And After the Fire: A Novel - Rilegato

Belfer, Lauren

Rilegato

ISBN 10: 0062428519 ISBN 13: 9780062428516

Casa editrice: HarperCollins, 2016

Riassunto

National Jewish Book Award Winner!

The New York Times-bestselling author of A Fierce Radiance and City of Light returns with a new powerful and passionate novel—inspired by historical events—about two women, one European and one American, and the mysterious choral masterpiece by Johann Sebastian Bach that changes both their lives.

In the ruins of Germany in 1945, at the end of World War II, American soldier Henry Sachs takes a souvenir, an old music manuscript, from a seemingly deserted mansion and mistakenly kills the girl who tries to stop him.

In America in 2010, Henry’s niece, Susanna Kessler, struggles to rebuild her life after she experiences a devastating act of violence on the streets of New York City. When Henry dies soon after, she uncovers the long-hidden music manuscript. She becomes determined to discover what it is and to return it to its rightful owner, a journey that will challenge her preconceptions about herself and her family’s history—and also offer her an opportunity to finally make peace with the past.

In Berlin, Germany, in 1783, amid the city’s glittering salons where aristocrats and commoners, Christians and Jews, mingle freely despite simmering anti-Semitism, Sara Itzig Levy, a renowned musician, conceals the manuscript of an anti-Jewish cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach, an unsettling gift to her from Bach’s son, her teacher. This work and its disturbing message will haunt Sara and her family for generations to come.

Interweaving the stories of Susanna and Sara, and their families, And After the Fire traverses over two hundred years of history, from the eighteenth century through the Holocaust and into today, seamlessly melding past and present, real and imagined. Lauren Belfer’s deeply researched, evocative, and compelling narrative resonates with emotion and immediacy.

Su questo libro

Recensione:

“[Belfer’s] virtuoso novel...epitomizes Faulkner’s epigram that the past is never dead―or even past. Susanna and Sara’s storylines inevitably merge, across centuries and continents and gathering suspense. The novel swells with life’s great themes―love and death, family and faith ―and the insistent, dark music of loss.” (USA Today, ****)

“In Belfer’s hands, fictitious characters blend uncannily with historical ones.” (The New Yorker)

“Finely written historical fiction layered with richly detailed characters and moral complexity.” (Jane Ciabattari, BBC.com)

“[A] compelling blend of fact and fiction.... Based on impressive research, this remarkable novel spans centuries and continents, touching finally on the Holocaust and serving as a paean to Bach’s music.” (Booklist (starred review))

“A different species of suspense tale.... Evocative, deeply researched.... Manage[s] to dazzle while delving into dark places.” (Maureen Corrigan, NPR’s Fresh Air)

“An intellectual thriller and a beautiful love story. What if you came into possession of an historical artifact with the power to alter history and change the world? Sure to establish Belfer as a fearless, provocative writer. Impossible to put down.” (Sara Gruen, #1 New York Times bestselling author of At the Water’s Edge and Water for Elephants)

“A bold and hugely ambitious novel with the transfixing appeal of a best-seller...by a native daughter of the city whose talent is now even beyond the admiration of those of us so impressed by City of Light....Extraordinary.” (Buffalo News)

“Engrossing. . . . A needy musicologist and his kid, a worldly woman haunted by trauma, the promise of the fabulous discovery of a lost and un-performable work by Johann Sebastian Bach—mix in greed and the drama that is modern New York—and you have the basis of a strong novel. Add to this generations of great names in music and culture, and you get a page-turner to love, even if you’re tone deaf. . . . a compelling and entertaining novel that will send you back to music.” (WOSU Radio)

“A remarkably suspenseful story, a literary thriller in the tradition of A.S. Byatt’s Possession.” (Kirkus Reviews)

“Compelling.... An immersive, page-turning story emboldened by historical fact and a rich imagination.” (Publishers Weekly)

L'autore:

Lauren Belfer’s novel A Fierce Radiance was named a Washington Post Best Novel; an NPR Best Mystery; and a New York Times Editors’ Choice. Her debut novel, City of Light, was a New York Times bestseller as well as a number one Book Sense pick; a New York Times Notable Book; a Library Journal Best Book; and a Main Selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club. She lives in New York City.

Su questa edizione

• Editore: HarperCollins
• Data di pubblicazione: 2016
• ISBN 10: 0062428519
• ISBN 13: 9780062428516
• Rilegatura: Copertina rigida
• Numero di pagine: 451