The Violin Makers Daughter by Sharon Maas
Stacey • July 28, 2019
A riveting tale of impressionable Sarah, an apprentice violin maker and non-practising Jew in the midst of a raging war, systematically spreading throughout Europe. The first time the Nazi’s appear they decide to hide their Jewish background and stay in their beloved family home. The terrorizing wait to see if they can remain hidden and be left in peace…. The ultimate betrayal eventually comes to call and their status of Aryan decent has come into question and they are given a week to provide the paperwork… The countdown begins.
The time has come to flee but they cannot flee together. They must separate and go in smaller groups. Sarah must go alone and she must leave first. Her life depends on her ability to blend in, keep her head down, trust the people she does not know, to keep her safe. She must learn to keep her emotions in check. Keeping the despair of leaving her family from bubbling to the surface and her blind hatred for all Germans under wraps as to not draw attention to herself.
On her journey she mets Ralf, German and a soldier. She still can’t bring herself to trust him, even after her saves her life. Now he’s on the run too and agrees to get Sarah safely to where she needs to be. During their journey he will do much more than just protect her…. He will teach her to avoid detection, master her emotions, be brave and how to survive… He shows her that just as a war can destroy and create hate, It doesn’t have the power to stop an all consuming love.
Hiding their identities and deny who they are as the race from safe house to safe house, Ralf and Sarah continue their journey together. All too soon Ralf is captured and Sarah has a choice to make.
The weight of the world seems to rest on the shoulders of young Sarah. Having no world knowledge and being held in practically like a hostage in her home by a war she doesn’t understand and the full gravity of it being held secret by her parents. All she wants to do is make violins and put the love and careful attention to detail into each and every one. When the pounding on their door comes that night and Sarah now knows what her parents were keeping from her. She must leave the safety of her home, of her family and make the dangerous journey to safety. The rough terrain and the soldiers everywhere. Not knowing who she can trust, keeping a part of herself hidden so she can remain undetected. She has to keep her wits about her and ultimately her eye on the prize.
You can feel the emotional rollercoaster she is on. You literally watch her throw off her adolescences and transition into womanhood in such a quick succession, it would make anyones head spin. It really comes to a head when she is saved by a young German Soldier, Ralf who is now on the run too, having risked his life to save her and her friend Eric.
The journey is, at times, agony to read. Sarahs hatred for all Germans is so black and white that she can’t, at first, see there is so much grey all around her. Everything she says, everything she does, every small detail has to be just right in order to avoid detection. She has no life skills to help her on this life or death quest to safety. She is learning as she goes.
The whole book from start to finish is like watching Sarah mature from a naive caterpillar into a butterfly of knowledge. Her full transition from child to woman is painfully played out and you will feel every emotion right along with her. My heart was so full to bursting and the tears were hard to bite back knowing she was wholly dependent on herself and trying to navigate her feelings for a man she barely knows and didn’t trust in the beginning. No experiences to draw on and no Mother to ask. The whole book had me reeling with the simplicity of tale and the complexity of a world that we today, cannot comprehend. You could almost hear the footsteps of the Soldiers along the cobble stone streets and feel the pounding on the front door.
I’ve never read any of Sharon Maas’ work before, which is shocking to me as I am an avid historical fiction reader. This book was right on the money for me. You can feel the fear of the unknown, the hatred and the violence of a time that the author herself, didn’t live through but really has a way with the written word. I felt like I was living through 1940s France. The hairs on my arms would stand on end whenever she came to a check point. The air of silent terror really played out well through the whole book for me.
I really felt love can conquer all, even hatred. Historical fiction enthusiasts should really add this to their reading pile. If you enjoy having your heart beating as fast as a drum, having sweaty palms so slick you can barely hold the book any more and breathing so quietly so the Nazi’s can’t hear you, then this is the read for you.
Sincerely, The Lioness
I just finished Night Watcher by Daphne Woolsoncroft and here are my thoughts. Nola is a late night call in radio host that has its callers ringing in with ghost stories. That is until one night, a caller describes what is happening… It’s eerily similar to a serial killer’s MO. A killer who murdered Nola’s babysitter all those years ago. One thing is sure, Nola is being watched again and the hiding man is coming for this time This is just what I needed!! I loved the thrum of underlying fear that this book built up in spades. It is exactly the kind of tension I needed and the pacing was brilliant! I loved the narration as well, it was absolutely creepy AF! I liked Nola. I think the author did an awesome job of showing that she was the potential victim of the serial killer but also strong and fierce. It was nice to see the balance of this in the FMC. She also wasn’t annoying haha. I have been on a run of annoying MC’s so this broke the streak. THANK YOUUUUU. It was all perfection until the end. That was a total bummer! It just kinda fell flat. I was expecting some big crescendo…. Alas… This was not meant to be. All in all I was entertained though. 4 stars Thank you @netgalley and @hachetteaudio my gifted copy. You can find all my reviews at thelionessofliteracy.com And my podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/5kKN96RNPNh4uNDZzpIE1A All book merch at Bookaloriandesigns.com and bookaloriandesigns.etsy.com #nightwatcher #thriller #bookalorian #booktok #booklover #bookloversunite #bookreview #audiobookreview #audiobooklover #alc #audioreader #audiobookstagram
I just finished The Liar I Married by D.K. Hood and here are my musings. How do you cope when you find that your husband wasn’t the man you thought he was.. You cannot remember things and he won’t let you see your children and you are the reason you had a bad accident? Oh man I didn’t see any of this stuff coming! I love books that keep you on the edge of your seat.. That keeps you unbalanced…. You never know who’s telling the truth… Where is the danger… This book had that in spades. I didn’t trust anyone. I was questioning everything. The story was so well done with the best of the best pacing. The narration was excellent. I was hooked. I could not put it down and that ending…. YAHOOOOOO I was shocked I tell ya… SHOOK TO MY CORE!!! If you read psychological thrillers, you have to add this page turner to your TBR! 4 stars Thank you @bookouture #theliarimarried #dkhood #thriller #thrillerreader #thrillerbook #bookreview #booksbooksbooks #bookcommunity #bookalorian #litdulterous #bookblog #bookinfluencer #bookrecs
I just finished You Must Be New Here by Katie Sise and here are my musings. Sloane and her ex co-parent well with their daughter Daisy but something is missing from Sloane’s life… Then Harper and Ben move in next door. Harper is vibrant and different and they become friends. Things are looking up until Daisy’s babysitter goes missing, everyone is on edge and secrets come out of the wood work. I did the audio of this one and it was solid. I enjoyed the narrator and they did a good job of bringing the tension. So many horrible things happen in this book and a lot of it seemed to be more about shocking you than being believable but that matters very little to me because I suspend my disbelief when I read fiction so for me, this was awesome. I think the gold in this story was Harper and Ben’s backstories. It was intriguing and different. Not what I was expecting at all. I thought the writing was solid and the pacing was on point but that ending? It kinda fell apart there for me which was a bit of a let down but all in all an enjoyable and entertaining thriller. 3.75 stars Thank you to @netgalley and @brilliancepublishing for my gifted ALC You can find all my reviews at thelionessofliteracy.com And my podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/5kKN96RNPNh4uNDZzpIE1A All book merch at Bookaloriandesigns.com and bookaloriandesigns.etsy.com #youmustbenewhere #katiesise #thriller #bookreview #bookalorian #litdulterous #readersofig #igbooks #bookishpodcast #bookishbusiness
I just finished The Haunting of Emily Grace by Elena Taylor and here are my musings. You can find her author interview here on Tuesday - https://open.spotify.com/show/5kKN96RNPNh4uNDZzpIE1A Grief is a funny thing and Emily Grace understands that and with only one person left in her life that has thrown her a life line, she finds herself tasked with doing carpentry work on a mansion.. On a secluded island after the wife mysteriously disappears.. Is the house cursed like locals seem to believe? Strange things are happening and the longer she stays, the more sinister it all becomes. I actually enjoyed the heck out of this book. As you all know, I like my books to be faster paced but this book brings a certain ethereal magic to the story with its slow build and creepy energy and you won’t be able to help being sucked right into the chilling undertones of this gothic novel. Emily Grace has this unreliable edge and you never know what is driving what she is seeing, hearing or feeling. I was uneasy right from the ferry until the very end. Kind of like someone was standing behind me… Cold fear just brushing over me… The atmosphere was harrowing and I was on the edge of my seat towards the end of the book. I never knew for sure what was what and I did not see the ending coming. The imagery of the writing was so original and felt authentic! I could see what the author was portraying in my mindseye with such ease. I enjoyed the dialogue, it was precise and clean! If you are looking for a gothic mystery to get under your skin, add this one to your tbr! Due out on November 4th, I cannot recommend this book more! 4.5 stars https://amzn.to/4hp6epB Thank you @elenataylorauthor and @partnersincrimevbt for this opportunity to get to know this gifted book on a more connected level! #elenataylor #partnersincrimevbt #thehauntingofemilygrace #bookreview #bookalorian #booktok #litdulterous #bookinfluencer #literaryinfluencer #suspense #gothicnovel #gothicreader #mysterythriller
Welcome to the Lit-indie Files. Where I take a chance on small/indie published books and bring you the inside scoop!! I just finished The Lady and the Unicorn by Ophelie and here are my musings. Running to a life not away should be the mantra of any young woman looking to reinvent themselves. The trouble is when you run head first into a man who brings the heat but keeps you at arms length. Not knowing what is real and what is in her head, who do you run to? Who can protect you from the dangers real or imagined? Loads to unpack here. It feels like reading a book a step away from it. There was nothing to connect to. A lack of use of names kinda keeps you at arms length. It was an interesting way to tell a story and kinda worked in some spots but others… I wondered why I kept reading. You need to connect. You have to feel something to keep the pages turning and the only thing that kept me reading was finding out what was real and what was not. As a woman who has people in her life with BP… the Psychosis parts were wild. I don’t know if this is drawn from experience or whether she researched bipolar but in my experience this isn’t the norm and the catalyst didn’t really seem like something that would set a BP person on this trajectory so that was a little unsettling for me. The writing definitely went waywire towards the end. It felt erratic and not well reasoned but still I kept turning those pages. There was a great underlying story here. I can see it. It just needs some editing. It needs someone else to work the kinks out and smooth the story a bit. I could have used more being in psychosis, maybe her doing things that seemed normal as she is narrating it and people were acting like she was doing something out of this world crazy and then another POV to give us the reality. Maybe her living and not knowing what is real and what is not in an unreliable narrator way rather than the way it was done here. It was unique and different but it still needs a bit of work. 3.5 stars #theladyandtheunicorn #ophelie #indiebook #indiereader #bookreview #readersofig #igbooks
Copy, Kill, Repeat by Steve Cornwell Something sinister is happening in London. Someone is recreating famous murders and staging them for the police. He isn’t even doing it himself… He finds others to do it for him. The police bring in criminologist Ethan Marshall to help bring the killer to justice.. But the clock is ticking. It was interesting.. The gruesome parts were absolutely brilliant but the pacing and tone everywhere else was a tad bland. It felt like 2 different people were writing this one. I think it was done on purpose to bring maximum effect to the parts that mattered but it didn’t work so well for me on audio. I think had the author quickened the pace, it would have been the best book of the year for me but it just missed the mark. I liked Ethan but again, he came across boring in spots and that really was a bummer. 3.5 stars #bookalorian #bookrecs #spookyrecs #bookish #copykillrepeat #booksbooksbooks #reading #booklover #bookworm #booktok #litdulterous #bookreview #bookcommunity
Welcome to the Lit-indie Files. Where I take a chance on small/indie published books and bring you the inside scoop!! I just finished On the Edge of After by Britt Wolfe and here are my musings. A chance encounter on new years eve has Merritt Clark feeling something she hasn’t felt in years… Not since the loss of her husband. Her quiet life was enough until Beau… The chemistry is undeniable but Beau is much more than meets the eye. His career in politics puts his life in a harsh spotlight and when Merritt’s career comes under public scrutiny… Is love enough to sacrifice everything else? I was really lucky to see Britt’s giveaway on FB. She is a local author and I was grateful she decided to drop a book off for me. I liked the romance in the book. It felt realistic and raw. The writing was absolutely stunning. The prose was really beautiful and I was fully absorbed into Merritt and the bumpy journey she was on. It had this wonderful mashup of feeling cozy but tension driven which I found quite delightful. Anyone who spends time reading my reviews… They know I am not a fan of dual POV. This didn’t work for me here because it was the same thing that happened before, written the same way, just from the other person’s POV and it didn’t add value to the book for me. Each chapter went back rather than carrying the story forward and while I know what the author was attempting to do… It didn’t work in my opinion. I know! That sounded harsh but honestly that was the only con I had and that’s a reader preference rather than anything against the book. I loved that the characters weren’t young, I felt represented in this book. The tone was gentle throughout the book and never hit peak crescendo in the spicy parts or in the violent moments which I think was very clever because none of those parts were off putting and added to the story without detracting with shock value. A lot of authors make the mistake of thinking they need to smack you in the face but this book nailed it in my opinion. The pacing was decent and all in all I thoroughly enjoyed the book. After reading this book I did a bit of internet stalking and found Britt’s poetry. GAWWWW! Beautiful poetry too so this local author ticks all the boxes! 4 stars Thank you @brittwolfe for trusting me with your literary masterpiece! Make sure you check out my store Bookaloriandesigns.com Bookaloriandesigns.etsy.com Unique bookish merch for the book dragon connoisseur. You can find all my book reviews at thelionessofliteracy.com And my podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/5kKN96RNPNh4uNDZzpIE1A Youtube.com/@litdulterous #brittwolfe #litdulterous #bookaddict #bookalorian #ontheedgeofafter #bookreview #bookreviewer #tbr #bookrecs #calgaryauthor #indieauthor #booktok #bookrecommendations #litindiefile #litindie #bookpost #bookpodcast
I just finished Well, Actually by Mazey Eddings and here are my musings. Eva’s life goals did not include eating crappy hot dogs while she interviews b-list celebs on her show but that’s the hand she has been dealt. She also never expected her public call out of her ex online to go viral… Her ex happens to be podcaster Rylie…. A man deconstructing toxic masculinity…. Using the opportunity to push their careers forward they meet again and Rylie pitches an idea that she doesn’t want any part in. Do you like faking dating? I don’t but I LOVED THIS BOOK!! There was a fuckton of depth in this novel and the narration was so well done I couldn’t help connecting and binging my way through it. I really enjoyed the banter between Eva and Rylie. I also hate miscommunication as a trope but this one did the second chance thing really well. I like when men admit they were wrong and they want to fix it but I hate that Rylie says he wanted to make amends but never went looking for her… she was active on socials so that felt disingenuous to me and I couldn’t shake it haha. I know I over think shit but I couldn’t help it. Oh and it was wayyyyy spicer than I was anticipating so be warned!! He likes to eatttttttt. 4 stars Thank you @macmillan.audio and @netgalley for my gifted copy Make sure you check out my store Bookaloriandesigns.com Bookaloriandesigns.etsy.com Unique bookish merch for the book dragon connoisseur. You can find all my book reviews at thelionessofliteracy.com And my podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/5kKN96RNPNh4uNDZzpIE1A Youtube.com/@litdulterous #wellactually #macmillan #bookalorian #bookish #bookstagram #reading #bookcommunity #readersofig #bookpodcast #bookishpodcast #litdulterous #bookreview #bookblog #bookishreview #bookinfluencer
I just finished The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst and here are my musings. Terlu wakes up on an almost deserted island in the dead of winter… After spending 5 years as a stone statue, it was disorientating but not as disorientating as when the gardener demands that she does magic to fix his magical greenhouses. Knowing she doesn’t have magical powers, she promises to try, even though it is against the law and the reason she was a statue in the first place and in return Yarrow feeds and clothes her. She works with Yarrow to fix the greenhouses and the magical plants they house. The only way she can save them is to uncover the secrets of the man who cast the spells in the first place. Yes it’s pretty much a standalone book which upset me when I found out it wasn’t a continuation of the Spell shop… I did start out bummed but honestly, I started to really connect with Terlu and how misunderstood and lonely she was. I loved Caz from the Spell shop and we learn how he came to be and why in this book which was quite beautiful and touching and we do get an update on him at the end of this book which was perfectamondo for me. I love the magical plants and how they interact with Yarrow and Terlu. I thought the characters were charming and the story was so sweet and charming… You have to sit down with a hot chocolate and just let the magic wash over you. Brilliant cozy fantasy! 4.5 stars Thank you to @netgalley and @macmillan.audio for my gifted ALC! Out now You can find all my reviews at thelionessofliteracy.com And my podcast at https://open.spotify.com/show/5kKN96RNPNh4uNDZzpIE1A #thespellshop #theenchantedgreenhouse #sarahbethdurst #cozyfantasy #bookrecs #bookishrecs #bookinfluencer #bookalorian #booklover #bookreview #bookcommunity
I just finished The Girl Without a Voice by Sandra J. Paul and here are my musings. Alice has never been outside of her family home. At 22 and born mute, she has been kept out of the public eye but her cruel mother and overbearing dad. When her dad is diagnosed with terminal cancer, she never expects her life to implode the way it does… For her mother to be accused of killing her dad… For her father’s delirious confession or for the neighbor to help her find the truth of what her dad dropped upon her. Did her father murder multiple women? Is this really something she wants to dig up? WHOAAA There was sooooo much going on in this book! Layer upon layer of whiplash!! This is my kind of thriller. Alice is amazing! She found a way to communicate when her parents wouldn’t get her help. She self taught herself sign language which was cool. I also loved that she was a big reader! She never really let it all get to her. She was interesting and I really enjoyed getting to know her. The story did spend too much time building up to the death of the father. I think a lot of that could have been cut out. It was unnecessary for me. I enjoyed everything after she left home and the tension just kept building and building. I was really entertained. I enjoyed the narration and all in all, a solid thriller. 4 stars Thank you @tantoraudio and @netgalley for my gifted copy #agirlwithoutavoice #sandrajpaul #suspence #suspencethriller #mysterybook #mysteryread #bookreview #bookpodcast #booksbooksbooks #bokreviewer #booksarelife #litdulterous #bookalorian #bookishblog
