A powerful love story, set against the fall of the Berlin Wall, in which one woman’s quest for identity and healing also becomes the single way she can honour her grandparents, whose lives were irreversibly shattered by the Holocaust.

For, Susanna, a young Jewish-Australian violinist, a scholarship to Berlin is the chance of a lifetime. Germany is on the verge of change as the wall is torn down, and Susanna is swept along by the tumultuous event. Under the careful guidance of Stefan Heinemeyer, her renowned violin teacher and the grandson of a Nazi, she begins a composition in memory of her grandmother, Mirla, who died in the Buchenwald concentration camp during the Second World War.

Just as her musical career is about to go stratospheric, a forbidden yearning for Stefan begins to unfurl. This changes Susanna’s life forever, and the repercussions echo through decades and across continents.

 

Reviews and praise for The Girl With the Violin

"The Girl with the Violin has deep emotional truths running throughout, bringing together major historical events in modern history, the Holocaust and the Berlin Wall. The poetic musicality of the storytelling captures the emotion, which at times can be raw and gripping.
This novel offers a fascinating reflection of how music can play a major part during times of conflict and aid with the healing process: being able to move forward, but not forgetting the past.
Highly recommended.
"

Claire Stanley Good Reading Magazine. Read more...

​"From time to time we are gifted with a book that is so beautifully written it is akin to a work of art. The Girl with the Violin is one such book.
It is a love story, just waiting for you to turn that first page and become immersed. A story which is a cycle of love and loss, of success and failure, of perseverance and endurance and ultimately of hope and forgiveness – I dare you to put it down once you start. "

Good Read Reviews. Read more...

"There is a complex, intricate and international love story running through this cracker of a novel, but underlining it is a deep sense of time, place and culture, and how society endures. As Davidow says: “There are levels of meaning to the falling of the wall that you can never appreciate unless you were there, and if you were, they never leave you. "
Phil Jarratt - noosatoday.com.au Read more...

Background to The Girl With The Violin

Shelley Davidow is originally from South Africa but has spent two decades living and working all over the world. She is now based on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast in Australia. Although she never aspired to be a globe-trotter and in fact, coveted stability, living in diverse places has given her a far-ranging experience of humanity which, she believes, is never a bad thing for a writer.

Recent Releases

A selection of titles by Shelley Davidow

Raising Stress-Proof Kids by Shelley Davidow
Fail Brilliantly by Shelley Davidow and Paul Williams
Playing with Words by Paul Williams and Shelley Davidow
The Eye of the Moon by Shelley Davidow
Whisperings in the Blood by Shelley Davidow
High Infidelity by Shelley Davidow
To Have and to Hold by Shelley Davidow
FreeFalling by Shelley Davidow
In the Shadow of Inyangani by Shelley Davidow
Spirit of The Mountain by Shelley Davidow
Lights Over Emerald Creek by Shelley Davidow
The Wise Enchanter- A Journey Through the Alphabet by Shelley Davidow
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Listen, watch, read and download  a range of media interviews with Shelley Davidow here