A lily of the field
By: John Lawton
Publisher: Grove; Publishers Group UK [distributor]
Published: 2011
Place of publication: New York; Enfield
Language: eng
ISBN-13: 9781611856019; 9781611855913
Subjects: World War, 1939-1945; Fiction; Women musicians; Nuclear physicists; Exiles; Crime & Mystery; FICTION / Crime; FICTION / Mystery & Detective / General; FICTION / Thrillers / Espionage; FICTION / Historical; FICTION / Mystery & Detective / Historical; FICTION / War & Military; FICTION / Cultural Heritage; FICTION / Political
Description: A novel set before, during, and after World War II follows the loosely parallel lives of an Austrian cellist, Meret Voytek, whose orchestra becomes part of the Hitler Youth, and Hungarian physist Karel Szabo, who is recruited by the Americans to help build the atomic bomb.
Table of contents: title: 'Observe in what an original world we are now living: how many men can you find in Europe who have never killed; or whom somebody does not wish to kill?' Vienna, 1934. Ten-year-old cello prodigy Meret Voytek becomes a pupil of concert pianist Viktor Rosen, a Jew in exile from Germany. The Isle of Man, 1940. An interned Hungarian physicist is recruited for the Manhattan Project in Los Alomos, building the atom bomb for the Americans. Auschwitz, 1944. Meret is imprisoned but is saved from certain death to play the cello in the camp orchestra. She is playing for her life. London, 1948. Viktor Rosen wants to relinquish his Communist Party membership after thirty years. His comrade and friend reminds him that he committed for life ... These seemingly unconnected strands all collide forcefully with a brazen murder on a London Underground platform, revealing an intricate web of secrecy and deception. The ensuing events have personal significance for Scotland Yard Detective Frederick Troy. He finds himself pursuing a case with deadly and far-reaching consequences that ultimately threaten the balance of power in Europe. Moving seamlessly from Vienna and Auschwitz to the deserts of New Mexico and the rubble-strewn streets of London, A Lily of the Field is a fast-paced, thrilling addition for fans of the series and a captivating introduction for new readers of Lawton's work.