Phenomenal! Absolutely brilliant! This book requires a standing ovation for sure!

This is a crushingly heart-breaking yet beautiful story about the violinist of Auschwitz, Alma Rosé. The writing is beautiful and the story, based on true events, is sad yet hopeful.

What I noted whilst reading this is the hierarchy of inmates within Auschwitz-Birkenau. The complete juxtaposition of certain inmates' existence and fate compared to others all depending on a variety of factors.

What is also noticeable is the care and attention that the author gave to this story. I can tell she did her research thoroughly and ensured that the events and the characteristics of the people rang true throughout the book.

If you are a fan of WWII historical fiction then this is a definite must-read!

Ellie Midwood has written a powerful story based on the life of Alma Rose, a Viennese concert violinist.. Her family was Jewish although she was baptized in both the Catholic and Protestant faiths. She refused to stop playing and was arrested and ended up in Birkenau directing the women's orchestra. The Violinist of Auschwitz chronicles the year Alma was at the camp. Because of her courage and skillful interactions with high-ranking SS administrators, who considered her a goddess, her girls were given more privileges allowing nearly all of them to survive. The horror of Auschwitz and Birkenau are chronicled here, but there is also love, courage, compassion, and joy found here. If you enjoy music, you will appreciate this book.

This should be a "must read" so we may never forget what happened there.

A new standalone novel of Ellie Midwood about Violinist Almo Rose and the women orchestra in Auschwitz. Ellie Midwood takes her readers into the harrowing and tragic story.

I knew they had an orchestra in Auschwitz, but that was about the extent of my knowledge.
I learned a lot while reading this book. It gives horrifying insight into daily life at Auschwitz and how Alma Rose lifts the Auschwitz women's orchestra to a higher level to increase their chances of surviving. Compared to others in the camp they lived in luxury, but the threat of death was still over their heads every day and they were victims to all the horrors.

I wasn’t sure what to make of Alma in the beginning of the book, but she grew on me. She was so strong and fought and stood up for her girls, but that also takes a toll on a person.

It was such a sad and tragic story but also shows what hope can do and even in the worst places love can bloom.

You know if Auschwitz is in the title it’s going to be an emotional read. This book features the story of inmate 50381, Alma Rose. She is a talented violinist, who finds herself imprisoned in Auschwitz. Refusing to play to the high-ranking Nazis at the camp, Alma soon discovers the power she gets by agreeing to do so. This was such a heart-breaking read. Straight away in Alma’s story, I could see and feel the horrors which were happening within the camp. Alma is a wonderful character, defiant yet clever enough to work out how to use things to her advantage. I love how she puts together the orchestra and so admired their courage to play, despite the suffering and pain that was going on around them.

The author has undoubtedly researched this book so well, and her writing and descriptions put me right there amongst the pages. It was so upsetting to read Alma’s story, yet strangely uplifting to think that despite the horrors, music had the ability to do some good, in one way or another, for some of those poor people.

Based on a true story, this will have you reaching for the tissues before the end of the first chapter. You will relive the characters experiences through the writing, but you won’t forget the heroic and brave actions of the men and women in camps like this who rose above all of the horrors around them and by the playing of music shone some sunlight on an otherwise bleak and desolate place. This isn’t a story which I could say I loved due to the nature of the storyline, but it was wonderfully written capturing the feelings and emotions of the time. Would recommend!

Playing the violin in the Vienna Philharmonic, and supplied with a fake passport, Alma Rose hoped she would be saved from being sent to a concentration camp with other Jews. Once at Auschwitz, Alma soon learned she could speak up and gain some creature comforts for herself and other members of the Auschwitz orchestra. Her heroism kept many of these people alive. The book is gut wrenching and emotional, and the amount of research the author did is very evident. If you are a fan of historical fiction about WW II, don’t miss this book. I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher.

Wow, this might be my favorite book of 2020. I believe I had heard of Alma Rose before but I didn't realize how I knew the name. Alma's story is one that has been begging to be told and Ellie Midwood tells her story with eloquence and elegance. It was easy to understand even though the content was dark and deeply sad. I think Ellie Midwood created a historical fiction book that Alma would've been very proud of. There are so many takeaways from this book and I believe I will have to let this one sit with me for awhile. I've already told so many people about it. I can't wait to see what book we get from Ellie Midwood next.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to be one of the first to read this next great historical fiction novel. It is sure to be a great success.

Play for Your Lives

This is a very emotional and heartbreaking story. I have read much about the horrible events taking place in Auschwitz and the atrocities placed on the Jewish, Polish, Hungarian, and Czech, among other’s that fit the Nazi’s definition of the defectives. It makes it even more heartbreaking when the story is a true story.

Alma Rose is a famous violinist in Vienna Austria with her musical father. As the Nazi’s come closer she continues to play in Holland and hides when the German’s come. Eventually she is arrested as a Jew and sent to Auschwitz concentration camp. She is eventually recognized as a famous violinist and put in charge of the Auschwitz music block putting together a ladies orchestra. Her orchestra is forced to play for the Nazi’s sometimes at the threat of their lives. When searching for a pianist to tutor her girl in the orchestra she meets Miklos, a Jewish pianist. They play instruments together for the Nazi’s and he tutors her pianist, they fall in love, but can their love survive…indeed can any of them survive?

This is the story of Alma Rose, Miklos, and other’s in the Auschwitz orchestra. It tells the story of their efforts to survive by playing music, the efforts Alma takes to ensure their survival and what they see and experience in the rest of the camp. You will feel their pain, their helplessness, see their tears and hold your breath at times. I loved all the characters, I am glad that Miklos and Alma found each other and had some happiness in the awful surroundings of the camp. I marveled at the courage of Alma to speak up to authorities at times, even those most feared like Doctor Mengele. It saddened me to realize what a person would do for a crust of bread if they were starving. It warmed my heart to feel the love and respect they had for Alma.

It will make you cry, make you smile and break your heart. I recommend this book.

Thanks to Ellie Midwood, BookOuture and NetGalley for allowing me to read a copy in exchange for an honest review.

The moment i got approved for it, I started reading it and ever since then I am recommending this book to my friends. It was written in such a beautiful manner that now i am afraid whether i will be able to do justice while writing the review of not. The chacter of Alma Rose was very well potrayed. She was a bold and fearless girl. The atmosphere that the author created was fantastic. At some point, I fel as if I am one amonst those characters.
Simply beautiful.

It’s without a doubt that Ellie Midwood’s, The Violinist of Auschwitz, to be published on November 18, 2020, will stay in my memory for a very long time. Midwood has truly honoured Rosé and her valiant musicians with this extremely well written true story of how music gave a handful of prisoners a means of escape within the barbed-wire confines of Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Caught with a fake passport, Alma Rosé, a Viennese Jewish concert violinist with the Vienna Philharmonic, is sent to the infamous Nazi death camp in the summer of 1943. Recognized by a high-ranking Nazi, Rosé is soon treated differently than the other prisoners. She’s moved from an experimental block to the woman’s camp and appointed as conductor of an orchestra who will play on request of the officers. Ultimately offered a chance at a life-saving performance, not only for herself but also for the other musicians, Rosé desperately scrambles to assemble and teach other prisoners in order to please the officers. Stoic and armed with the power of position, Rosé manages to obtain rewards, comforts of a former life, for herself and the musicians as they play to breathe another day.

Midwood's research is reflected in her storyline and readers will learn more about the camp than previous historical fiction writers on the same topic. Her ability to evoke terror, tears, and compassion through her words is amazing as is her ability to shed light on the plight of these real individuals.

This book reminded me of the afternoon, I wasn’t even 10 years old, when I saw the blue number tattoo on my Hungarian neighbour’s left arm. Long gone, I’ve never forgotten him nor his parallel account of playing chess for his freedom. I wonder if he ever met Alma Rose. I’d like to think so.

Like Anne Frank, Rosé reminds readers that we each have potential heroism within us and it can be summoned by even the vilest human beings. Let's remember that.

Thank you to Ellie Midwood, Bookouture and Netgalley for this fantastic advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Wow...just wow. The world of historical fiction once again introduces us to a hero amidst the backdrop of evil. Heartbreaking, gut wrenching, heroic are all words to describe The Violinist of Auschwitz.

All she wanted to do was play music. Alma Rose was a famous violinist in a pre-war Europe and she played right up until the day she was arrested and eventually sent to Auschwitz. Locked in the experimental block, Alma demanded a violin, stating if those were going to be her last days...she wanted to go out doing something she loved. What she ended up doing was so much more than that. Though she despised the SS, she managed to build an orchestra worthy of compliments from high ranking Nazis and managed to save as many lives as she could. She was bold, demanding and fearless. In the midst of pure evil and death, music saved lives and brought peace to so many more despite everything else going on around them.

This book is graphic and chilling. You can almost hear the music and the screams. Each page paints a portrait of a woman who has the strength to take on a beast and somehow manages to win for her girls.

A must read for WWII/Holocaust aficionados. Thank you Bookouture, NetGalley and Ellie Midwood for the ARC. I’m speechless

I started this book last night at about 9pm and finished sometime near 4am. The book is compelling. There is no reliance on fictional details to help the story along i.e. no penicillin being available! The story stands on the true facts of what life was actually like and that makes it all the more unbearable yet compelling reading. There is a romance element to the story which will bring tears to your eyes but it is romance in the purest form and not shoved into the story to make it "better." I had to take breaks, the depravity (Ellie manages to convey it but without giving you the more horrific details) of the SS and other prisoners, the lack of humanity not just from the Kapos but ordinary prisoners who were trying to survive, together with the message people still fail to understand - the Nazis murdered the Jews but it wasnt just them but all the others they considered expendable. The book also highlights the humanity of other prisoners, not just the main character, who helped make life more bearable for their fellow inmates. Finally, if anyone is still under the impression the Jews went to the camps like sheep, this account will blow that notion out of the water. At a time when many young people not just in the USA don't understand or even know about the Holocaust, this book should be a must read at senior school. I certainly wont forget it for a long time.