Based on an unexplored slice of World War II history, Exile Music is the captivating story of a young Jewish girl whose family flees refined and urbane Vienna for safe harbor in the mountains of BoliviaAs a young girl growing up in Vienna in the 1930s, Orly has an idyllic childhood filled with music. Her father plays the viola in the Philharmonic, her mother is a well-regarded opera singer, her … well-regarded opera singer, her beloved and charismatic older brother holds the neighborhood in his thrall, and most of her eccentric and wonderful extended family live nearby. Only vaguely aware of Hitler’s rise or how her Jewish heritage will define her family’s identity, Orly spends her days immersed in play with her best friend and upstairs neighbor, Anneliese. Together they dream up vivid and elaborate worlds, where they can escape the growing tensions around them.
But in 1938, Orly’s peaceful life is shattered when the Germans arrive. Her older brother flees Vienna first, and soon Orly, her father, and her mother procure refugee visas for La Paz, a city high up in the Bolivian Andes. Even as the number of Jewish refugees in the small community grows, her family is haunted by the music that can no longer be their livelihood, and by the family and friends they left behind. While Orly and her father find their footing in the mountains, Orly’s mother grows even more distant, harboring a secret that could put their family at risk again. Years pass, the war ends, and Orly must decide: Is the love and adventure she has found in La Paz what defines home, or is the pull of her past in Europe–and the piece of her heart she left with Anneliese–too strong to ignore?
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The sign of a good novel is when you can’t stop reading. Well, I read Exile Music: A Novel, by Jennifer Steil, in a single day.
The first part of Exile Music portraits the tragedy of the Nazi era. Looming, were the chapters’ initial quotes, guiding us to the landmarks of Hitler’s accession to power.
I was enthralled with the friendship between the two Viennese girls – Orly is Jewish, Anneliese is Catholic – living in the same building, attending the same school, and whose parents are so different. Orly’s parents are well-established musicians and together with her brother Willi, the family shares a close bond.
When the father is, finally, able to secure visas for La Paz, Bolivia, it seems a miracle the family doesn’t disintegrate. Orly adapts and learns Spanish fast, her father soon earns a living playing his viola, but her mother, formerly an opera singer, can’t adjust. She says music comes from a place of air and joy: and there isn’t enough of either in La Paz.
In between: Will Willi, left behind in Europe, be able to join the family in exile? Will Orly’s mother – succumbing to dark deeds now that the war is over and Nazis are finding refuge in Bolivia – ever sing again? But, above all, will the two girls – now women and an ocean apart – eventually find each other? And if they do, what happens to the intimacy they once shared?
Steil’s beautiful prose suspends the reader! You read a phrase a second time because you are fascinated; you want to be part of the story. Exile Music deserves a happy ending of hope and rebirth, and Steil delivers!
This is one of those books that’s hard to put down. I read it in two days even though it’s over 400 pages.
While there are many novels that portray the lives of those who experienced the tragedies of WWII, this one starts there then shows what happens to Austrian exiles who escape to Bolivia. Steil powerfully captures both places–and what it can mean to be displaced due to war and genocide. Ultimately, this books explores the mysteries of human suffering and resilience. It also asks us to think about revenge in complex ways.
The voice immediately swept me into the story. Steil beautifully balances the sentiments of a girl as told through the eyes of the woman she becomes. And woven into the sorrowful aspects of the book are many life-affirming human activities exquisitely offered up to the reader: making music, cooking, writing, reading, experiencing nature, making friends, learning languages, exploring cultures, and falling in love. I also very much appreciated a portrayal of bisexuality that organically emerges from the characters and plot.
I was lucky to get an advanced copy. It comes out in May but you can pre-order it, which obviously I highly recommend.Jennifer Steil
A side of World War II you’ve never read before — exiled in Bolivia.
Orly, a young girl, lives in Vienna with her musician father and her opera-singing mother. Orly enjoys a carefree childhood playing with her best friend, Anneliese, and creating stories about what life might be. In 1938, when Orly is ten years old, the Nazis march into Vienna and her life changes drastically. She and her parents find themselves fleeing everything they know. They arrive is La Paz, Bolivia and must adjust to a life that no longer includes familiar music and without Anneliese. However, Orly and Anneliese meet again in 2016.
This is a well-written novel about a little-known slice of Jewish history. The characters, especially Orly and Anneliese, are well drawn and likable. The storyline is complex, and the author’s research detailed and extensive, but she doesn’t allow it to overwhelm either her characters or her story.
If you like time-spanning, in this case nearly 90 years, this novel should be on your to-be-read list.
My thanks to Viking and Edelweiss for an eARC.
World War II was such a horrific time to live through. The war was going on, you never knew where you were safe, and you had to rely on other people for everything from food to shelter to clothing. Now imagine that as a young girl. Orly is that girl. She is young, she lives an ideal life with her parents and brother with her best friend living in the apartment above her. Until it all changes.
Orly’s story was so interesting. I was invested in the world she was living in. The story told not only of what was happening around her but also what was happening directly in her house and her emotions to those happenings. I could feel her joy in writing the stories of the make believe world with Anneliese, the fear of seeing the Nazi’s invade her neighborhood, the sadness at losing the things that were most familiar to her, and mostly her strength in not knowing what her future held but having to keep her head up, staying strong. She experienced a life that many did not survive, and she knew how lucky she was that she and her parents were able to be together through it all.
I am a World War II fan, it is my favorite era to read about. Jennifer Steil has written an amazing book telling the story of a time where everything was different and the world was a scary place to live. Yet, with the scariness, there is hope, love, and music.
Exile Music by Jennifer Steil is an excellent historical fiction that covers a different, and fascinating, aspect of the atrocities that the Jewish people faced in Europe during the 1930s-WWII.
This book focusses on a Jewish family with the main character being a young girl named Orly. As tensions and risks continue to rise and with their family’s safety and in question, Orly’s family escape from Vienna to Bolivia. It was gripping and suspenseful. It was hard to read what this family, as well as many others, had to experience leaving all they know and love to an unfamiliar landscape and being forced to start all over again. This plight is glossed over in a lot of narratives that are currently out on shelves, so it was a fascinating read to see things from this perspective.
A great pace, plot, and character cast. The text was easy to read, however the subject matter was very hard at times to accept. A needed addition to keep history in the forefront of our minds.
5/5 stars. Excellent