And After the Fire, Lauren Belfer
And After the Fire, Lauren Belfer
List: $22.95 | Sale: $16.07
Club: $11.47

And After the Fire
A Novel

Author: Lauren Belfer

Narrator: Xe Sands, Simon Vance

Unabridged: 12 hr 33 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/03/2016


Synopsis

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 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 make peace with the past. In Berlin in 1796, 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.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 what finally allows her to heal and move on.

About Lauren Belfer

Lauren Belfer was born in Rochester, New York, and attended Swarthmore College, where she majored in medieval studies. She also has an MFA from Columbia University. Lauren Belfer’s most recent novel, A Fierce Radiance, was named a Washington Post Best Novel and an NPR Best Mystery. Her debut novel, City of Light, was a New York Times bestseller and a New York Times Notable Book. She lives in New York City.

About Xe Sands

Xe Sands has more than a decade of experience bringing stories to life through narration, performance, and visual art, including recordings of the Nightwalkers series from Jaquelyn Frank. She has received several honors, including AudioFile Earphones Awards and a coveted Audie Award, and she was named Favorite Debut Romance Narrator of 2011 in the Romance Audiobooks poll.

About Simon Vance

Simon Vance is an award-winning actor and an AudioFile Golden Voice with over fifty Earphones Awards and thirteen prestigious Audie Awards. He was named Booklist’s very first Voice of Choice in 2008 and an AudioFile Best Voice of 2009.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Roger

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 wr......more

Goodreads review by Carlos

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......more

Goodreads review by Steven

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 Wa......more

Goodreads review by J.S.

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......more


Quotes

And After the Fire is an intellectual thriller and a beautiful love story…Sure to establish Belfer as a fearless, provocative writer.” Sara Gruen, #1 New York Times bestselling author

“Brilliant and mesmerizing…Since reading And After the Fire, I’ve been trumpeting it as the best novel I’ve had the pleasure of reading in years.” Elinor Lipman, New York Times bestselling author

And After the Fire explores the vexing question of whether art can be simultaneously beautiful and hateful…Belfer’s novel…managed to dazzle while delving into dark places.” NPR’s Fresh Air

“This remarkable novel spans centuries and continents, touching finally on the Holocaust and serving as a paean to Bach’s music…Absorbing.” Booklist (starred review)

“Blending the gorgeousness of Bach and the horror of antisemitism over several centuries should make for unsettling contemplation, and readers of Belfer’sknow that the author will be meticulous with both fact and fiction.” Library Journal

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

“On as grand a scale as any Bach masterpiece, Belfer’s novel explores the composer’s religious music and its effect on two women living 300 years apart, seamlessly weaving in the threads of several plotlines and different time periods. She portrays each story with care, even turning the music into a key character. Powerfully and emotionally written, the tale resonates because of its fast pace and Belfer’s ability to bring the large theme of ‘doing the right thing’ to readers. A fascinating, compelling read.” RT Book Reviews (4½ stars, Top Pick!)


Awards

  • Library Journal Audio-in-Advance Pick
  • NPR Pick