Incredible. Based on the true story of violinist Alma Rose and her time at Auschwitz, this novel was very well written. There will be times you are brought to tears and parts that are very difficult to read. However, there are also times you will cheer for characters and their bravery and goodwill and even acts of resistance in a time and place filled with dreadful things. Alma comes to Auschwitz and soon learns the horror that lives there. She uses her intelligence as charm and talent to help herself as well as others survive. Brought into Birkenau women’s camp to work as a violinist in the Music Block that was formed, she’s asked to make an orchestra out of the woman currently there. Woman, who unlike herself, are not professional musicians. What she does during her time there gives quite a few woman extra privileges as well as a chance to survive. An incredible story and a very well written novel. I appreciated reading the section at the end which explained what was true in the book and what was dramatized. Well done and I look forward to reading more from this author!