The Diva’s Daughter
In 1932, nineteen-year-old Angelika dreams of becoming a famous opera singer like her mother. When her mother dies in the middle of a family scandal, Angelika, her twin brother, and her cold-hearted businessman father leave Vienna for Munich, where her voice attracts the attention of the rising Nazi Party. Angelika hates the Nazis, and when she is given an opportunity to return to Vienna to study with the renowned soprano Lotte Lehmann, she is glad to get away from Munich, even though Vienna is filled with memories of her past life and the events that led to the tragedy of her mother’s death. Angelika finds love with Erich, a young man who has gone to Vienna to get away from his cruel Nazi father, and she feels a special bond with Daniel, a Jewish opera director who had a past with Angelika’s mother. But the Nazis are relentless in their demands that Angelika sing for them, and they threaten her loved ones if she refuses. Will Angelika find the courage to do the right thing in the face of evil?
This is a beautifully written, haunting novel that stays with you long after you’ve finished. I loved the characters, and Walrath does an excellent job portraying Angelika’s dilemma. The book addresses the important question of whether art and politics should always be separate, or if there comes a point when artists must take a stand. The rise of the Nazis is chillingly portrayed, and we see the courage of the people who chose to resist them, at great personal cost. I also loved Walrath’s descriptions of Angelika’s life in Munich and Vienna, both in happier times and in the “present” of the early 1930s. Also, as a long-time opera-lover, I loved reading about the opera world of the time.
