Solitaire

Solitaire is a fictional character in the James Bond novel and film Live and Let Die. In the film, she was portrayed by Jane Seymour. Novel biography In a relative rarity for the James Bond franchise, there is little difference between the film and novel in the treatment of Solitaire's basic character and role. The novel reveals that her real name is Simone Latrelle, that she is of French stock, and she was born in Haiti; the name "Solitaire" (an near-oronym of her real name) is given to her by the Haitians because of her apparent exclusion of men from her life. The only physical difference appears to be that Solitaire is stated to have blue-black hair; she also possesses pale skin reminiscent of the tropical planter class. When Bond meets her she is twenty-five years old and described as "one of the most beautiful women Bond had ever seen." On a later occasion Bond describes her as looking "rather French and very beautiful." At their first meeting, in the presence of Mr. Big, she comes across as superior, cold, and disdainful, an attitude reflected by her face, which Bond finds beautiful partly because of its lack of compromise and its hint of both cruelty and command. Once Solitaire has escaped from Mr. Big, she immediately becomes warm, open, and passionate towards Bond. Despite her obvious Gallic-Haitian heritage, there is no mention of her having any French accent. Solitaire was initiated into some of the practices of Voodoo while still a child in Haiti. Either naturally or through this initiation, she has an extrasensory ability both to foretell the future and to judge the veracity of others, even if they converse in a language that she does not speak. These gifts instilled great fear of her among those who know her. Mr. Big discovered her doing a mind-reading act in a Haitian cabaret and, recognizing the value of her abilities, took her into his employ, using her in his espionage operations and planning for her eventually to have his children. Solitaire becomes, more or less, his hostage, with little or no autonomy, and when he uses her to interrogate Bond, her mental abilities immediately tell her that he is the one who will rescue her. She thus covers for Bond by lying to Mr. Big, telling him that Bond is not out to get the gangster. She later escapes from Mr.