And After the Fire

By Lauren Belfer,

Book cover of And After the Fire

Book description

National Jewish Book Award Winner

The New York Times bestselling author of A Fierce Radiance and City of Light returns with a 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.…

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Why read it?

1 author picked And After the Fire as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This is a wonderful historical novel. A woman trying to recover from a personal tragedy is bequeathed a mysterious manuscript. It turns out to be the score of a previously unknown cantata by Bach—but there is a problem. The lyrics contain hateful anti-Semitic texts. What is she to do? Publish the score and allow this music to be heardalong with the awful wordsor suppress it? The author traces the history of the manuscript and how it came into the possession of the heroine. We meet many strong women as we travel 200 years into the past…

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