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A review by jlynnreadsandwrites
The Violinist of Auschwitz by Ellie Midwood
5.0
Everyone should read this book. It is beautiful and painful and necessary. I had never heard of Alma Rosé before reading this novel and I'm grateful to know her story.
Alma Rosé is a famous violinist, playing across Europe, until she is arrested and taken to Auschwitz. Alma's life of privilege, glamour, and music is gone in a second. When she manages to get her hands on a violin, her playing changes everything. The head of the woman's camp puts her in charge of the women's orchestra and, suddenly, Alma holds others' lives in her hands. She does all she can to keep the women in the orchestra alive, to place other women in the orchestra so they are under her protection, and does all she can to charm the SS camp administration in order to help her orchestra despite her deep hatred of them. When Alma meets Miklos, a piano virtuoso, she finds something more in the death camp, something she had not thought was possible in a place of death.
Based on the true story of the violinist Alma Rosé, who did run the women's orchestra and save their lives on multiple occasions, this novel is powerful. There are horrific moments that are incredibly difficult to read but there are also sweet moments and countless moments that prove the power of the human spirit. To know that these moments are based on reality only increases their power both on the painful side and the hopeful side.
The book includes information on where Ellie Midwood gathered information for her narrative and how most major events in the book are based on factual accounts from survivors. There are also a few fictional characters who work their way into Alma's narrative with creative license. There is only so much that can be known about Alma's life and so it is expected that such a story would include some pure fiction.
Midwood's writing is excellent. She has crafted and plotted this story brilliantly. Her writing style is clear and truthful in a way that honors the truths of the story she is telling. I immediately found myself forgetting that I was reading a book and feeling like someone was telling me a story because her prose is so clear and succinct that the words fall away.
I cannot praise this book enough. It was certainly difficult to read but reading this book in order to honor the real people who lived these lives, to keep their stories and their history alive, is well worth the challenge of reading about the horrors they had to witness each day they were in Auschwitz.
Alma Rosé is a famous violinist, playing across Europe, until she is arrested and taken to Auschwitz. Alma's life of privilege, glamour, and music is gone in a second. When she manages to get her hands on a violin, her playing changes everything. The head of the woman's camp puts her in charge of the women's orchestra and, suddenly, Alma holds others' lives in her hands. She does all she can to keep the women in the orchestra alive, to place other women in the orchestra so they are under her protection, and does all she can to charm the SS camp administration in order to help her orchestra despite her deep hatred of them. When Alma meets Miklos, a piano virtuoso, she finds something more in the death camp, something she had not thought was possible in a place of death.
Based on the true story of the violinist Alma Rosé, who did run the women's orchestra and save their lives on multiple occasions, this novel is powerful. There are horrific moments that are incredibly difficult to read but there are also sweet moments and countless moments that prove the power of the human spirit. To know that these moments are based on reality only increases their power both on the painful side and the hopeful side.
The book includes information on where Ellie Midwood gathered information for her narrative and how most major events in the book are based on factual accounts from survivors. There are also a few fictional characters who work their way into Alma's narrative with creative license. There is only so much that can be known about Alma's life and so it is expected that such a story would include some pure fiction.
Midwood's writing is excellent. She has crafted and plotted this story brilliantly. Her writing style is clear and truthful in a way that honors the truths of the story she is telling. I immediately found myself forgetting that I was reading a book and feeling like someone was telling me a story because her prose is so clear and succinct that the words fall away.
I cannot praise this book enough. It was certainly difficult to read but reading this book in order to honor the real people who lived these lives, to keep their stories and their history alive, is well worth the challenge of reading about the horrors they had to witness each day they were in Auschwitz.