women pianists

"A . . . novel in verse that centers around a young pianist in East Germany trying to make sense of love, duty, and the pursuit of dreams during the unsettled months of protest that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall in the late 1980s"--Publisher.

Written in verse, this biography chronicles about Zhanna Arshanskaya, a young Ukrainian Jewish girl using the alias Anna, whose phenomenal piano-playing skills saved her life and the life of her sister, Frina, during the Holocaust.

"Nell Hallam lives in a modest corner of Mayfair with her brother Matthew, an inspector at Scotland Yard. A talented pianist, she aspires to attend the Royal Academy; but with tuition beyond their means, Nell sets out to earn the money herself--by playing piano in a popular Soho music hall. She'll have to disguise herself as a man and slip out at night to do it, but spending evenings at the Octavian is like entering an alternate world, one of lively energy, fascinating performers, raucous patrons--and dark secrets. When Nell stumbles upon the operations of an infamous crime ring working in the shadows of the music hall, she is drawn into a conspiracy that stretches the length of London"--Adapted from back cover.

A memoir of the life of Czech pianist Alice Herz-Sommer, a centenarian Holocauset survivor, and niece of author Franz Kafka.