A powerful love story in which one woman’s quest for identity and healing also becomes the single way she can honour her grandparents, whose lives were irreversibly shattered by the Holocaust. Perfect for readers of Anna Funder and Megan Rogers.
It’s 1989 and for a young Jewish-Australian violinist, a scholarship to Berlin is the chance of a lifetime. Germany is on the verge of change as the wall is torn down, and Susanna is swept along by the tumultuous event. Under the careful guidance of Stefan Heinemeyer, her renowned violin teacher and the grandson of a Nazi, she begins a composition in memory of her grandmother, Mirla, who died in the Buchenwald concentration camp during the Second World War, and Susanna is inspired to retrace Mirla’s final footsteps.
It’s a journey that reconnects Susanna to her heritage and propels her musical gift to extraordinary heights. Yet as a forbidden yearning for Stefan begins to unfurl, Susanna’s life is forever changed, and the repercussions will echo through decades and across continents.
In a world where history, society and inherited traumas threaten to silence Susanna and prevent her from ever becoming her true self, can she find the courage to reclaim her power as a woman, a musician, and a composer, and in so doing, lay her haunted past to rest?
Shelley Davidow is an award-winning international author who grew up in South Africa. Writing across genres, her 50 books reflect her experiences living and working on five continents over two decades. Recent publications include the memoirs Runaways, Shadowand Whisperings in the Blood.
The Girl with the Violin is Davidow’s latest novel. It’s a beautifully written story about healing and forgiveness, and took me on an emotional journey that deeply impacted me. This book had me gripped from the very moment I laid my eyes on the beautiful and emotive front cover. I was not let down, and the inside of the book was every bit as beautiful as its cover.
My heart ached with Susanna’s as she faces the traumas of the past. In this novel, you’ll go through a whirlwind of emotions; I felt the beauty of the music and I cried as the characters faced the pain of their past traumas.
I particularly loved the historical aspects of the book, and the insight into the intergenerational trauma of Germans, and their burden of collective guilt from their ancestors. Davidow’s poetic writing style allows her to sensitively reflect upon these topics, and vividly explore themes of resilience, loss, love, grief and triumph. The story is made all the more real with Davidow’s interweaving of the German language, as well as drawing inspiration from her own personal experience.
A must read for any historical fiction fans, The Girl with the Violin is a deeply moving novel from Davidow, and will not disappoint!
Leave a Reply