Susanna is a 20-year-old talented Jewish-Australian violinist who has been awarded a scholarship to study at the International Academy of Music in Berlin. She leaves her family in Queensland, Australia, and heads to Berlin at a tumultuous time as the Berlin Wall is torn down in 1989.
Berlin is the place where her grandparents were born. Susanna wants to learn more about her family and find out the truth of their history. She starts by turning to music as she composes a piece of music called ‘Buchenwald’ in memory of her grandmother.
Susanna falls in love with her much older violin teacher, Stefan Heinemeyer. Stefan confesses his own family history, with his grandfather being a Nazi.
There were times throughout the novel where I was transported to the streets of Berlin. Susanna at times lacks emotional maturity and feels a little needy, but this is all forgiven due to her age and her truth-seeking.
The Girl with the Violin has deep emotional truths running throughout, bringing together major historical events in modern history, the Holocaust and the Berlin Wall. The poetic musicality of the storytelling captures the emotion, which at times can be raw and gripping.
This novel offers a fascinating reflection of how music can play a major part during times of conflict and aid with the healing process: being able to move forward, but not forgetting the past.
Highly recommended.
Reviewed by Claire Stanley
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shelley Davidow is originally from South Africa but has spent two decades living and working all over the world. She is now based on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast in Australia.
Although she never aspired to be a globe-trotter and in fact, coveted stability, living in diverse places has given her a far-ranging experience of humanity which, she believes, is never a bad thing for a writer.
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