The New York Times-bestselling author of A Fierce Radiance and City of Light 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.
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.
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.
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.
Interweaving the stories of Susanna and Sara, and their families, And After the Fire 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.
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the Oprah Magazine O
Lauren Belfer’s panoramic new novel is a love story wrapped around a spy story with a pivotal medical breakthrough at its center.
Nancy Horan
A FIERCE RADIANCE shines with fascinating detail about a moment in American history we have mostly forgotten, when penicillin was new, miraculous, and in short supply. Belfer’s powerful portrayal of how people are changed in pursuit of a miracle makes this book an especially compelling read.
Washington Post Book World
. . . Belfer is adept at writing historical fiction that sizzles. Sex, spies, murder, big money, family betrayals, doomed romance and exotic travel are smoothly braided into her main narrative about the wartime race to make large quantities of penicillin.
USA Today
Belfer’s prose is heartbreaking, as are her twin themes of love and betrayal, both romantic and familial. . . . She also has a gift for rejuvenating spirit of place—turn-of-the-20th-century Buffalo in City of Light and wartime New York here.
New York Times Book Review
An ingenious first novel. . . . Alive with historical figures who mingle seamlessly with the fictional characters. . . . A huge, sprawling portrait of the United States at the turn of the last century.
BookLoons.com
An outstanding historical novel…. Compelling.
RT Reviews
On as grand a scale as any Bach masterpiece, Belfer’s novel explores the composer’s religious music and its effect on two women living 300 years apart…. Powerfully and emotionally written…. A fascinating, compelling read.
Jewish Book Council
Marvelous…. Meticulously structured…. Eloquently and elegantly written. The themes are important and engaging. It is not a novel one will put down easily or forget at its conclusion.
AEQAI
One of the four best novels published to date in 2016.… The research and writing are… splendidly accomplished…. Brilliant.
Elinor Lipman
Brilliant and mesmerizing…. Since reading And After the Fire, I’ve been trumpeting it as the best novel I’ve had the pleasure of reading in years.
BookPage
Belfer is adept at revealing the complex politics and sentiments, including the religious biases, of 18th-century Europe. The important questions Belfer poses regarding the ethical complexities of art are engrossing.
Historical Novel Review
This latest novel from Belfer…is her most compelling yet…. Told with lyrical beauty (in a tender love scene, the past exists with the present), the novel is like the lost cantata itself, revealing our capacity for darkness, redeemed by the power of unconditional love. A dazzling, transformative novel. Highly recommended.
Washington Independent Review of Books
Music pulses through this rich tale of love, morality, and a lost cantata…. Filled with history, gorgeous descriptions of music, and people both real and imagined.
New York Journal of Books
Highly readable…. Will delight readers of historical fiction, especially if they are music aficionados who like a good love story thrown into the works…. Belfer proves herself to be that skilled weaver of tales in this intellectual thriller.
Buffalo News
A bold and hugely ambitious novel with the transfixing appeal of a best-seller…by a native daughter of the city whose talent is now even beyond the admiration of those of us so impressed by City of Light.…Extraordinary.
Sarah Gruen
An intellectual thriller and a beautiful love story. What if you came into possession of an historical artifact with the power to alter history and change the world? Sure to establish Belfer as a fearless, provocative writer. Impossible to put down.
Maureen Corrigan
A different species of suspense tale…. Evocative, deeply researched…. Manage[s] to dazzle while delving into dark places.
Booklist (starred review)
[A] compelling blend of fact and fiction.… Based on impressive research, this remarkable novel spans centuries and continents, touching finally on the Holocaust and serving as a paean to Bach’s music.
Jane Ciabattari
Finely written historical fiction layered with richly detailed characters and moral complexity.
The New Yorker
In Belfer’s hands, fictitious characters blend uncannily with historical ones.
O: the Oprah Magazine
Lauren Belfer’s panoramic new novel is a love story wrapped around a spy story with a pivotal medical breakthrough at its center.
Sara Gruen
An intellectual thriller and a beautiful love story. What if you came into possession of an historical artifact with the power to alter history and change the world? Sure to establish Belfer as a fearless, provocative writer. Impossible to put down.
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