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The Piano Player of Budapest: A True Story of Survival, Hope, and Music

The Piano Player of Budapest: A True Story of Survival, Hope, and Music

by Roxanne de Bastion

Pegasus Books ·2024 ·288 pages ·Biography
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58/99
Near the Top

57/99

Critics

Near the Top

60/99

Readers

n/a

Scholars

62/99

Rating

52/99

Volume

80/99

Rating

40/99

Volume

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About This Book

A story about a piano and its most prodigious player—and how they both survived one of the darkest periods in history. When her father died, singer-songwriter Roxanne de Bastion inherited a piano she knew had been in her family for over a hundred years. But it is only when she finds a cassette recording of her grandfather, Stephen, playing one of his compositions, that the true and almost unbelievable history of the piano, this man, and her family begins to unravel. Stephen was a man who enjoyed great fame, a man who suffered the horrors of concentration camps in WWII, a man who ultimately survives—along with his piano. By piecing together his cassette recordings, unpublished memoirs, letters, and documents, Roxanne sings out her grandfather's story of music and hope, lost and found, and explores the power of what can echo down through generations.


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Reviews

"Like all family historians, Roxanne de Bastion wishes she had paid more attention, asked more and remembered better."

Norma Clarke· Times Literary Supplement Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"Readers will be able to easily envision de Bastion's grandfather, his love of music and great talent for it, his strength and resilience during the war, and the power of his music to keep him alive."

Marcia Welsh· Library Journal Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"But it is also an amazing story of persistence, grace, and a will to live."

Terry W. Hartle· The Christian Science Monitor Read review ↗ Near the Top

"De Bastion ably pieces together this poignant tale despite Stephen's silences, offering a memorable account of family and resilience."

Kirkus Read review ↗ Near the Top

"In an atmospheric touch, de Bastion utilizes the family's piano, which miraculously survived the Holocaust, as a vector for Stephen's emotional experience ..."

Publishers Weekly Read review ↗ Near the Top

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