Welcome to Litsy!

I love the gorgeous cover of this book, and how the title is displayed like sheet music. As a lover of classical music with a profound interest of the darkest time in Europe, this story grabbed me. A secret hand written musical script is kept throughout the centuries, nearly destroyed after WW2, and discovered again many years later. Its new guardians soon discover that anti-Semitism is not so distant in the past.

This was just ok considering how much I wanted it to be more. I loved the historical fiction and bit of mystery - seeing major classical music figures come to life was so cool.i could have done with a lot more of that and a lot less of love interests. I didn't really connect with the main character, but she was interesting and it made sense how she was confused about how she felt and through it.

I hope I made the right choice. Huge stack of TBR and this one floated to the top.

These are my three options and I can‘t decide! Thoughts??

This was an eye-opening historical fiction. At the risk of sounding naive, it was absolutely heart breaking to learn of the strong anti-semitic undercurrent in early 19th century society.
Nonetheless, the story was a beautiful merger of multiple lives along two time lines. If you love historical fiction, anything to do with WWII, music, then you may enjoy this.

This was beautiful. At times, as mentioned, beyond difficult, and incredibly thought-provoking. The past and present seamlessly intertwine, and in a rare display, both are thoroughly engaging, and meaningful. It‘s the kind of book that just has to be read; words won‘t do it justice. #andafterthefire #laurenbelfer

What words are there to say? #andafterthefire #laurenbelfer

There have been so many moments in this book that have been difficult to read, and I‘m glad for it; I hope it never becomes easy to read any accounts of the Holocaust, or the years that preceded it. I can also only pray that one day, the heart of the world will heal, and society will focus on caring for each other instead of attacking each other over our perceived differences. #andafterthefire #laurenbelfer

A few extra hours for my timesheet this week! Hoping to finish this by the time I leave today; it‘s shaping up to be a nice, quiet, and quick day here! (Knock on wood.) #andafterthefire #laurenbelfer

It‘s always fun to find notes people took, or other random little glimpses into the lives of the folks who have borrowed a book before you — as long as they‘re on post-its, and not on the pages themselves! #andafterthefire #laurenbelfer

I spent a TON of time yesterday reorganizing my closet, then doing laundry, followed by some holiday visiting, so I didn‘t get to read nearly as much as I wanted to. It‘s pretty quiet today at work, though - knock on wood - so I‘m hoping to get at least five more chapters read in the next four hours. #andafterthefire #laurenbelfer

I missed you guys yesterday during The Outage! I really should have gotten more reading done in that time, but...I binge-watched the second half of the second season of “NCIS” (again) instead. Back to reading today, though! Goal: finish two books. #andafterthefire #laurenbelfer

I know I had three other books on my TBR for the day, but this one has been waiting f o r e v e r, and so I feel guilty about making it wait any longer! #andafterthefire #laurenbelfer

#TBRtemptation post 6! This award-winning book begins in 1945 Germany, where American soldier Henry Sachs takes an old music manuscript from a mansion & kills the girl trying to stop him. In 2010 NYC, his niece, Susanna, comes upon it after a devastatingly violent act. She's determined to figure out what it is & how to return it. In 1783 Berlin, renowned musician! Sara Levy, conceals Bach's manuscript. Sounds amazing! #blameLitsy #blameMrBook 😎

Help. These three are up next. What should I start with?!

First book of 2017 done.
Lots of big ideas in this historical mystery - along with a glimpse into a world I knew nothing about - musicologists. Loved the back and forth between 18th and 19th century Europe and the present day investigations into a piece of musical history.

Had the chance to sit down with the incredibly talented, best-selling author Lauren Belfer yesterday in NYC. What a treat it was to talk shop with such an amazing woman. 100 pages into her latest novel And After the Fire and loving it!
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#laurenbelfer #andafterthefire #harperbooks #historicalfiction #whatimreading

And After The Fire by Lauren Belfer is keeping me company while I'm at swimming lessons with my girls. I love Belfer's books.

Must read for Buffalonians.