In the Polish language, surnames sometimes take different gender forms and so have different endings. Thus the surname of a married woman can have a different ending than the surname of her husband. I have abided by this convention here. Titles, such as “Mr.” (Pan) and “Mrs.” (Pani), and surnames can vary in form depending on sentence case. To avoid confusion for English-language readers, I have written all such titles and surnames in nominative form.

Translations

Translations

Nightly lullaby (from Yiddish):

Cucuricoo!

Mama isn’t here.

Where has she gone?

To get a glass of tea,

Who is going to drink it?

You and me. (switched to rhyme)

Mourner’s prayer that Róża recites for Miri (from Hebrew):

May His great name grow exalted and sanctified

in the world that He created as He willed.

May He give reign to His Kingship

in your lifetime and in your days,

and in the lifetimes of the entire Family of Israel …

Folk song that the rabbi sings in the convent (from Yiddish):

On the path there stands a tree,

it stands there bowed,

all birds from that tree

have flown away.

Acknowledgments

Amy Einhorn, editor extraordinaire, saw into the heart of this project and, with great insight and trust, helped me to develop it. Conor Mintzer provided brilliant comments about plot and language, perfectly attuned to the work’s emotional pulse. Francesca Main at Picador and the wonderful Flatiron team, especially Bob Miller, Caroline Bleeke, Amelia Possanza, Nancy Trypuc, Cristina Gilbert, Katherine Turro, and Keith Hayes, gave this book wings into the larger world. Gail Hochman championed my writing—and even offered a bat mitzvah! Jennifer Einhorn always believed in this story and I am beyond grateful to her.

It was my privilege and honor to interview Stan Berger, Myra Genn, Roald Hoffmann, Millie Selinger, Ruth Salton, and the late George Salton. Your life stories, filled with bravery, perseverance, ingenuity, and love, inspire my awe. While the characters and events in this book are fictional, our conversations enriched me and every page I’ve written.

My Poland guide, Paweł Szczerkowski, along with Rafał Brenner and Tomasz Ciemiorek, took me to the settings of my imagination and brought historical depth, cultural richness, and fun to our journey. In Israel, Amnon Weinstein welcomed me into his workshop, where he painstakingly restores violins once played by Jews in ghettos and camps for concerts of commemoration and hope.