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And After the Fire
AND AFTER THE FIRE has received the inaugural Book Club Award of the 2016 National Jewish Book Awards.
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.
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.
464 pages, Hardcover
First published May 3, 2016
925 people are currently reading
8447 people want to read
About the author
Lauren Belfer
9 books477 followersLauren Belfer’s most recent novel is ASHTON HALL. Booklist called it "exquisitely illuminated." Fiona Davis said ASHTON HALL is “a brilliant, immersive story rich with intrigue and historical detail, and a stunning achievement.”
Lauren grew up in Buffalo, New York, and decided to become a writer when she was six years old. By the time she was in high school, her literary work was receiving rejection letters from all the best publications. Some of these letters included the initials of the person doing the rejecting, which she interpreted as encouragement. After graduating from Swarthmore College with a B.A. in Medieval Studies and Art History, she worked as a file clerk at an art gallery, a paralegal at a law firm, an assistant photo editor at a newspaper, a fact checker at magazines, and as a researcher and associate producer on documentary films. All the while, she was getting up early in the morning to write fiction. Her first published short story was rejected 42 times before it found an editor who loved it (this was before the days of self-publishing). Her second published story was rejected only 27 times.
Lauren’s debut novel, CITY OF LIGHT, was a New York Times bestseller, as well as a New York Times Notable Book.
Her second novel, A FIERCE RADIANCE, was named a Washington Post Best Novel, an NPR Best Mystery, and a New York Times Editors’ Choice. It was included in the Goodreads posting, "20 Moments that Changed History: A Reading List."
In a four-star review, USA Today said that Lauren's third novel, AND AFTER THE FIRE, “swells with life’s great themes — love and death, family and faith — and the insistent, dark music of loss.” AND AFTER THE FIRE received the inaugural Book Club Award of the National Jewish Book Awards.
Lauren has an M.F.A. from Columbia University, and she lives in New York City.
To learn more about Lauren and her work, please visit her website and follow her on social media:
LaurenBelfer.com
Facebook.com/AuthorLaurenBelfer
Twitter: @LaurenBelfer
Instagram: @LaurenBelfer1
Lauren grew up in Buffalo, New York, and decided to become a writer when she was six years old. By the time she was in high school, her literary work was receiving rejection letters from all the best publications. Some of these letters included the initials of the person doing the rejecting, which she interpreted as encouragement. After graduating from Swarthmore College with a B.A. in Medieval Studies and Art History, she worked as a file clerk at an art gallery, a paralegal at a law firm, an assistant photo editor at a newspaper, a fact checker at magazines, and as a researcher and associate producer on documentary films. All the while, she was getting up early in the morning to write fiction. Her first published short story was rejected 42 times before it found an editor who loved it (this was before the days of self-publishing). Her second published story was rejected only 27 times.
Lauren’s debut novel, CITY OF LIGHT, was a New York Times bestseller, as well as a New York Times Notable Book.
Her second novel, A FIERCE RADIANCE, was named a Washington Post Best Novel, an NPR Best Mystery, and a New York Times Editors’ Choice. It was included in the Goodreads posting, "20 Moments that Changed History: A Reading List."
In a four-star review, USA Today said that Lauren's third novel, AND AFTER THE FIRE, “swells with life’s great themes — love and death, family and faith — and the insistent, dark music of loss.” AND AFTER THE FIRE received the inaugural Book Club Award of the National Jewish Book Awards.
Lauren has an M.F.A. from Columbia University, and she lives in New York City.
To learn more about Lauren and her work, please visit her website and follow her on social media:
LaurenBelfer.com
Facebook.com/AuthorLaurenBelfer
Twitter: @LaurenBelfer
Instagram: @LaurenBelfer1
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 651 reviews
April 23, 2016
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. 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! (I had to laugh when I read that part.) Nevertheless, this novel ended up being a big let-down for me.
I will mention, to begin with, that I almost didn’t make it past the prologue, thanks to several instances of foul language. Thankfully, this did not set the tone for the rest of the novel, which was completely free of foul language. Unfortunately, that is the best thing I can say about the writing. Far from being ‘evocative’ or ‘resonating with emotion and immediacy’ as was advertised, the writing struck me as amateurish – often painfully so. It was dull, lifeless, and devoid of emotion. And worst of all, it told. The whole way through. For example:
“He approached the grand staircase, with its soaring ceiling. He began to walk down the staircase. She entered the vestibule. She wore a sleeveless dress and sandals. Her arms, bare. Her legs, bare. She reached the bottom of the stairs. Looking up, she spotted him. She smiled with excitement and happiness.”
“From her ease, Scott understood that she wasn’t annoyed with him.”
“That’s sad,” Karen said with what sounded like genuine pity.
Dialogue was often interspersed with explanations for why the character said or did something:
“Thank you for inviting me, Frau Levy.” Because of their age difference, Sara called Bettina by her given name, and Bettina called Sara by her family name.
or flat, stilted, and completely devoid of any personality:
Fanny cut a good-sized slice for Sara and the same for herself. The chocolate was dense, the marzipan intensely sweet. They ate in companionable silence. This was a cake that deserved their full attention.
“The cake is outstanding,” Sara said.
“I agree. Shall we have more?”
“Only to make certain we weren’t mistaken in our initial conclusions.”
Fanny refilled their plates.
There was an abundance of short, unimaginative statements about the setting:
“He was ten miles outside Princeton, New Jersey. A heavy rain had given way to fog.”
“Dan stood outside. The rain had stopped, but a damp chill seeped into him.”
“The wind picked up. Katarina pulled her hat down over her forehead.”
The story often moved forward by way of the character’s thoughts and inner monologue rather than action and dialogue. In fact, sometimes that was the whole ‘scene’. Most notably, the ‘romance’ that developed in the novel was only ever referred to in the character’s thoughts – or by narrative references to (and on one occasion, a short, stilted description of) their bedroom activity. They never once acknowledged their relationship or their feelings verbally, leaving each to wonder where the other stood on the matter.
As far as Susanna’s struggle to rebuild her life is concerned, we are informed of the ‘devastating act of violence’ she had experienced early on in the novel, where it is related at length as a part of one of her internal monologues. The attack itself takes up a relatively small portion of this narrative and, like so much of the writing in this novel, was told in short, choppy sentences: in this case, an awkwardly pragmatic, step-by-step sequence that was completely devoid of emotion except for one sentence: “Rage filled her.” Furthermore, there were some steps in that sequence that were too much information for me. The lack of emotion in the writing also made those few times when Susanna was ‘affected’ by her memory of this incident feel contrived and embarrassingly wooden, and the incident that ‘freed’ her from its ghost was as simplistic as it was awkwardly written.
The historical sections provided interesting snapshots into the life of Sara Itzig Levy (who was a real historical figure, and also the first custodian of the fictional cantata in this novel), but there was no real thread to her story beyond giving a vague sense of the progression of anti-Semitism in Prussia. She also happened to be the great-aunt to Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn – again, some interesting snapshots, but it all suffered from the same poor quality writing and didn’t provide enough of a story to really grab onto.
The last aspect I will mention is the overall anti-Christian sentiment in the novel, particularly the idea that the holocaust is evidence that there is no all-loving, all-powerful God. Obviously, the author is entitled to her own point of view, but as a Christian, I found myself chaffing against the lack of hope expressed by characters who apostatised, or expressed sentiments such as “If there really was a God, he, or she, wouldn’t turn away and let bad things happen in the first place.” I was particularly disappointed by the lack of any meaningful response to this by the various religious ministers in the novel. Obviously this review is not the place to offer such meaningful responses, but Christian readers may wish to be forewarned of this aspect of the novel prior to deciding to read it.
I really expected to enjoy this novel, but I probably wouldn’t have made it beyond the first chapter or two if I hadn’t been reviewing it. There were reasons beyond those I have mentioned above, but these were the primary reasons for my disappointment.
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.
I will mention, to begin with, that I almost didn’t make it past the prologue, thanks to several instances of foul language. Thankfully, this did not set the tone for the rest of the novel, which was completely free of foul language. Unfortunately, that is the best thing I can say about the writing. Far from being ‘evocative’ or ‘resonating with emotion and immediacy’ as was advertised, the writing struck me as amateurish – often painfully so. It was dull, lifeless, and devoid of emotion. And worst of all, it told. The whole way through. For example:
“He approached the grand staircase, with its soaring ceiling. He began to walk down the staircase. She entered the vestibule. She wore a sleeveless dress and sandals. Her arms, bare. Her legs, bare. She reached the bottom of the stairs. Looking up, she spotted him. She smiled with excitement and happiness.”
“From her ease, Scott understood that she wasn’t annoyed with him.”
“That’s sad,” Karen said with what sounded like genuine pity.
Dialogue was often interspersed with explanations for why the character said or did something:
“Thank you for inviting me, Frau Levy.” Because of their age difference, Sara called Bettina by her given name, and Bettina called Sara by her family name.
or flat, stilted, and completely devoid of any personality:
Fanny cut a good-sized slice for Sara and the same for herself. The chocolate was dense, the marzipan intensely sweet. They ate in companionable silence. This was a cake that deserved their full attention.
“The cake is outstanding,” Sara said.
“I agree. Shall we have more?”
“Only to make certain we weren’t mistaken in our initial conclusions.”
Fanny refilled their plates.
There was an abundance of short, unimaginative statements about the setting:
“He was ten miles outside Princeton, New Jersey. A heavy rain had given way to fog.”
“Dan stood outside. The rain had stopped, but a damp chill seeped into him.”
“The wind picked up. Katarina pulled her hat down over her forehead.”
The story often moved forward by way of the character’s thoughts and inner monologue rather than action and dialogue. In fact, sometimes that was the whole ‘scene’. Most notably, the ‘romance’ that developed in the novel was only ever referred to in the character’s thoughts – or by narrative references to (and on one occasion, a short, stilted description of) their bedroom activity. They never once acknowledged their relationship or their feelings verbally, leaving each to wonder where the other stood on the matter.
As far as Susanna’s struggle to rebuild her life is concerned, we are informed of the ‘devastating act of violence’ she had experienced early on in the novel, where it is related at length as a part of one of her internal monologues. The attack itself takes up a relatively small portion of this narrative and, like so much of the writing in this novel, was told in short, choppy sentences: in this case, an awkwardly pragmatic, step-by-step sequence that was completely devoid of emotion except for one sentence: “Rage filled her.” Furthermore, there were some steps in that sequence that were too much information for me. The lack of emotion in the writing also made those few times when Susanna was ‘affected’ by her memory of this incident feel contrived and embarrassingly wooden, and the incident that ‘freed’ her from its ghost was as simplistic as it was awkwardly written.
The historical sections provided interesting snapshots into the life of Sara Itzig Levy (who was a real historical figure, and also the first custodian of the fictional cantata in this novel), but there was no real thread to her story beyond giving a vague sense of the progression of anti-Semitism in Prussia. She also happened to be the great-aunt to Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn – again, some interesting snapshots, but it all suffered from the same poor quality writing and didn’t provide enough of a story to really grab onto.
The last aspect I will mention is the overall anti-Christian sentiment in the novel, particularly the idea that the holocaust is evidence that there is no all-loving, all-powerful God. Obviously, the author is entitled to her own point of view, but as a Christian, I found myself chaffing against the lack of hope expressed by characters who apostatised, or expressed sentiments such as “If there really was a God, he, or she, wouldn’t turn away and let bad things happen in the first place.” I was particularly disappointed by the lack of any meaningful response to this by the various religious ministers in the novel. Obviously this review is not the place to offer such meaningful responses, but Christian readers may wish to be forewarned of this aspect of the novel prior to deciding to read it.
I really expected to enjoy this novel, but I probably wouldn’t have made it beyond the first chapter or two if I hadn’t been reviewing it. There were reasons beyond those I have mentioned above, but these were the primary reasons for my disappointment.
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.
June 6, 2016
A Good Novel Slightly Marred by Excess
There were so many positive surprises about this novel about a cantata manuscript by J. S. Bach that resurfaces among the effects of a GI who found it in Germany in 1945. I am generally cautious with books about music, because the authors so frequently get it wrong, but Belfer writes impeccably on the technical and historical levels and as a listener. Although no musicologist myself, I was fascinated by her detailed description of the deciphering and authentication of the work. Every so often, she inserts historical chapters tracing the ownership of the manuscript from the late 18th century on, starting as a gift from Bach's son Wilhelm Friedemann Bach to his star pupil Sara Itzig, daughter of a prominent Jewish Berlin banker. These too are meticulously observed, but I suspected overkill: does the family have to know every writer and musician of the time, such as Schiller, Beethoven, Meyerbeer, and the young Mendelssohn? But then I looked them up: the family was real and yes, they did; Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn were Sara's great-nephew and -niece.
The lost cantata fits exactly into one of the sequences of weekly observances that Bach wrote for the Thomaskirche in Leipzig. But what makes it special is that it is a setting, in part, of a text by Martin Luther condemning Jews. This was one of the things that made me leery of reading the novel, but so precise is Belfer's research in other respects that I am prepared to believe that this text is genuinely by Luther. Indeed, the implied Antisemitism of some of Bach's texts has been a point of dissention before, most notably in the treatment of the Jews in his St. John Passion. And Belfer uses her recurring time-capsule chapters from the 18th and 19th centuries to show the growth of Antisemitic sentiment even among the Prussian aristocrats and artists that attended her salons.
This has obvious relevance to German conduct in the 20th Century too, of course, and the shadow of the Holocaust is always present, but Belfer handles that too with sensitivity. As she does the troubled question of whether a manuscript taken from a house that was itself stolen from its murdered Jewish owners can ever be the object of legal possession. But she is good with the moral issues too, having Susanna Kessler, the niece of the GI who found it, engage in painstaking searches to find any heirs of the rightful owners. What I liked even more, though, was that she made these issues personal. Both Susanna and Daniel Erhardt, the first expert she shows the manuscript to, undergo crises of faith during the course of the novel: she as a kind of spiritual curiosity stirring within her lifelong secularism, he as an onset of doubt about his long-unquestioned Christian beliefs. And I was even more impressed that Belfer was able to treat the spiritual search of both characters so even-handedly, giving equal value to Christianity, Judaism, and indeed humanism.
So what's not to like? A few implausible coincidences, but I am prepared to indulge them. I am more concerned with authorial overkill, as though Belfer wanted to make a blockbuster rather than trusting the historical, legal, moral, and religious aspects of the situation to work in their own terms. Does Susanna have to be the administrator of a charitable trust fund, distributing sweetness and light around the public schools of New York? Do we need to see the parties hosted by her billionaire boss, with whom she feuds with discreet determination over ethical issues? Does she need to be a rape victim? When she finds herself a new apartment in high-rent Manhattan, does it have to be in the secluded cloister garden of an episcopalian seminary? Is it not enough to have one musicologist assisting her, but do there have to be two, a Protestant and a Jew, each attracted to her romantically as well—with yet a third horning in for his own nefarious purposes?
Normally, such problems would make me reduce my rating to three stars or even two. But it is a tribute to the much more important things that Belfer does get right that I am sticking with four.
I got a free copy through the Amazon Vine program.
There were so many positive surprises about this novel about a cantata manuscript by J. S. Bach that resurfaces among the effects of a GI who found it in Germany in 1945. I am generally cautious with books about music, because the authors so frequently get it wrong, but Belfer writes impeccably on the technical and historical levels and as a listener. Although no musicologist myself, I was fascinated by her detailed description of the deciphering and authentication of the work. Every so often, she inserts historical chapters tracing the ownership of the manuscript from the late 18th century on, starting as a gift from Bach's son Wilhelm Friedemann Bach to his star pupil Sara Itzig, daughter of a prominent Jewish Berlin banker. These too are meticulously observed, but I suspected overkill: does the family have to know every writer and musician of the time, such as Schiller, Beethoven, Meyerbeer, and the young Mendelssohn? But then I looked them up: the family was real and yes, they did; Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn were Sara's great-nephew and -niece.
The lost cantata fits exactly into one of the sequences of weekly observances that Bach wrote for the Thomaskirche in Leipzig. But what makes it special is that it is a setting, in part, of a text by Martin Luther condemning Jews. This was one of the things that made me leery of reading the novel, but so precise is Belfer's research in other respects that I am prepared to believe that this text is genuinely by Luther. Indeed, the implied Antisemitism of some of Bach's texts has been a point of dissention before, most notably in the treatment of the Jews in his St. John Passion. And Belfer uses her recurring time-capsule chapters from the 18th and 19th centuries to show the growth of Antisemitic sentiment even among the Prussian aristocrats and artists that attended her salons.
This has obvious relevance to German conduct in the 20th Century too, of course, and the shadow of the Holocaust is always present, but Belfer handles that too with sensitivity. As she does the troubled question of whether a manuscript taken from a house that was itself stolen from its murdered Jewish owners can ever be the object of legal possession. But she is good with the moral issues too, having Susanna Kessler, the niece of the GI who found it, engage in painstaking searches to find any heirs of the rightful owners. What I liked even more, though, was that she made these issues personal. Both Susanna and Daniel Erhardt, the first expert she shows the manuscript to, undergo crises of faith during the course of the novel: she as a kind of spiritual curiosity stirring within her lifelong secularism, he as an onset of doubt about his long-unquestioned Christian beliefs. And I was even more impressed that Belfer was able to treat the spiritual search of both characters so even-handedly, giving equal value to Christianity, Judaism, and indeed humanism.
So what's not to like? A few implausible coincidences, but I am prepared to indulge them. I am more concerned with authorial overkill, as though Belfer wanted to make a blockbuster rather than trusting the historical, legal, moral, and religious aspects of the situation to work in their own terms. Does Susanna have to be the administrator of a charitable trust fund, distributing sweetness and light around the public schools of New York? Do we need to see the parties hosted by her billionaire boss, with whom she feuds with discreet determination over ethical issues? Does she need to be a rape victim? When she finds herself a new apartment in high-rent Manhattan, does it have to be in the secluded cloister garden of an episcopalian seminary? Is it not enough to have one musicologist assisting her, but do there have to be two, a Protestant and a Jew, each attracted to her romantically as well—with yet a third horning in for his own nefarious purposes?
Normally, such problems would make me reduce my rating to three stars or even two. But it is a tribute to the much more important things that Belfer does get right that I am sticking with four.
I got a free copy through the Amazon Vine program.
May 27, 2016
I read this book in two multi-hour afternoons, on my front porch, feet up, cats wandering in and out. I COULD NOT BE STOPPED.
The writing is engaging, enticing, beautifully descriptive without overwhelming (especially the descriptions of the music-- I wish I knew if Belfer had serious and extensive musical training. I t sounds like it) and the plot line moves forward (or backward) without tripping over itself.
Themes: Bach's music, the Holocaust, authenticating manuscripts, anti-semitism hidden in modern theology, devotion to and breaking away from one's inherited religious tradition, being part of an extended family; what to do when the work of an international 'god' is discovered to contain virulent hate-speech. And there's even (well, that would be a spoiler)
Yes, read it.
The writing is engaging, enticing, beautifully descriptive without overwhelming (especially the descriptions of the music-- I wish I knew if Belfer had serious and extensive musical training. I t sounds like it) and the plot line moves forward (or backward) without tripping over itself.
Themes: Bach's music, the Holocaust, authenticating manuscripts, anti-semitism hidden in modern theology, devotion to and breaking away from one's inherited religious tradition, being part of an extended family; what to do when the work of an international 'god' is discovered to contain virulent hate-speech. And there's even (well, that would be a spoiler)
Yes, read it.
June 9, 2017
4.3 stars actually. This was a good book, it had a lot of what I usually like. Historical background, musical history , historical artifacts and museums . 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 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. So I didn't think the last 80 pages relevant but the whole book in itself was great , I would recommend it to any lover of history or music.
July 13, 2016
The author Lauren Belfer has written two excellent works of historical fiction; A FIERCE RADIANCE and THE CITY OF LIGHT. 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. Both novels exhibit Belfer’s capacity to intertwine fictional and non-fictional characters that create historical realism and accuracy. 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.
The novel begins in May, 1945 as two Jewish American GIs are making their way back to a military base outside Weimar when they arrive in a well preserved German town located near Buchenwald, the Nazi concentration camp. They decide to enter what appears to be an abandoned house when one of the GIs, Henry Sachs decides to take the sheet music that is inside a piano bench. Upon doing so a disheveled German teenage girl appears with a gun and a shooting transpires resulting in the wounding of the second GI, Peter Galinsky, and the death of the girl.
At this point Belfer moves the story to June, 2010 in New York City where we meet Susannah Kessler, the Executive Director of the Barstow Family Foundation, where she coordinates grants designed to assist the city’s poor children. Susannah’s life will radically change that summer as her marriage ends in divorce after she is sexually assaulted in an ally on the way home from work. As she tries to cope with her failed marriage and the attack she learns that her Uncle Henry who had greatly impacted her life has committed suicide. Susanna must now deal with another painful loss and learns from her Uncle’s suicide note what happened to him at the end of the war. Her inheritance includes the sheet music he had taken which may be an original from Johann Sebastian Bach. The note asks Susannah to determine if the sheet music is original and to do with it what she deems appropriate. From this point on I became hooked on the storyline as Belfer introduces a number of important new characters both historical and fictitious.
We meet Wilhelm Friedemann Bach the son of the famous composer and music teacher of Sarah Itzig, who is Jewish and the daughter of Daniel Itzig, Frederick the Great’s Jew who was a financial genius who assisted the Prussian monarch as he launched his aggressive foreign policy. What plays out among these characters and their families is the moral issue faced by German Jews of the time period- should they assimilate into the larger German society or remain committed to their Jewish identity. This problem will result in many Jews converting to Christianity or hiding who they really are. Through Susanna we meet other important characters including Daniel Erhardt, an academic expert on Bach, Scott Schiffman, the curator of music manuscripts at the MacLean Library in New York, and Frederic Augustus Fournier, a Yale Centennial Professor who has his own agenda when it comes to the sheet music under question. Susanna turns to each man to try and solve the riddle of the possible Bach cantata.
Belfer structures the book by alternating chapters and historical periods. She moves easily from 18th and 19th century Berlin as she explores the Itzig family history and its relationship to Bach’s music, and Susanna’s quest to ascertain the legitimacy of the cantata. The role of anti-Semitism and the Holocaust are just below the surface throughout the story. The problem is that the cantata in question contains anti-Semitic lyrics that conform to Lutheran theology and prevalent beliefs of prominent Prussians at the time. Belfer does an excellent job discussing upper class Jewish society of the period and how they tried to cope with the developing racist ideology that surrounded them. In addition, the author does a wonderful job capturing Berlin’s attempt at developing into a cultural center following the reign of Frederick the Great, particularly salons, but also the undercurrent of anti-Semitism of the Prussian aristocracy that is dependent upon Jewish bankers.
Belfer possesses an elegant writing style that enhances her story telling and character development. She does a superb job explaining the structure of Bach’s music to the novice. She breaks down his work and the cantata in question so the reader can understand its importance whether it is real, or as a historical document that lends insight into German the social and intellectual milieu of the time period covered in the novel. In conclusion, Belfer has written a wonderful book that is surely her best and I believe it will satisfy a wide audience.
The novel begins in May, 1945 as two Jewish American GIs are making their way back to a military base outside Weimar when they arrive in a well preserved German town located near Buchenwald, the Nazi concentration camp. They decide to enter what appears to be an abandoned house when one of the GIs, Henry Sachs decides to take the sheet music that is inside a piano bench. Upon doing so a disheveled German teenage girl appears with a gun and a shooting transpires resulting in the wounding of the second GI, Peter Galinsky, and the death of the girl.
At this point Belfer moves the story to June, 2010 in New York City where we meet Susannah Kessler, the Executive Director of the Barstow Family Foundation, where she coordinates grants designed to assist the city’s poor children. Susannah’s life will radically change that summer as her marriage ends in divorce after she is sexually assaulted in an ally on the way home from work. As she tries to cope with her failed marriage and the attack she learns that her Uncle Henry who had greatly impacted her life has committed suicide. Susanna must now deal with another painful loss and learns from her Uncle’s suicide note what happened to him at the end of the war. Her inheritance includes the sheet music he had taken which may be an original from Johann Sebastian Bach. The note asks Susannah to determine if the sheet music is original and to do with it what she deems appropriate. From this point on I became hooked on the storyline as Belfer introduces a number of important new characters both historical and fictitious.
We meet Wilhelm Friedemann Bach the son of the famous composer and music teacher of Sarah Itzig, who is Jewish and the daughter of Daniel Itzig, Frederick the Great’s Jew who was a financial genius who assisted the Prussian monarch as he launched his aggressive foreign policy. What plays out among these characters and their families is the moral issue faced by German Jews of the time period- should they assimilate into the larger German society or remain committed to their Jewish identity. This problem will result in many Jews converting to Christianity or hiding who they really are. Through Susanna we meet other important characters including Daniel Erhardt, an academic expert on Bach, Scott Schiffman, the curator of music manuscripts at the MacLean Library in New York, and Frederic Augustus Fournier, a Yale Centennial Professor who has his own agenda when it comes to the sheet music under question. Susanna turns to each man to try and solve the riddle of the possible Bach cantata.
Belfer structures the book by alternating chapters and historical periods. She moves easily from 18th and 19th century Berlin as she explores the Itzig family history and its relationship to Bach’s music, and Susanna’s quest to ascertain the legitimacy of the cantata. The role of anti-Semitism and the Holocaust are just below the surface throughout the story. The problem is that the cantata in question contains anti-Semitic lyrics that conform to Lutheran theology and prevalent beliefs of prominent Prussians at the time. Belfer does an excellent job discussing upper class Jewish society of the period and how they tried to cope with the developing racist ideology that surrounded them. In addition, the author does a wonderful job capturing Berlin’s attempt at developing into a cultural center following the reign of Frederick the Great, particularly salons, but also the undercurrent of anti-Semitism of the Prussian aristocracy that is dependent upon Jewish bankers.
Belfer possesses an elegant writing style that enhances her story telling and character development. She does a superb job explaining the structure of Bach’s music to the novice. She breaks down his work and the cantata in question so the reader can understand its importance whether it is real, or as a historical document that lends insight into German the social and intellectual milieu of the time period covered in the novel. In conclusion, Belfer has written a wonderful book that is surely her best and I believe it will satisfy a wide audience.
June 22, 2016
2.5
Caveat emptor: another title hyped by the Big Publisher as a "bestseller" . But for those who enjoy being played like a piano [ sorry, could not resist, although pianoforte would be more apt for J.S. Bach's era], be sure to have at least 3 hankies for this concerted [....sorry] effort.
First, the religious / antisemitism aspect is overdone or at least not well done, as other reviews have suggested. It is possible that Bach would have used the text cited [ the reader is never given the entire liturgy for the musical score] as the basis for an entire cantata. But it is also improbable that he would have done so based on extant work. So, one wonders, why pick on Bach; or, indeed, why make up an 'undiscovered' work from any composer? Why not use one that is known? Ah, because then the sensationalism doesn't come into play. So: one terrible lie deserves another?
Second, That first issue would be forgivable. But. The story attempts to tell, and there is a lot of telling going on here rather than showing, the reader some religious history and which would have been very easy to research. Example, the author confuses transubstantiation with Lutheran beliefs: Martin Luther specifically rejected that doctrine and left it behind for Protestants when he nailed his '95 theses' list to the cathedral door. (Another example are the errata re: the Lutheran service.) The story leans a lot on atheism and agnosticism as if those are categorically good things; however, in the final chapters. does acknowledge Good and Evil. The moral debate of the female protag is thus sophomoric and is weakened by her politically correct position. Note that the text is paradoxically full of references to God , but an Old Testament version , the angry patriarch who taketh and giveth away, the little old man in the sky keeping score in his book . Here, God isn't the elegant force in the universe as contemplated by the latest physics theorizing. The 'God' in this story is a warped idea that someone picked up as a child and rebels against as an adult. So that's all rather confusing. And if it's one thing we don't need right now,
it's getting the sheeple even more confused in this election year. Oh, and the insipid 21st cent. love triangle doesn't help either though it keeps those hankies out for the romance crowd. Also annoying are the frequent but unlikely coincidences.
This story could have been fascinating. Instead it was, on balance, annoying.
Caveat emptor: another title hyped by the Big Publisher as a "bestseller" . But for those who enjoy being played like a piano [ sorry, could not resist, although pianoforte would be more apt for J.S. Bach's era], be sure to have at least 3 hankies for this concerted [....sorry] effort.
First, the religious / antisemitism aspect is overdone or at least not well done, as other reviews have suggested. It is possible that Bach would have used the text cited [ the reader is never given the entire liturgy for the musical score] as the basis for an entire cantata. But it is also improbable that he would have done so based on extant work. So, one wonders, why pick on Bach; or, indeed, why make up an 'undiscovered' work from any composer? Why not use one that is known? Ah, because then the sensationalism doesn't come into play. So: one terrible lie deserves another?
Second, That first issue would be forgivable. But. The story attempts to tell, and there is a lot of telling going on here rather than showing, the reader some religious history and which would have been very easy to research. Example, the author confuses transubstantiation with Lutheran beliefs: Martin Luther specifically rejected that doctrine and left it behind for Protestants when he nailed his '95 theses' list to the cathedral door. (Another example are the errata re: the Lutheran service.) The story leans a lot on atheism and agnosticism as if those are categorically good things; however, in the final chapters. does acknowledge Good and Evil. The moral debate of the female protag is thus sophomoric and is weakened by her politically correct position. Note that the text is paradoxically full of references to God , but an Old Testament version , the angry patriarch who taketh and giveth away, the little old man in the sky keeping score in his book . Here, God isn't the elegant force in the universe as contemplated by the latest physics theorizing. The 'God' in this story is a warped idea that someone picked up as a child and rebels against as an adult. So that's all rather confusing. And if it's one thing we don't need right now,
it's getting the sheeple even more confused in this election year. Oh, and the insipid 21st cent. love triangle doesn't help either though it keeps those hankies out for the romance crowd. Also annoying are the frequent but unlikely coincidences.
This story could have been fascinating. Instead it was, on balance, annoying.
March 22, 2019
NYC 2010, Susanna Kessler works for the Barstow Family Foundation. She receives a phone call that her uncle in Buffalo at the age of 86 took his life. 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. “Between some of the lines of music, words had been written, hastily” as the person writing them was in a haste. The music notes were signed by J.S. Bach.
Berlin 1776, “Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, eldest son of the mostly forgotten master Johann Sebastian Bach,” gives music classes to Sara. She is a daughter of Daniel Itzig, "‘the King’s Jew,’ as he was called. He had served as the king’s banker and Master of the Mint.”
Wilhelm writes a song in honor of her marriage. He puts his composition with other sheets of music composed by his father Johann inside a decorative box.
The present day story starts very interesting, the job description is a great hook as it sounds very fascinating, but once her personal drama is revealed and when she puts her uncle’s note away while trying to decide what to do with it, the story becomes disengaging.
The story would have been better off, if it only concentrated on the past story. Still the past story has some interesting facts for example about Jews, but for most of the part it’s pretty mellow, the pace is a bit too slow and it’s missing some engaging hooks.
@FB/BestHistoricalFiction
Berlin 1776, “Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, eldest son of the mostly forgotten master Johann Sebastian Bach,” gives music classes to Sara. She is a daughter of Daniel Itzig, "‘the King’s Jew,’ as he was called. He had served as the king’s banker and Master of the Mint.”
Wilhelm writes a song in honor of her marriage. He puts his composition with other sheets of music composed by his father Johann inside a decorative box.
The present day story starts very interesting, the job description is a great hook as it sounds very fascinating, but once her personal drama is revealed and when she puts her uncle’s note away while trying to decide what to do with it, the story becomes disengaging.
The story would have been better off, if it only concentrated on the past story. Still the past story has some interesting facts for example about Jews, but for most of the part it’s pretty mellow, the pace is a bit too slow and it’s missing some engaging hooks.
@FB/BestHistoricalFiction
August 6, 2016
This was a fascinating, well written, well researched book that really kept my attention, even through some parts that were a little too musically historical for me. 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.
The basic story revolves around a piece J.S. Bach wrote, beautiful musically, but with extreme anti-semitic verse, as in "we should kill all the Jews and burn down their temples". The cantata changes hands many times through the years, and the reader sees where it goes and where it ends up. It starts with one of Bach's sons giving it to his favorite pupil, Sara Levy, as a wedding present for her to protect and keep it out of public use. Each person who ends up with it is horrified by its sentiment, but unable to destroy an original Bach piece.
When Susanna ends up with the music, as she tries to figure out if the piece is authentic and if she has legal provenance of it, she starts questioning her Jewish background and what happened to her family, as she has not been raised religiously and has no extended family. There is mystery and history and romance and everything you could want in a story in this book. I loved it.
The basic story revolves around a piece J.S. Bach wrote, beautiful musically, but with extreme anti-semitic verse, as in "we should kill all the Jews and burn down their temples". The cantata changes hands many times through the years, and the reader sees where it goes and where it ends up. It starts with one of Bach's sons giving it to his favorite pupil, Sara Levy, as a wedding present for her to protect and keep it out of public use. Each person who ends up with it is horrified by its sentiment, but unable to destroy an original Bach piece.
When Susanna ends up with the music, as she tries to figure out if the piece is authentic and if she has legal provenance of it, she starts questioning her Jewish background and what happened to her family, as she has not been raised religiously and has no extended family. There is mystery and history and romance and everything you could want in a story in this book. I loved it.
March 30, 2017
I almost didn't read this book because of reviews talking about antiChristian sentiment and I've had enough of that lately, but I'm glad I read the book in spite of these reviews. I did not find antiChristian sentiment as much as objective scrutiny of some "Christian" "sacred" music and teaching. As a Christian, I cannot justify or explain the holocaust and it is inconceivable that it occurred in recent times. Her characters struggle with their faith and their culture- and that's timeless. She deals sensitively with questions of faith and causes the reader to question doctrine. Hating others seems incongruous with my understanding of God in any religion.
The descriptions of the Itzig family and their connections in society opened an important period of history for me that I've not explored previously- one of the things I most love about historical fiction.
A real bonus - I don't listen to classical music but I was interested after reading this book -she does a good job explaining Bach's composition - and I went to her website to hear her playlist. It's very good
July 12, 2016
So much emotions and feelings packed into this novel! I loved the way Lauren Belfer handles difficult topics in history and the present. No glossed over or dismissed perching of children in this book
June 20, 2019
This was a hard book to review. I found the subject matter intriguing, enjoyed getting glimpses into 18th and 19th century lives of beloved musicians and the mystery behind a (fictional) never-before-discovered Bach manuscript. I appreciated the author's careful research and obvious love of music. I also enjoyed the time-slip sequences from present day back into previous centuries. And I found her treatment of antisemitism important. However at times the book seemed heavy on 'telling' and bogged down in the details of musicology. Also, I felt the author had an agenda: to show the horrors of antisemitism throughout the centuries by highlighting the way Christians contributed to this, from Luther and Bach to German Christians who supported Hitler. I think these are important issues to raise, and as a Christian, I readily acknowledge ours sins against our Jewish brothers and sisters. But at times the book seemed like a diatribe from the author and I lost empathy for the main character, Susanna because she was overshadowed by the author's voice. 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.
January 26, 2018
Lauren Belfer is a pro at historical fiction. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and I learned some unexpected things about music, religion, and late 18th century Europe. I felt completely immersed in the life and times of Sara Itzig Levy and I was intrigued to learn about Fanny Mendelssohn. It makes me wonder which Mendelssohn wrote the pieces I played on the piano as a teen. This story is about much more than WWII and the holocaust. I was touched by how the author portrayed a Lutheran minister and his reactions to the discovery. I was surprised by some of the things I learned about my own religion.
Some readers might be bothered by the technical details involved in writing music and authenticating historical documents, but I found it interesting. As with her other books (City of Light is my favorite), she wrote about a smart interesting woman who doesn't fit into typical stereotypes. I love that the author does thorough research, but I wish I didn't have to wait so long between books.
Some readers might be bothered by the technical details involved in writing music and authenticating historical documents, but I found it interesting. As with her other books (City of Light is my favorite), she wrote about a smart interesting woman who doesn't fit into typical stereotypes. I love that the author does thorough research, but I wish I didn't have to wait so long between books.
April 13, 2016
This historical novel moves back and forth between the 1700’s to 1940’s to the present day. In Germany after WWII has ended, an American soldier, Henry Sachs, steals a music manuscript resulting in the death of a young girl. The manuscript is a lost cantata by none other than Johann Sebastian Bach. The lyrics contain violent Anti-Semitic words. 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, through its present day finding by Henry Sach’s niece, Susanna Kessler.
Quite a few of the characters in this book are real people, though not the characters in the present-day section. The story of the Anti-Semitic cantata by Bach is a very believable one, since Bach often used the words of Martin Luther in his music lyrics and there has been controversy over the years as to his Anti-Semitic leanings. The story is a fascinating one and touches on many German, French and American lives and the impact of Anti-Semitism on them.
The book raises the question of what was to be done with this long-missing piece of music, written by such a renown composer that all the world should hear, and yet containing such hateful lyrics of a people who had already been through far too much. Should it be destroyed or can it be used for a better purpose? The author concludes her book in a truly masterful and satisfying manner as to the fate of the Bach cantata.
The book is well written and rings true. There were parts that I felt were drawn out a bit too long and in which I felt a bit disconnected. But overall it’s a very good story about a very controversial issue. Recommended.
This book was given to me by the publisher through Edelweiss in return for an honest review.
Quite a few of the characters in this book are real people, though not the characters in the present-day section. The story of the Anti-Semitic cantata by Bach is a very believable one, since Bach often used the words of Martin Luther in his music lyrics and there has been controversy over the years as to his Anti-Semitic leanings. The story is a fascinating one and touches on many German, French and American lives and the impact of Anti-Semitism on them.
The book raises the question of what was to be done with this long-missing piece of music, written by such a renown composer that all the world should hear, and yet containing such hateful lyrics of a people who had already been through far too much. Should it be destroyed or can it be used for a better purpose? The author concludes her book in a truly masterful and satisfying manner as to the fate of the Bach cantata.
The book is well written and rings true. There were parts that I felt were drawn out a bit too long and in which I felt a bit disconnected. But overall it’s a very good story about a very controversial issue. Recommended.
This book was given to me by the publisher through Edelweiss in return for an honest review.
July 4, 2017
This novel spans several centuries from 1776 to 2010 and unites several individuals who are all connected by a long-hidden manuscript, a cantata by J.S. Bach. The story shifts between the past and present as the sheet music passes from one person to another and ended up in postwar Germany.
Quite a few of the characters in this book are real people, though not the characters in the present-day section. The story of the Anti-Semitic cantata by Bach is a very believable one, since Bach often used the words of Martin Luther in his music lyrics and there has been controversy over the years as to his Anti-Semitic leanings. The story is a fascinating one and touches on many German, French and American lives and the impact of Anti-Semitism on them.
Genealogists, music and history lovers alike will be enjoy this deeply researched tale, right up to the final page.
Quite a few of the characters in this book are real people, though not the characters in the present-day section. The story of the Anti-Semitic cantata by Bach is a very believable one, since Bach often used the words of Martin Luther in his music lyrics and there has been controversy over the years as to his Anti-Semitic leanings. The story is a fascinating one and touches on many German, French and American lives and the impact of Anti-Semitism on them.
Genealogists, music and history lovers alike will be enjoy this deeply researched tale, right up to the final page.
May 12, 2016
All of Lauren Belfer’s novels are classics. Timeless. Beautiful writing, engaging characters, page turning story lines. It does not stop there. Belfer’s novels take us to different periods in history, to different continents. They tease our minds so that we want to pursue further research about music, art, history, science, languages, and literature. And After the Fire is her most masterful yet. As a literature professor by day, by night I am an avid reader of Lauren Belfer’s novels – she never disappoints and I am always awaiting her next novel.
July 16, 2017
In an abandoned house Germany in 1945, American soldier Henry Sachs steals an old music manuscript and kills the girl who tries to stop him. When Henry’s niece, Susanna Kessler, inherits the manuscript in 2010, she discovers that it is a lost cantata by J.S. Bach with a virulent anti-Semitic text. It is rather creepy when an author makes money by defaming historical figures who are in no position to defend themselves.
August 7, 2016
Lauren Belfer's book, And After the Fire, gets three stars mainly for what I learned about music history. The story and the construction of the book left a lot to be desired. And, by the way, what fire? Couldn’t for the life of me figure out the title, but I may be a little dense.
This is the story about a lost Bach cantata, stolen during World War II. The lexicon is extremely anti-Semitic and yet the cantata gets into the hands of one Jewish family after another.
The premise of the story is good and the beginning definitely hooks the reader. From there it disappoints. The story flashes back from the present to the late 18th Century to the early 19th Century. The flashes help the reader understand where the cantata resides and who has it. Sara Levy, the main character in this time period is very interesting, compelling and kept me reading. The main character in the present, Suzanna Kessler, is less so, but not unlikable or unbelievable. The problems in this book lay in the story itself and the author's continued redundancy.
When Suzanna discovers the lost cantata among her dead uncle's possessions, she seeks out music experts to help her decide what to do with it. She is also interested in learning to whom the cantata belongs. Are there decedents from the war who have a claim on the piece? This leads her in the path of a new love interest, Dan. We learn that Suzanna had been raped and afterwards her husband left her. Dan also suffered from the early death of his wife and was still grieving from that loss. These two events brought these two broken people together. This particular storyline didn't bother me and the author did a sensitive job of creating the union of Suzanna and Dan.
What I have to ask is why all the different points of view? I saw no reason to have points of view chapters for: Scott Shiffman, Frederick Fournier, Frank Mueller. It was tiresome because these were minor characters. It cheapened the book. The story would have been told better in Suzanna's viewpoint with the point of view of Sara Levy in the past alternating. We didn't even need Dan's point of view. From a writer's perspective, those different points of view is the easy way out. The depth of the story for the reader was lost.
Furthermore the book went on and on about the anti-Semitism of the past, present and possibly future. Mentioning it once or even twice would have sufficed, but we got it shoved in our faces without let up. Way over the top.
I did enjoy learning about Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn and their musical careers. I enjoyed learning more about Bach and the musical soirees that were conducted in the homes of the wealthy during the late 18th Century.
Unfortunately, the story was mediocre at best and for that reason it rates only 3 stars. If you want to learn more about music history and are willing to skim the rest, this book is for you.
This is the story about a lost Bach cantata, stolen during World War II. The lexicon is extremely anti-Semitic and yet the cantata gets into the hands of one Jewish family after another.
The premise of the story is good and the beginning definitely hooks the reader. From there it disappoints. The story flashes back from the present to the late 18th Century to the early 19th Century. The flashes help the reader understand where the cantata resides and who has it. Sara Levy, the main character in this time period is very interesting, compelling and kept me reading. The main character in the present, Suzanna Kessler, is less so, but not unlikable or unbelievable. The problems in this book lay in the story itself and the author's continued redundancy.
When Suzanna discovers the lost cantata among her dead uncle's possessions, she seeks out music experts to help her decide what to do with it. She is also interested in learning to whom the cantata belongs. Are there decedents from the war who have a claim on the piece? This leads her in the path of a new love interest, Dan. We learn that Suzanna had been raped and afterwards her husband left her. Dan also suffered from the early death of his wife and was still grieving from that loss. These two events brought these two broken people together. This particular storyline didn't bother me and the author did a sensitive job of creating the union of Suzanna and Dan.
What I have to ask is why all the different points of view? I saw no reason to have points of view chapters for: Scott Shiffman, Frederick Fournier, Frank Mueller. It was tiresome because these were minor characters. It cheapened the book. The story would have been told better in Suzanna's viewpoint with the point of view of Sara Levy in the past alternating. We didn't even need Dan's point of view. From a writer's perspective, those different points of view is the easy way out. The depth of the story for the reader was lost.
Furthermore the book went on and on about the anti-Semitism of the past, present and possibly future. Mentioning it once or even twice would have sufficed, but we got it shoved in our faces without let up. Way over the top.
I did enjoy learning about Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn and their musical careers. I enjoyed learning more about Bach and the musical soirees that were conducted in the homes of the wealthy during the late 18th Century.
Unfortunately, the story was mediocre at best and for that reason it rates only 3 stars. If you want to learn more about music history and are willing to skim the rest, this book is for you.
February 10, 2017
This book left me cold. The writing is stilted and amateurish, the descriptions sound like ones from an SAT essay, something to up the word count. The characters were cold and uninteresting. Susanna earns some pity, but we never get to know her beyond the fact she's scared, cautious and hard working. The academics are too brilliant, too self-absorbed and one-dimensional. The musicology may be correct, but too arcane for the average reader. I read on to learn more about the cantata, but it never paid off. Important things happen off the page. It was hard to connect the two time periods, although the one featuring Sara Levy was more interesting. Everyone was too perfect, too rich. The real pain of anti-Semitism doesn't come through, and to suggest that everyone in modern-day Germany retains dislike for any person who might be Jewish is hard to believe. Much is made of losing one's religion, but it seems no one had any faith to start with — it's all a show.
I'm not sure what the point of this book is and wish I hadn't wasted my time.
I'm not sure what the point of this book is and wish I hadn't wasted my time.
March 26, 2017
After the Fire combines music history, especially in regard to the music of Bach, with the history of Jewish culture in Germany, for about 150 years prior to WWII. The author infuses the story with rich detail of certain musical pieces, as well as the historical setting. She alternates the story smoothly between a contemporary woman in New York, and a Jewish family in Germany, following several generations, beginning in the mid 1700's. The historical sections held my attention more raptly than the comtemporary, although I enjoyed both. 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. Reading those chapters is a brief glimpse of all that was lost, all the rich cultureal aritfacts, knowledge, and objects, with the growing anti-semitism, and the Holocaust. These is an undercurrent of the approaching doom woven into the story, in skilled and subtle ways.
February 2, 2016
In the waning years of the 18th century, Germany is alive with music. Bach. Beethoven. Composing, seeking outlets for their creativity. Salons are being held with intimate music performance as the main attraction. Sara Itzig Levy is a most sought-after hostess, with her gracious home, expertly manicured lawns and her musical talent on the harpsichord. There is some prejudice against Jews, but it is mostly non-problematic.
In 2010, Susanna Kessler's Uncle Henry dies. Among his papers is a musical score, an "autograph". Anxious to see if this Bach Cantata is an authentic original, Susanna begins to make inquiries which take her from New York City to Buffalo to Yale to Leipzig to Berlin as she traces the provenance.
Genealogists and music lovers alike will be thrilled with this wondrous tale, right up to the final page.
I read this DARC courtesy of Harper Collins and Edelweiss.
In 2010, Susanna Kessler's Uncle Henry dies. Among his papers is a musical score, an "autograph". Anxious to see if this Bach Cantata is an authentic original, Susanna begins to make inquiries which take her from New York City to Buffalo to Yale to Leipzig to Berlin as she traces the provenance.
Genealogists and music lovers alike will be thrilled with this wondrous tale, right up to the final page.
I read this DARC courtesy of Harper Collins and Edelweiss.
February 6, 2017
For me the highlight of the book was the survey of Jewish life in Berlin from time of Bach until WWII. It brought to life Amos Elon's The Pity of it All... especially details about the Mendelssohn family. I've met the author and I applaud her treatment of anti-Jewish sentiment n classical music!
July 4, 2016
While cleaning out her recently deceased uncle’s home, Susanna Kessler discovers an old manuscript that appears to be a previously unknown cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach. A letter with it explains that her uncle, a soldier during WWII, had discovered the document in an abandoned mansion in Germany. She takes the document to Daniel Erhardt, an expert on Bach, who at first is sure that it is a fraud.
However, eventually, he is convinced that it is real. But now he and Susanna are faced with a moral dilemma - the music, although undeniably beautiful, is accompanied by words taken from a virulently anti-Semitic sermon by Martin Luther. Daniel, raised Lutheran and Susanna, who is Jewish, must decide what to do with the document which is likely worth millions. Given the power of music to create strong passions, do they release this previously unknown piece by one of the greatest composers in history even though its release could have severe consequences or do they hide it away?
Alternating with their present day dilemma is the history of the cantata from its gifting by Bach’s son to his favourite pupil, Sarah, a young Jewish girl on the eve of her marriage. It is a burden she is not sure she wants or understands but eventually she and her new husband decide that she was given the cantata, not as an insult but so that she can dispose of it as she chooses. They decide that to release it would be dangerous. However, they cannot bring themselves to destroy it so instead they will keep it hidden. In its subsequent passage through several generations faced with the same dilemma, each must make their own choice.
And After the Fire by author Lauren Belfer is a powerful and beautifully written novel about how the moral questions of history including those surrounding works of art are never fully left in the past but continue to have an impact on the present. The story is told across generations, centuries, and continents and is peopled by both fictional and non-fictional characters including, along with Wilhelm Bach, Beethoven, and interestingly Sarah herself who was the real great aunt of Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn, both composers and both having roles in the novel. The cantata is fictional. In the end though, this is a compelling tale about two strong, intelligent women living centuries apart, who, when faced with the same important moral question, must make their own decision about how to deal with an important but dangerous work of art.
However, eventually, he is convinced that it is real. But now he and Susanna are faced with a moral dilemma - the music, although undeniably beautiful, is accompanied by words taken from a virulently anti-Semitic sermon by Martin Luther. Daniel, raised Lutheran and Susanna, who is Jewish, must decide what to do with the document which is likely worth millions. Given the power of music to create strong passions, do they release this previously unknown piece by one of the greatest composers in history even though its release could have severe consequences or do they hide it away?
Alternating with their present day dilemma is the history of the cantata from its gifting by Bach’s son to his favourite pupil, Sarah, a young Jewish girl on the eve of her marriage. It is a burden she is not sure she wants or understands but eventually she and her new husband decide that she was given the cantata, not as an insult but so that she can dispose of it as she chooses. They decide that to release it would be dangerous. However, they cannot bring themselves to destroy it so instead they will keep it hidden. In its subsequent passage through several generations faced with the same dilemma, each must make their own choice.
And After the Fire by author Lauren Belfer is a powerful and beautifully written novel about how the moral questions of history including those surrounding works of art are never fully left in the past but continue to have an impact on the present. The story is told across generations, centuries, and continents and is peopled by both fictional and non-fictional characters including, along with Wilhelm Bach, Beethoven, and interestingly Sarah herself who was the real great aunt of Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn, both composers and both having roles in the novel. The cantata is fictional. In the end though, this is a compelling tale about two strong, intelligent women living centuries apart, who, when faced with the same important moral question, must make their own decision about how to deal with an important but dangerous work of art.
November 5, 2016
I'm really surprised that I did not enjoy this book more than I did. She is a writer of acclaim, and the subject matter, or so I thought, is right up my alley. A previously unknown manuscript of a cantata by the illustrious Johann Sebastian Bach is found by an American soldier at the end of WWII. He brings it back to the states and proceeds to will it to the safekeeping of his niece Susanna. 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. The story moves along at a pretty good pace, though it was rather predictable to me. There is also another important theme running throughout the novel which concerns the libretto contained within the cantata. This is interspersed with ruminations of Jewish persecution and the Holocaust.
What bothered me most about this novel is that the author was a bit too obsessed and obvious with her views. I felt at times she was trying to justify her strong secular Jewish feelings, not believing in God but feeling very strong ties to her Jewish culture. In my opinion, this detracted from what she was trying to accomplish in this novel. And I do admit that I am not a great fan of Holocaust literature. I am very particular about any books on the subject, and in my opinion, this was not one of the better ones. I had just finished The Summer Guest, another historical novel about a time in the life of Anton Chekov, which I felt was so much stronger and richer. And After the Fire left me a little flat.
What bothered me most about this novel is that the author was a bit too obsessed and obvious with her views. I felt at times she was trying to justify her strong secular Jewish feelings, not believing in God but feeling very strong ties to her Jewish culture. In my opinion, this detracted from what she was trying to accomplish in this novel. And I do admit that I am not a great fan of Holocaust literature. I am very particular about any books on the subject, and in my opinion, this was not one of the better ones. I had just finished The Summer Guest, another historical novel about a time in the life of Anton Chekov, which I felt was so much stronger and richer. And After the Fire left me a little flat.
August 8, 2016
This is wonderful book which contains a historic mystery, some romance and sadness. When Susanna Kessler's uncle dies, she discovers a manuscript in his piano bench which appears to be a composition by Johann Sebastian Bach. As she researches the manuscript she meets Dan Eckhardt a professor and Bach expert and Scott Sittenfeld who is also a Bach specialist. In the past we meet Sara Levy who receives the Bach cantata from her piano teacher Bach's son. The content of the cantata is inflammatory and is hidden by each generation. Sara's uncle found it at the end of WWII. 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.
July 17, 2016
This is an excellent story about an unknown Bach cantata that Susanna Kessler finds upon her uncle's death. The narration alternates between present day as Susanna traces its journey, and the past -- starting in 1783 -- when Sara Levy is entrusted with it.
The author is from my hometown of Buffalo, so I loved all the Buffalo references!
The author is from my hometown of Buffalo, so I loved all the Buffalo references!
November 7, 2016
This is historical fiction and my first novel by this author. I loved the historical fiction part of this. It was an intriguing premise for a book. This book also had some beautiful writing too. Some of the prose was right up my alley....so why only 3 stars?
I liked all of the above, but when it comes down to it, I had a hard time connecting to any of the characters. This book also toggled around in time way too much for my liking. It wasn't just between two different time frames, but many ... kind of like a progression of sorts. This format clearly did not work for me. But I will say this was kind of sweet, but predictable. So 3 stars.
I liked all of the above, but when it comes down to it, I had a hard time connecting to any of the characters. This book also toggled around in time way too much for my liking. It wasn't just between two different time frames, but many ... kind of like a progression of sorts. This format clearly did not work for me. But I will say this was kind of sweet, but predictable. So 3 stars.
August 30, 2017
This book is just wonderful! I admire the author for all the research she's done, and her almost humble attitude to the subject. All the historical information is fantastic, and now I'll be listening to Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel's music!
July 15, 2016
This had all the makings of a great novel but it was poorly written, the main character was not likable and had anti-Christian themes.
October 7, 2018
This book was a gift from a friend and I really enjoyed it. I love WWII historical fiction in general but I have read so much of it and they all start to blur together. 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. 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. I was intrigued to the point of finding myself listening to Bach and I now have an appreciation for his ethereal music.
The modern day story follows a woman named Susannah who is suffering from a traumatic period in her life (a rape and then divorce when her husband can't handle it). She is an easy to like character and I found her story compelling but there are a few parts that were difficult to believe (giving away 40 million without taking any of it to live on, etc?)
There is a romance that is sweet and doesn't overshadow the plot.
The theme of faith and religious beliefs is strong and there are several characters who contemplate whether they believe there could be a God (the answer was 'no' ). This was thought provoking and interesting because it included different types of people from a professor, a minister, a rape survivor, to those who saw concentration camps to a girl being bat mitzvahed. It included those who were at one time fervent believers to those who simply never believed strongly in the first place. It was well-done in a philosophical and ruminating way.
And of course, being a WWII novel, it discusses the horrors of the Holocaust. I do not think I will ever read of such atrocities and not be moved emotionally.
The modern day story follows a woman named Susannah who is suffering from a traumatic period in her life (a rape and then divorce when her husband can't handle it). She is an easy to like character and I found her story compelling but there are a few parts that were difficult to believe (giving away 40 million without taking any of it to live on, etc?)
There is a romance that is sweet and doesn't overshadow the plot.
The theme of faith and religious beliefs is strong and there are several characters who contemplate whether they believe there could be a God (the answer was 'no' ). This was thought provoking and interesting because it included different types of people from a professor, a minister, a rape survivor, to those who saw concentration camps to a girl being bat mitzvahed. It included those who were at one time fervent believers to those who simply never believed strongly in the first place. It was well-done in a philosophical and ruminating way.
And of course, being a WWII novel, it discusses the horrors of the Holocaust. I do not think I will ever read of such atrocities and not be moved emotionally.
May 3, 2023
I don’t often write more than a few sentences as a review, but felt this one was worth it.
I’ll start by saying I’ve always been fascinated with world war 2 era history, so this story appealed to me right away. The author does a great job weaving multiple characters and story lines together, both past and present. Even though I don’t share an appreciation or love of classical music, I think anyone would appreciate the amount of research that went into creating the story line about a fictional, previously undiscovered (and controversial) Bach manuscript.
This historical fiction had a little bit of everything- love, trauma, history, music, religion, war, philanthropy… the list goes on. I was invested right until the end, needing to know who ultimately ended up with the manuscript in both the past and present story lines.
Another fun fact (and where some of my bias may come from, if I am in fact biased) is that Lauren Belfer has ties to Buffalo, NY. I had the chance to meet her recently at a book talk and signing, and hear about her inspiration for writing her novels. Another favorite of mine is her novel “City of Light” which is fully based in Buffalo during the Pan American exposition.
Overall, would absolutely recommend this book if you enjoy historical fiction.
I’ll start by saying I’ve always been fascinated with world war 2 era history, so this story appealed to me right away. The author does a great job weaving multiple characters and story lines together, both past and present. Even though I don’t share an appreciation or love of classical music, I think anyone would appreciate the amount of research that went into creating the story line about a fictional, previously undiscovered (and controversial) Bach manuscript.
This historical fiction had a little bit of everything- love, trauma, history, music, religion, war, philanthropy… the list goes on. I was invested right until the end, needing to know who ultimately ended up with the manuscript in both the past and present story lines.
Another fun fact (and where some of my bias may come from, if I am in fact biased) is that Lauren Belfer has ties to Buffalo, NY. I had the chance to meet her recently at a book talk and signing, and hear about her inspiration for writing her novels. Another favorite of mine is her novel “City of Light” which is fully based in Buffalo during the Pan American exposition.
Overall, would absolutely recommend this book if you enjoy historical fiction.
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