Violinist Hanna Ginsberg wakes up in a field outside Berlin in 1946, clutching her instrument and having no idea of how she got there. Her last memory was standing in the bookshop of her beloved Max Beissinger in 1936, with the climate in Germany perilous to Jews and their sympathizers. Max isn't Jewish, but he has loved Hanna since first hearing her play. He wants to save her, save them both, and he just might have a means to do it, but it involves entering a portal to the future. While presenting the circumstances in Germany during the 1930s, Cantor (
The Lost Letter) demands that readers suspend disbelief on several levels (e.g., Hanna and Max are physically intimate almost from the beginning of their relationship, yet there is never a pregnancy).
VERDICT What might have been a truly fascinating tale of pre-Holocaust Europe asks too much of its audience. The most intriguing details come near the end, when truths are revealed. However, libraries with large collections of Holocaust fiction might be interested. [See Prepub Alert, 10/1/18.]—Bette-Lee Fox, Library Journal
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