NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD WINNER
For fans of The Imposter Bride and Sarah’s Key, a masterful new novel from Lauren Belfer, the New York Times bestselling author of City of Light and A Fierce Radiance
Susanna has the perfect New York City life: a great job, a loving husband and a beautiful apartment. But when a random act of violence tears it apart, she’s left to pick up the pieces alone. Just as she begins to feel whole again, her beloved Uncle Henry commits suicide—leaving behind a cryptic note that alludes to his haunting WWII experience as an Allied soldier in Germany . . . and something he took from the devastated country before returning home.
The daughter of the king’s Jewish banker, Sara is among the elite of Enlightenment-era Berlin. Beautiful, intelligent and a gifted pianist, she hones her musical talents under Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, son of Johann Sebastian Bach. They share a special bond, but while her life is just beginning, his is coming to an end. On his deathbed, Wilhelm bequeaths Sara the score of one of his father’s cantatas. Sara is stunned to see its violently anti-Semitic lyrics. Why did her beloved want her to have this horrifying document?
Weaving together the stories of Susanna and Sara, Lauren Belfer creates a majestic narrative that spans lifetimes and continents, encompassing both the best and the worst of the human spirit. The cantata’s troubled, riveting journey reveals that the two women have more in common than the score, and what Susanna learns may be the thing that can, finally, allow her to heal and move on.
From New York Times–bestselling author Lauren Belfer, a virtuoso novel that spans centuries and continents to reveal the secret history of a long-lost musical masterpiece by Johann Sebastian Bach—and the two women bound together by its troubled past
Sara Itzig Levy counts herself among the elite of late-eighteenth-century Berlin. An accomplished musician, she conceals a gift she received from her beloved teacher, Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, the son of celebrated composer Johann. The gift: one of the elder Bach’s final cantatas—containing a disturbing message.
In present-day New York City, Susanna Kessler’s charmed life is ripped apart by a devastating act of violence. As she struggles to recover, she learns that her Uncle Henry has committed suicide. He leaves her a cryptic note and a mysterious musical score. Susanna becomes determined to discover the piece’s origin. As Susanna delves into Sara’s world, harrowing questions about her own family’s past start to surface.
Seamlessly slotting fictional characters into history, and studded with real-life musical figures from Beethoven to Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn, Lauren Belfer’s deeply researched, evocative, and compelling narrative resonates with emotion and immediacy.
"Like all good novels, And After the Fire joins several colourful threads into one literary cloth of remarkable texture and strength."
