The Butterfly and the Violin (Hidden Masterpiece, #1)

The Butterfly and the Violin (Hidden Masterpiece, #1) - Kristy Cambron Young Adele is a prodigy in her country of Austria in the late 30's early 40's. She has a talent when it comes to playing the violin, so much so that as a teenager she occasionally is invited to play with the Vienna Philharmonic.

It is during her time with the Philharmonic that she meets Vladimir, the son of a merchant who is beneath what her parents would expect her to date, yet she falls in love with him.

During this time in Austria, Hitler declares war and curfews are set in motion and the Jewish population are either in hiding or have been sent on a train to what they want people to believe is a working camp. Due to certain circumstances, Adele ends up on the wrong side of the war and gets to see what the concentration camps are really all about.

The story then changes to modern day where a young woman who owns an art gallery is in search of an original painting that she saw as a young girl of Adele and her violin and is also in search of what became of Adele and whether or not she died during her time as a prisoner.

I thought that the story of Adele was so captivating that when it would change to Sera and a guy named William who is helping her find this painting that I would lose interest in the book. I thought that the other tale of Sera was not cohesive enough to be intertwined with the story of Adele. I believe that if the book had been only Adele's story that I would have given it a strong five stars. Toward the end when everything seemed to come together, I wasn't so invested because I wasn't as interested in Sera but was instead reading about Sera while Adele's life was summarized in conversation where it would have been stronger to rid of Sera's story and see Adele's through action. But of course that is my opinion.

I suppose that it's hard to switch stories when one is so gut-wrenching. I also had trouble with the believability that Sera at such a young age owns an art gallery in New York City and that William is in charge of liquidating his families assets when he is so young as well. It is possible, yes, but for the two to come together it just seemed unlikely to me and I just didn't get into them so well.

As the story went along, I picked up on the fact that it was a Christian book and in most cases this can be distracting to me if it becomes too preachy or has a slew of Bible verses. In the story of Adele and Sera it is presented in a way that isn't distracting and actually makes you stop and think about how Adele's role as a Christian while being imprisoned with other Jewish women didn't sway Adele's views or the other women's about accepting each other, but how they used their own religions to unite and keep each other strong.

Although I wasn't crazy about the joining of a modern day story because I was so invested in Adele's story, I still highly recommend this book. It is a great tale of love, acceptance, and turning fear into bravery.