The Butterly and the Violin by Kristy Cambron

Once in a while I come across a book I’m not sure about reading but a few pages into it, I’m captivated. That’s what happened with The Butterfly and the Violin. This book was beautifully written and tops my list of favorites so far in 2014.

Sera James is desperate to find the original portrait. She saw the portrait when she was a girl and the memory of that painting has never left her. After her world is shattered, she throws herself into the search, learning everything she can about the portrait and subject of the painting.

Adele Von Bron, dubbed as Austria’s sweetheart, lives a life of privilege during a time of upheaval in the 1940s. As a violinist in the Austrian Phil Harmonic, her name and face are well-known. Despite her sheltered life, she knows there’s more. When she is injured while trying to help some friends get to safety—Jewish friends—Adele’s life becomes the thing of nightmares.

As I was immersed in the lives of these two women, I was drawn to both of them. While one of them struggles with learning to trust—both God and others—again, the other tries to survive in the despondency and despair of Auschwitz-Birkenau. The friendships of the other women around them sustain both of them as both women struggle with their relationship with God and with others. Hauntingly beautiful, The Butterfly and the Violin is a book that will remain with me for years.

****Thomas Nelson Publishing and BookLook Bloggers provided me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review. I was not compensated in any way for either a positive or a negative review.