In 1970, Lenny can no longer deny that his wife is undergoing a profound change. Despite her relatively young age, her mind succumbs to forgetfulness. Now, he goes as far back as the moment he met Natasha, when he was a soldier and she—a star, brilliant yet illusive. Natasha was a riddle to him then, and to this day, with all the changes she has gone through, she still is.
“Digging into the … into the past, mining its moments, trying to piece them together this way and that, dusting off each memory of Natasha, of how we were, the highs and lows of the music of us, to find out where the problem may have started?”
To their son, Ben, that may seem like an exercise in futility. For Lenny, it is a necessary process of discovery, one that is as tormenting as it is delightful. He often wonders: can we ever understand, truly understand each other—soldier and musician, man and woman, one heart and another? Will we ever again dance together to the same beat? Is there a point where we may still touch?
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***** A very touching portrait
Having read Ms. Pozansky’s Apart From Love (Still Live With Memories Vol. 1 and 2) and gotten involved with her characters, I wanted to read her new book, The Music of Us (Still Life With Memories Book 3). To my surprise and delight it turned out to be a prequel to that first book. Why delight? Because it not only fully explained the background of how two of those original protagonists met, it also helped me understand the reasons why the things that happened to them later on in Apart From Love occurred.
This new book is a very touching story of two young people and the joining of their souls after a circumstantial meeting and a friend playing Cyrano de Bergerac. Using her signature lyricism––poetic, poignant, yet simple and straight forward––Poznansky shares some fine descriptions of WWII: a live concert gone awry, a U.S. training camp and later on, England in ruins.
We also find out why her male lead later becomes a writer, her female lead’s need to break free from her dominating mother, and the girl’s father’s tragic demise that foreshadows her own future. And all of this, wrapped up in the girl’s musical talent, which is both precocious and stunning. A very lovely, powerful read.
A Deeply Emotional Journey Of Love And Loss.
An amazing tale of love, strength and commitment, The Music of Us is an incredibly emotional and moving portrayal of Lenny and Natasha’s journey through life.
When successful pianist Natasha begins exhibiting the signs of Early Onset Alzheimer’s, Lenny takes us back to the past, when he first met Natasha, detailing the events which kept throwing them together. Their poignant love story is told with heart and humor, an account of two people who are fated to be together, detailing their love and loss, covering the years from the Second World War to Vietnam and into the seventies. Giving the reader an accurate sense of the world as it was back then, the well-chosen details provided by the author will take you back in time, along with Lenny.
As the Alzheimer’s starts taking over their lives, Lenny’s dedication to Natasha makes him try anything to bring pieces of her memory back, and the love and commitment he has for both her and their marriage is truly touching.
And I can certainly relate to the story since my own grandfather died in his early sixties from complications resulting from Early Onset Alzheimer’s, while my father is currently battling the disease.
As with every piece of art created by Uvi, The Music of Us is wrought from the heart, and will take you on hauntingly emotional journey of love and loss.
Five Stars!
When I write a book review, I don’t like to rehash the plot—that information is easily accessible in the book description. What I prefer is to share how the book made me feel, and what I valued between its covers.
Uvi Poznansky is a literary tour de force in a contemporary age when the quality of writing often takes a back seat to the quick thrill, or to be more precise, the quick buck. She writes as she paints, with careful, vibrant strokes of amazing clarity and color. Whether you are a reader or writer, teacher or student, you owe it to yourself read her work. You will be transported to a world where life is examined from a poet’s point of view, where you live in vignettes so real that you can’t help but love and care for the characters.
I have read all of Poznansky’s work, but this book resonated more deeply with me than all the previous titles, which I truly enjoyed. I suppose it is because I am an inveterate romantic. I ached for the young, “flashback” characters to come together. I shouted at them to wake up and smell the coffee when they missed opportunities to get together, and I reveled in the sweet endings when they finally connected.
The atmosphere of the 1940s is beautifully portrayed, and on a secondary level only to the (mostly) unrequited love story, it was my next treasured experience while reading this book. I loved the sounds and sights of the era, the music, the cars, and the lifestyles so well depicted. It was a fascinating dip into the life of those dynamic times.
If you are aching for a lyrical read, for something above and beyond the usual offerings in the field of fiction, I highly recommend you pick up a copy of Uvi Poznansky’s The Music of Us.
The Music of Us is a beautifully written love story set in World War II.
The moment Lenny sees Natasha playing piano he’s smitten. I love how this sweet story is set in one of the harshest times in history. There’s such an innocent nostalgia about Natasha rolling skating down the road and a tough Marine not knowing how to drive a car.
Of course this wonderful love story turns out to be bittersweet, because we get a glimpse into Lenny and Natasha’s future. We soon discover that she is slowly losing her memories to Alzheimer’s.
Ms. Poznansky paints a beautiful picture of love in her book, The Music of Us.
This is the first book I’ve read by Uvi Poznanski. When I read the author’s bio, the description of her writing so accurately portrayed her work I felt compelled to share her words in my review—Her writing and her art are tightly coupled. “I paint with my pen,” she says, “and write with my paintbrush.”
The Music Of Us is a beautifully crafted story of love through the ages. Written in first person through the hero’s eyes, Poznansky shares the poignant, bitter-sweet memories of Lenny as he chronicles the beautiful love story between he and Natasha. With a backdrop of WWII and an amazingly accurate description of the era, Poznanski paints her story on the canvas of our minds.
I felt the emotion from love at first sight and his desperate attempts to win over Natasha’s mother to his acceptance of his love’s struggle with Alzheimers as he reads of her failing mind in her diary.
A mesmerizing, powerful saga!
Reads As A Stand-Alone In A Series Of Stories About Lenny And Natasha. A Flashback Takes The Couple Back To When They Met Shortly After Lenny’s Draft Into The Marines During World War II. Fans Of The Notebook May Enjoy This Book.
This is the third book in the Still Life with Memories series, a five book series with a sixth brief book bite. The books are interconnected, spanning various periods of time from World War II through the 1970’s. Different characters within a family tell their stories, but the underlying story revolves around Lenny and Natasha. Each can be read as a stand-alone. Fans of The Notebook may enjoy this book, as some aspects are reminiscent of that story.
This is the story of Lenny and Natasha. It opens and closes in 1970 when they are somewhat older. Natasha is forty-five, Lenny is probably about forty-seven. Lenny has become the caretaker of Natasha, whose memory has been slipping for some time. Lenny has had an affair, but he longs for Natasha to recognize him. She struggles to play the piano and has few lucid moments, and it weighs heavily on Lenny. They do not yet have a diagnosis for her condition. After attempting many tests and medications, he isn’t optimistic they will find a cure. Lenny longs for his teenage son Ben, who quit high school and bought a ticket to Italy, to return home to him. They have a complicated relationship, however.
The bulk of the book is a flashback to the time when Lenny and Natasha met. In October of 1941, Lenny was recruited into the Marine Corps. The story covers his time at Camp Upton and then Camp Lejeune before he is shipped overseas and joins the London Detachment. He receives commando training in Achnacarry, Scotland before being shipped home to visit his ailing father. It is when he is at Camp Upton that he first sees Natasha, who performs nearby. They begin exchanging letters, and over time they become attached to one another. But temptation abounds on both sides of the ocean during the war, and relying on the postal system proves frustrating. The young couple faces early challenges, but the greatest challenge is the approval of Natasha’s mother. At just sixteen, Natasha relies upon her mother to manage her career as a brilliant young classical pianist. Lenny haphazardly decides upon a career as a writer, which does nothing to impress Mrs. Horowitz.
Lenny and Natasha’s story is serious in tone. It is a reflection to their best days, and it is those memories that carry Lenny forward through the difficult challenges he faces nearly thirty years later. The war story is filled with details that take the reader back in time. It is nicely written. The plot is complex. The characters are unique and authentic. The story is written in first person in Lenny’s POV. I rate the book 4.5 stars.
A little too close to home, but a great story.
Very tender. Sorry when it ended.