"The New York Times-bestselling author of A Fierce Radiance and City of Light returns with a new powerful and passionate novel--inspired by historical events--about two women, one European and one American, and the mysterious choral masterpiece by Johann Sebastian Bach that changes both their lives. In the ruins of Germany in 1945, at the end of World War II, American soldier Henry Sachs takes a souvenir, an old music manuscript, from a seemingly...

King Gustavus of Sweden orders General Mike Stearns of West Virginia to go to Saxony and restore order. Gretchen has been arrested there and is likely to be executed. The revolutionary groups which she has been working with are not about to let that happen, and suddenly there's rioting in the streets and Saxony's ruthless General Baner is determined to suppress the uprising.

"One woman's decision. The fate of an entire family...Berlin, 1933. Erich, a Jew, and Hilde, a Christian, are a young couple, the parents of Yvonne, and owners of a small book publishing firm. With Hitler's rise to power and the persecution of Jews, their lives are destroyed in an instant. The Nazis burn their books and, fearing for their lives, the family is forced to escape to Holland. The many hardships, however, tear the family apart when Hilde...