take this, and tell me where he is. Tell me whether he's dead or alive, so I can walk as his widow or his wife. No one would, or could, tell her, and so she continued to cook, and to learn new things all the while searching for an answer among the outcasts. The way he carried his body, the way he walked in my life, Tatiana thought, declared that he was the only man I had ever loved, and he knew it. And until I was alone without him, I thought it was all worth it.
Paullina SimonsOpen your eyes, soldier,โ Tatiana said fondly, caressing his face.โAre you hungry?โ โI was hungry,โ Alexander said. โBut you fed me.โ His body was shaking underneath his sheet.
Paullina SimonsI want you to know that should something happen to me, donโt worry about my body. My soul isnโt going to return to it, nor to God. Itโs flying straight to you, where it knows it can find you, in Lazarevo. I want to be neither with kings nor heroes, but with the queen of Lake Ilmen.
Paullina SimonsWhenever you're unsure of yourself, whenever you're in doubt, ask yourself three questions. What do you believe in? What do you hope for? but most important, ask yourself, what do you love?
Paullina SimonsThere is a very definite Russian heart in me; that never dies. I think you're born and you live your life with it and you die with it. I'm very much an American - my books tend to be about American things, but inside there's that sort of tortured, long-suffering, aching, constantly analysing Russian soul underneath the happy American exterior.
Paullina Simons