Translated by Howard Curtis
Time is running out for Otto Steiner, an elderly Jewish music critic who is languishing in a sanitorium in Salzburg on the eve of the Second World War.
Music remains his only love, but the forces of darkness are closing in.
Then Otto is asked to write the program notes for the approaching music festival. For a few evenings Salzburg will be the capital of the Reich and of music. He bears witness in his diary to the sinister sounds of Nazism, but also reveals his astonishing act of heroism.
A hair’s breadth away from changing the course of history, Otto Steiner makes music itself a powerful form of resistance.
Saving Mozart is a literary gem and a fiercely subversive novel for our times.
andSaving Mozart
‘A dazzling, striking (first) novel, as intriguing as its author…A compelling success.'
‘Jewel-like.’
‘This novella is an elegantly crafted commentary on the possible outcomes of shifts in values, in power and authority and the range of human responses to that.’
‘An immensely powerful book told with economy and heart.’
‘Nothing can detract…from the sheer genius of the plot and the dazzling display of heroism which is at the core of this absolute gem of a novel.’
‘The deceptively simple story of an improbable hero is a parable of personal bravery, ethics and responsibility…A petite gem.’
‘An ingenious reinvention of the Holocaust narrative.’
‘An exquisite jewel of a book…in just over 120 slim pages Jerusalmy succeeds in conjuring up a whole world…I can only urge readers to implore him to undertake a second outing and to direct them to Saving Mozart with all urgency.’
‘The author’s own love and understanding of music shines through every page. Jerusalmy has produced a perfectly crafted addition to the best of Holocaust literature.’
‘This slender, confident debut novel is deliciously atmospheric and tense.’
