Solitaire

This post contains AI generated images of Solitaire based solely on Ian Fleming’s descriptions of her. Solitaire was difficult to capture, I had to try many iterations before finding images which seemed accurate.

Solitaire is described as one of the most beautiful women Bond had ever seen.

Physical Appearance:

• She has a pale face, with the pallor of white families that have lived long in the tropics, but without the usual exhaustion.
• Her eyes are blue, alight and disdainful, yet capable of containing a personal message. They can also appear wide with fear or tired with black circles underneath.
• Her hair is blue-black and falls heavily to her shoulders in a dark cascade.
• She has high cheekbones.
• Her mouth is wide and sensual with a hint of cruelty.
• Her jawline is delicate and finely cut, showing decision and an iron will, which are repeated in her straight, pointed nose.
• Her nails are short and without enamel.
• When Bond first sees her on the train, she is wearing a black tailor-made suit and a small black straw hat with a wide-mesh veil.
• Later, she is seen in a long evening dress of heavy white matt silk with deep folds falling from her shoulders, revealing the upper half of her breasts. She wears square-cut diamond earrings in broken bands and a thin diamond bracelet on her left wrist. She wears no rings.

Personality and Traits:

• Mr Big describes her as an extraordinary woman and unique.
• He calls her his inquisitor, noting she can divine the truth in people.
• He mentions that she is difficult and will have nothing to do with men, which is why she was called “Solitaire” in Haiti.
• When she looks at Bond, she takes him in slowly inch by inch.
• Bond feels a glow of excitement and a quickening of the pulse after her silent card demonstration, sensing he has a friend in the enemy’s camp.
• She is described as having a certainty of spirit and a background of common sense.
• She seems to have lived close to the secret heart of the tropics and experienced the mystery of drums and the quick workings of magic and the mortal dread it inspires.
• She claims she stopped being afraid of the dark as a child and is not a good subject for suggestion or hypnotism, but she knows the jargon of Voodoo.
• She tells Bond that they believe The Big Man is the Zombie of Baron Samedi.
• She admits unwillingly that she might try to kill Mr Big as a last resort, but her instinct holds her back due to her Haitian background and the belief surrounding Mr Big.
• She is described as frightened and having a bad feeling.
• Leiter refers to her as the “Solitaire dame” and believes she saved Bond’s bacon. He also notes that according to the CIA, she’s a “corker”.
• She seems open to love and to desire, and Bond feels she is not closed to him.
• He senses a past that includes a lonely childhood on a decaying plantation, an equivocal life in lodgings, and a struggle against “respectable prostitution” before entering the world of entertainment.
• She says she wants to forget about the past and tells Bond her real name is Simone Latrelle, that she is twenty-five, and that she is now happy.
• She is described as anxious.
• She is obedient, trusting, pliant, and loving towards Bond.
• Even though there is much death close, she says she is not afraid because she is with Bond and her heart is full.
• She whispers tremulously to Bond, “I didn’t want it to be like this”.

Background and History:

• She was born in Haiti.
• Mr Big found her in a cabaret in Haiti where she was doing a telepathic act.
• In Haiti, she was called “Solitaire” because she would have nothing to do with men.
• She questioned men on how many gold coins they had passed and the price they had been paid for them.

Perceptions by Others:

• Mr Big believes she is too valuable to remain at liberty.
• The negro captain of the Secatur described her as being prostrate with sea-sickness.
• Strangways refers to her as a “sort of damsel in distress” and, based on the CIA, a “corker“.

In summary, Solitaire is portrayed as a strikingly beautiful and enigmatic woman with a past shrouded in the mysticism of Haiti. Initially under the control of Mr Big due to her perceived telepathic abilities, she develops a connection with Bond and ultimately aids him. She is described as both fragile and possessing inner strength, marked by her unique experiences and her eventual love for Bond.