A powerful love story in which one woman's quest for identity and healing also becomes the single way she can honour her grandparents, whose lives were irreversibly shattered by the Holocaust.
It's 1989 and for a young Jewish-Australian violinist, a scholarship to Berlin is the chance of a lifetime. Germany is on the verge of change as the wall is torn down, and Susanna is swept along by the tumultuous event. Under the careful guidance of Stefan Heinemeyer, her renowned violin teacher and the grandson of a Nazi, she begins a composition in memory of her grandmother, Mirla, who died in the Buchenwald concentration camp during the Second World War, and Susanna is inspired to retrace Mirla's final footsteps.
It's a journey that reconnects Susanna to her heritage and propels her musical gift to extraordinary heights. Yet as a forbidden yearning for Stefan begins to unfurl, Susanna's life is forever changed, and the repercussions will echo through decades and across continents.
In a world where history, society and inherited traumas threaten to silence Susanna and prevent her from ever becoming her true self, can she find the courage to reclaim her power as a woman, a musician, and a composer, and in so doing, lay her haunted past to rest?
SHORTLISTED FOR 2025's SZYMON (SIMON) KLITENIK AWARD FOR JEWISH FICTION
PRAISE:
'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 ... Highly recommended.' - Good Reading magazine
'Davidow's poetic writing style allows her to sensitively reflect upon these topics, and vividly explore themes of resilience, loss, love, grief and triumph... A must read for any historical fiction fans, The Girl with the Violin is a deeply moving novel.' - Better Reading
Shelley Davidow is an award-winning international author who grew up in South Africa. Writing across genres, her 50 books reflect her experiences living and working on five continents over two decades. Recent publications include the memoirs Runaways (Ultimo, 2022), Shadow Sisters (University of Queensland Press, 2018) and Whisperings in the Blood (University of Queensland Press, 2016).
Her day job is as a senior lecturer in Education at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. She's also a facilitator in Restorative Practice and consults with school communities around the country. In the time that's left over, she runs creative writing workshops, and has made at least one serious attempt to learn the violin. She lives by a saltwater lake with her family and some tame kookaburras. www.shelleydavidow.comView all by Shelley Davidow
