And After the Fire: A Novel

And After the Fire: A Novel

<p><strong>National Jewish Book Award Winner!</strong></p><p>The <em>New York Times</em>-bestselling author of <em>A Fierce Radiance</em> and <em>City of Light</em> 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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>Interweaving the stories of Susanna and Sara, and their families, <em>And After the Fire</em> 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.</p>