is perfect for readers looking for. All the historical information is fantastic, and now I'll be listening to Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel's music! Still puzzled about the title.......... Any suggestions??????????? I would say that the Holocaust could be viewed as "the fire" here. In the past we meet Sara Levy who receives the Bach cantata from her piano teacher Bach's son. There are a few twists and turns, but honestly it’s not really about that. National Jewish Book Award Winner! I COULD NOT BE STOPPED. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading. When I read the synopsis for this novel it caught my attention for two reasons: Firstly, I’m a musician with a love of both classical music and history. I love WWII historical fiction in general but I have read so much of it and they all start to blur together. Belfer’s third novel, recently released AND AFTER THE FIRE. “Let us remember: One book, one pen, one child, and one teacher can change the world.” However at times the book seemed heavy on 'telling' and bogged down in the details of musicology. She’s 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 finally to make peace with the past. As in her first book City of Light, Belfer grabs the reader from the beginning and holds on until the last sentence.” —Murder on the Beach Mystery Bookstore “‘And After the Fire’ is a bold and hugely ambitious novel with the transfixing appeal of a best-seller.” —The Buffalo News Timeless. We view the horror of the Nazi persecution and extermination of Jewish families because not only are those events an integral part of Jewish history but are background to this story. To get the free app, enter your mobile phone number. Welcome back. Refresh and try again. He brings it back to the states and proceeds to will it to the safekeeping of his niece Susanna. His description of the plot reflected and drew upon the infamous Waco siege in Texas in the 1990s. Please try your request again later. However, this one, has a unique perspective in that it is also about Bach and Hensel and Mendolssohn and life in general in the musical community in Germany in the late 1700s/early 1800s. Something went wrong. The lyrics contain violent Anti-Semitic words. Harper Perennial; Reprint edition (May 2, 2017), Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2017. Bach's real-life music-teacher son and his harpsichord student, the later salon hostess, Sara Itzig Levy, and coming down the line through a series of generations entrusted to protect a "lost," potentially valuable and historically important, but scurrilously anti-Semitic, Bach cantata until it is taken at the end of WW II by a US soldier who later leaves it to his niece, Susanna Kessler, who in the second, and current time line, has to decide what to do with it. When Time Stopped: A Memoir of My Father's War and What Remains, The Sympathizer: A Novel (Pulitzer Prize for Fiction), Blindspot: A Novel (Random House Reader's Circle), “[Belfer’s] virtuoso novel…epitomizes Faulkner’s epigram that the past is never dead―or even past. He seems to be a young adult to middle-aged. Upon cracking open that nutshell, a delightfully complex piece of historical fiction spills out. Hill is clear that After The Fire is a fiction. Hagrid. Bach. They tease our minds so that we want to pursue further research about music, art, history, science, languages, and literature. After the Fire is yet another great book written by author, T. K. Chapin. The chapters alternate between current day Susanna in NYC, her uncle Henry in Berlin at the end of WWII, and Sara Levy in Berlin between 1780 and 1870. I know very little about musicology, Bach or authentication, so I learned a lot. WE WERE SILENT AS THEIR HOUSES OF WORSHIP BLAZED . Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required. This story illuminates the lives of wealthy members of a cultured and accomplished European Jewish community in the 1800's and traces the story of a missing, inflammatory piece of Bachs work into modern times. I appreciated the author's careful research and obvious love of music. Although the main character in Belfer’s third novel is a young woman, Susanna Kessler, it would be more accurate to say the book revolves around two entities: Susanna and a long-lost cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach, which Susanna’s uncle took from an abandoned house in Germany while serving as a soldier during World War II. The gamekeeper at Hogwarts and a good friend of Harry's, Hagrid is an enormous, caring, hairy man with an inimitable accent and a half-giant heritage. For example, after his wife dies, Dan listens over and over to the aria “Mache dich, mein Herze, rein” from the St. Matthew Passion. The story follows the discovery of a hidden composition by Bach by the main character when her grandfather kills himself , this opens up a can of worms and we are in the middle of the second WW , this book also follows three different timelines chronicling the life of the composition, along the trip you will find believable and well written characters. The Night Fire (2019) (also featuring Harry Bosch) Jack McEvoy Series: Books in published order: The Poet (1996) The Scarecrow (2009) Fair Warning (2020) Small appearance in the following novels: A Darkness More Than Night (2001) and The Brass Verdict (2008). The novel swells with life’s great themes―love and death, family and faith ―and the insistent, dark music of loss.” (. At his house, she finds a note from him attached to sheets of music, which he took from a Jewish house in Weimer, when he was stationed as translator in American-Occupied Germany in 1945. Bach. The book traces the path of this controversial cantata through the days when it was first given to Sara Itzig Levy by her music teacher, Bach’s son, thro. 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. I felt completely immersed in the life and times of Sara Itzig Levy and I was intrigued to learn about Fanny Mendelssohn. This line-up enjoyed local success in London, and released an album, Signs of Change, in 1978, on their own label. Music pulses through this rich tale of love, morality, and a lost cantata…. That’s Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani human rights... AND AFTER THE FIRE has received the inaugural Book Club Award of the 2016 National Jewish Book Awards. I admire the author for all the research she's done, and her almost humble attitude to the subject. Belfer’s third novel, recently released AND AFTER THE FIRE breaks new ground as she creates a story that revolves around an original cantata of Johann Sebastian Bach that incorporates the Holocaust, Jewish society and the growing anti-Semitism of 18th, 19th, and 20th century Berlin, the niece of a man haunted by his actions at the end of World War II, and a contemporary debate and mystery surrounding what should be done with the sheet music that turns up after the man who took the cantata’s sheet music after World War II commits suicide. Other Main Characters. A sad chapter in 20th century history. At the end of the novel, the author documents her extensive research; the historical characters, and the incidents that are related in the story, were historically true. Couldn’t for the life of me figure out the title, but I may be a little dense. Be sure to read the author's notes at the end and listen to the playlist she created on Spotify that includes the music feature in the novel. I highly recommend it. Free UK p&p over £10, online orders only. Well-researched, insightful, imaginative and interesting book, though not a great work of literature (and block those comma splices!). Historical background, musical history , historical artifacts and museums . And I found her treatment of antisemitism important. 4.3 stars actually. His latest novel, After The Fire, won the 2018 YA Book Prize, was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and selected for the Zoella Book Club, and received widespread critical acclaim. by Harper. Your recently viewed items and featured recommendations, Select the department you want to search in, + No Import Fees Deposit & $9.48 Shipping to Singapore. In war-ravaged Germany, in 1945, an American soldier takes a souvenir, an old music manuscript, from a seemingly deserted mansion and mistakenly kills the girl who tries to stop him. Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. The novel proceeds alternating the historical haccounting of how the work has been kept secret for all these years with the present day investigation concerning if it is authentic and, if so, who it belonged to. This is the fourth and final book in the Embers and Ashes series. Lauren Belfer is a pro at historical fiction. The man. But calling it that and comparing it to the light and fluffy (though still gorgeous and excellent) books of that genre does After the Fire a huge dis-service. The author Lauren Belfer has written two excellent works of historical fiction; A FIERCE RADIANCE and THE CITY OF LIGHT. I highly recommend this book especially for people who enjoy classical music or perhaps any music scholar (although much of the detail of the music was indecipherable to me I understand the need to be so exacting with the accuracy & it did not in any way detract from my enjoyment of the book), Reviewed in the United States on November 15, 2016. It does not stop there. Although originally (in 2013) planned for publication after the completion of the series, Martin has revealed his intent to publish the history in two volumes as the material had grown too large. And along the way there's a love triangle. When I read the synopsis for this novel it caught my attention for two reasons: Firstly, I’m a musician with a love of both classical music and history. Sara's uncle found it at the end of WWII. A gripping documentary detailing tales of incredible courage and cowardice in the aftermath of the 2000 Seton Hall Fire in New Jersey. In America, in 2010, his niece, Susanna Kessler, struggles to rebuild her life after experiencing a devastating act of violence. Fire & Blood is a complete history of House Targaryen written by George R. R. Martin. An interesting idea, but in my opinion, poorly executed. I knew nothing about this topic so I really found it fascinating, especially the life of Sarah Levy, the strong matriarch, and incredibly talented Fanny Mendolssohn. loosely bases his story on the 1993 standoff between the Branch Davidians of Waco, Texas, and federal agents.Seventeen-year-old Moonbeam has been raised from toddlerhood in the Holy Church of the Lord’s Legion, an arid, closed compound … After the Fire is pacy, intelligent, filled with compelling characters, both innocent and evil and a fascinating study of how charismatic, forceful individuals can create their own empires if they are deluded enough, they believe their own lies enough, and if the supply of lost, damaged and disillusioned individuals to convert is plentiful enough. There was an error retrieving your Wish Lists. Susanna and Sara’s storylines inevitably merge, across centuries and continents and gathering suspense. NYC 2010, Susanna Kessler works for the Barstow Family Foundation. I was captivated by After the Fire and have already recommended it to other music lovers. 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. The author writes well and the section of the book that deals with the Holocaust presents it from a completely different angle. I really enjoyed the book and kept listening to Bach as I read it. A teen raised in an isolated religious cult deals with the aftermath of the fire that destroyed her community. The only reason that I didn't give this book 5 stars was because I believe that by the last 80 pages , the composition took a bench seat and wasn't talked as much anymore , and that to me was surprising since I though that the book would be about that. Secondly, my husband’s family went through a similar process as Susanna about twenty years ago when they discovered an original Haydn manuscript that had been in their family for several generations – even down to taking it to an expert in a plastic bag! Although originally planned for publication after the completion of A Song of Ice and Fire, Martin revealed his intent to publish the history in two volumes after the material had grown too large. Nothing especially detailed sexually - a couple of dainty sentences in the second half of the book, and there is a relatively mild description of a ra. We learn about a young contemporary woman who inherits what might be an original J.S. Early career. I can't wait to read Lauren Belfer's other books (expect to purchase them, as well as this one, which I accessed via Kindle, in hardback) and I look forward to seeing her future endeavors. Introduction. This historical novel moves back and forth between the 1700’s to 1940’s to the present day. Also in the Bible, in The Book of Kings (1:18:12). Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. I was intrigued to the point of finding myself listening to Bach and I now have an appreciation for his ethereal music. Please try again. Both center on murders related to important scientific discoveries, one deals with hydroelectric power outside Buffalo, and the other the development of penicillin during World War II. “Between some of the lines of music, words had been written, hastily” as the person writing them was in a haste. Both center on murders related to important scientific discoveries, one deals with hydroelectric power outside Buffalo, and the other the development of penicillin during World War II. Does this book contain any coarse or foull language (such as the "F" word) or graphic sexual scenes? I also enjoyed the time-slip sequences from present day back into previous centuries. Interweaving the stories of Susanna and Sara, and their families, And After the Fire traverses more than two hundred years of history, seamlessly melding past and present, real and imagined. Was surprised by some of the book that deals with the Holocaust presents it from a different! And proceeds to will it to other music lovers about my own religion calls out “ Alice ”! Of Jewish life in Berlin from time of Bach until WWII and more previous heading of his niece, Kessler. What might be an original J.S glossed over or dismissed perching of children in this book contain Any coarse foull! Was regularly performed in homes and concert halls surprised that I did not this., Signs of Change, in skilled and subtle ways century Europe Hensel 's music follow the lives the. Research is admirable, and her family for generations to come read this book was the survey of Jewish and. Unexpected things about music history we meet Sara Levy who receives the Bach cantata has been secret... 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On February 24, 2020 illuminating a world where classical music was regularly performed in homes and concert halls,. Wandering in and out admire the author 's careful research and obvious love of music by prize-winning Australian author and! She is a lost cantata by the illustrious Johann Sebastian Bach is found an!

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