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    The Silver Music Box
    The Silver Music Box
    The Silver Music Box
    Audiobook8 hours

    The Silver Music Box

    Written by Mina Baites

    Narrated by Jane Oppenheimer

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    A captivating cross-generational novel from German author Mina Baites about a Jewish family divided by World War II and an inheritance with the power to bring them back together.

    1914. For Paul, with love. Jewish silversmith Johann Blumenthal engraved those words on his most exquisite creation, a singing filigree bird inside a tiny ornamented box. He crafted this treasure for his young son before leaving to fight in a terrible war to honor his beloved country—a country that would soon turn against his own family.

    A half century later, Londoner Lilian Morrison inherits the box after the death of her parents. Though the silver is tarnished and dented, this much-loved treasure is also a link to an astonishing past. With the keepsake is a letter from Lilian’s mother, telling her daughter for the first time that she was adopted. Too young to remember, Lilian was rescued from a Germany in the grips of the Holocaust. Now only she can trace what happened to a family who scattered to the reaches of the world, a family forced to choose between their heritage and their dreams for the future.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    TranslatorAlison Layland
    Release dateDec 1, 2017
    ISBN9781543626704
    The Silver Music Box
    Author

    Mina Baites

    Mina Baites has written stories for as long as she has been able to think, and she loves transporting her readers to new, mysterious worlds. She has published a number of successful contemporary romances under the pseudonym Anna Levin. She also cowrites historical novels set in her beloved Germany as one half of the pseudonymous author Gerit Bertram. Mina lives with her family in northern Germany and loves traveling.

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    Reviews for The Silver Music Box

    4.5/5

    77 ratings9 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Beautiful written and sad story with also a happy ending. I did not agree however that you can compare the nazis and apartheid whatsoever.
    • 4/5
      Johann Blumenthal is a German silversmith, a talented silversmith who counts both Gentiles and his fellow Jews among his regular customers. Filled with love for a homeland that doesn’t always love him back, he enlists in the German Army to fight in World War I. Before he leaves, he crafts an exquisite silver music box for his young son, Paul, to remember him by. When Johann doesn’t return from the front, Paul and his mother, Lotte, are left to pick up the pieces with the help of Uncle Max, also a talented jeweler. Fast-forward to the 1930s. Paul, now a young adult, is still captivated by his father’s music box. He’s also captivated by Clara, a doctor’s daughter who longs to be teacher, an occupation closed to those of her religion. So she determines to convert to Christianity in order to fulfill her dreams. Paul does the same in order to be with the love of his life, and for a while all is well. Of course, we know that things don’t stay that way. As life in Germany gets increasingly more difficult and dangerous for Jews, the Blumenthals looks for ways to protect themselves from the coming storm. Each of them — Lotte, Uncle Max, Aunt Martha, and Paul and Clara — seek different paths to safety.I wasn’t in the best head space to read historical fiction about the run-up to the Holocaust, to be honest, but I was invested enough in the characters and story to keep reading, and I’m glad I did. The narrative takes a big leap in time from 1939 to 1963, content to fill in the tragic details in the form of a later descendant of the family searching for her roots. This lightened the tension, which I appreciated. It’s a good story, perhaps a bit simplistically told, but captures well the growing fear of the German Jewish community as the Nazis grow in strength and power during the lead up to World War II.
    • 5/5
      A beautifully written book about a Jewish family in Germany. The story covers three generations spanning both world wars. A recommended read.
    • 4/5
      Beautifully written and I wanted to read more. Have had trouble getting the rest in the series.
    • 4/5
      This gave a really personal view of what happened to people during WWII. Especially the impact of children and their families when they had to split up. The narrative showed love, sorrow and perseverance in the face of adversity.
    • 4/5
      "The Silver Music Box" was a beautiful, touching story spanning nearly 50 years. At the centre of the story was the silver music box, made in 1914 by Jewish silversmith, Johann Blumenthal, for his then four-year-old son, Paul, before the father joined up during the Great War.The book was basically divided into three sections - Johann, Paul and Lilian - although Paul's life was given the greater focus. His struggle to protect his family from Hitler's clutches was not only terrifying, but heart-wrenching. The choices he had to make were ones no parent should ever have to face. I loved his story the most although both Julian's and Lillian's stories were still engrossing.I liked Lilian and her determination to uncover the story behind the music box which unexpectedly came into her possession. In fact, I cried more in her story as she journeyed back to Germany, than I did in either Paul's or Juliann's section. Unfortunately, though, her story felt a bit rushed. A lot happened in a few pages and when I reached the end, I still wanted more."The Silver Music Box" was an engaging read with wonderful characters and a captivating storyline that took me on an emotional journey of joy and heartbreak from the first to the last page. A delightful read.
    • 4/5
      3.5 When choosing to read a book about the Nazis and the Holocaust, one knows they are opening themselves up to some of the darkest days in history. Yet, if the word gentle, could be applied to any book that touches on this subject, this is the one. The focus is on one Jewish family, the Blumenthals. The men Jewelers by trade, and the events that touch them are unveiled gently, with much of the focus on the Germans who were their friends, and others who went out of their way, at great risk to themselves, to help them. That is not to say they don't have their share of suffering and losses, just that is was different to read a book where this happened.The silver music box, is the connector between the generations, both symbol of love and a means of identity.i am not going to rehash the plot, the summary for this book, is one of the better ones. Gives enough away without saying too much. The first two-thirds of the book covers the family in Germany and starts in the 1930s, when they begin to realize where the future, for Jews, may be heading. This part is strongly written, well done and the focus is again on various members of this family. I liked this part very much, which made my disappointment with the last part vividly stand out.The last part takes us to the 1960's, and a young woman has had some surprising news. This will send her on a guest to find those forgotten or scattered after the war. Some of the revelations at this point lack the shock value, they would have had if this story had been told in a linear fashion. It is also a little over written ,and one line in particular I felt was cheesy, didn't fit at all. Still all in all this is a good story, with a different bent than many of these years. This is the box a mother can read with her young teen to introduce the Holocaust, much to discuss and not horribly graphic.ARC from Netgalley.
    • 5/5
      The Silver Music Box by Mina Baites Cast of characters are highlighted at the start of this book.Love learning new things: silver smithing and the family business. Love the design work discussed.We find Johann and he's making a special music box for his son Paul as he has to attend to some things that will take him away from home....He meets with other family members as they discuss the war.Johann will sign up to fight in the war-in another country to help the Jews. Love how his wife wants to help out to help those in need-she will cook and serve at the synagogue. Story advances to when Paul is 19 and treasures his music box.His father had died in the war...he will convert to Catholicism and then marry Clara who's also converting...His passion is also a silversmith and the shop continues even after Wall Street collapse...being shunned because they are Jews but live as Christians.Love how they hold out for as long as they can-losing jobs, no customers....What I like about this book are the descriptions-they are so deep and detailed you feel you are there, in the trenches and hunched over the work table.Love what the silver music box stands for and how it's passed from one to another over time, generation after generation.Resourced and references listings at the end along with an author bio. Would read more from this author because they have done their homework with the facts making it an enjoyable story also.Received this review copy via AmazonCrossing via Netgalley and this is my honest opinion.
    • 5/5
      Berührende GeschichteJohann Blumenthal, ein Silberschmied mit jüdischen Wurzeln, beschließt sich freiwillig für den Kriegsdienst 1914 zu melden. Doch bevor er geht, fertigt er eine silberne Spieldose für seinen Sohn an. „Für Paul, in Liebe“ graviert er hinein. Dies Geschenk soll dem Sohn Trost und Hoffnung geben. Es wird die Familie über Jahre begleiten, bis die Spieldose dann auf verschlungenen Pfaden fünfzig Jahre später in die Hände von Lilian Morrison fällt. Die junge Frau lebt in London und versteht nicht, warum sie eine Spieldose erbt, auf der der Name der Blumenthals steht. Was verbindet sie mit dieser Familie?Diese schöne Geschichte findet ihren Anfang 1914 als Johann Blumenthal beschließt, es sei seine Pflicht dem Vaterland zu dienen und in den Krieg zu ziehen. Die Spieldose, die er hinterlässt, steht nicht nur für die hohe Kunst des Silberschmieds, sondern vor allem für Liebe und Hoffnung. Eindrucksvoll schildert die Autorin Mina Bates hier das Leben der Juwelierfamilie Blumenthal. Aber nicht nur aus dem 1. WK, sondern gleich über knappe 60 Jahre. Sie erzählt, wie die Spieldose von einer Generation in die nächste fand. Und mit ihr auch, wie das Leben in diesen schweren Jahren verlaufen ist. Bates erzählt von Liebe und Hoffnung in einer Zeit als es keine Liebe und Hoffnung mehr gab. Davon wie es die Menschen schafften, weiterzuleben und zu arbeiten. Am Ende hatte ich Tränen in den Augen, so nahe ging mir diese Geschichte. Die Charaktere sind einfach wunderbar gezeichnet und lassen einen nicht los. Wobei die Autorin immer zum rechten Zeitpunkt einen Zeitsprung macht und dann aus dem Leben der nächsten Generation erzählt. In bewegenden Worten schildert sie dann kurz rückblickend, was geschehen ist. Ich fand diese Art des Erzählens sehr gut. Sie hat so einen Überblick über die Ereignisse geschaffen, ohne dabei zu sehr ins Detail zu gehen und sich so in der Geschichte zu verlieren. Gleichzeitig nimmt sie ihre Leser emotional aber mit auf diese Zeitreise. „Die silberne Spieldose“ ist ein berührendes Buch, aus einer mehr als dunkeln Zeit, die nicht vergessen werden sollte. Es erzählt von Liebe und der Hoffnung auf ein Morgen.