Exile Music

A Novel

By: Jennifer Steil

Narrated by: Hillary Huber

Length: 14 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

Based on an unexplored slice of World War II history, Exile Music is the captivating story of a young Jewish girl whose family flees refined and urbane Vienna for safe harbor in the mountains of Bolivia.

As a young girl growing up in Vienna in the 1930s, Orly has an idyllic childhood filled with music. Her father plays the viola in the Philharmonic, her mother is a well-regarded opera singer, her beloved and charismatic older brother holds the neighborhood in his thrall, and most of her eccentric and wonderful extended family live nearby. Only vaguely aware of Hitler's rise or how her Jewish heritage will define her family's identity, Orly spends her days immersed in play with her best friend and upstairs neighbor, Anneliese. Together they dream up vivid and elaborate worlds, where they can escape the growing tensions around them.

But in 1938, Orly's peaceful life is shattered when the Germans arrive. Her older brother flees Vienna first, and soon Orly, her father, and her mother procure refugee visas for La Paz, a city high up in the Bolivian Andes. Even as the number of Jewish refugees in the small community grows, her family is haunted by the music that can no longer be their livelihood, and by the family and friends they left behind. While Orly and her father find their footing in the mountains, Orly's mother grows even more distant, harboring a secret that could put their family at risk again. Years pass, the war ends, and Orly must decide: Is the love and adventure she has found in La Paz what defines home, or is the pull of her past in Europe - and the piece of her heart she left with Anneliese - too strong to ignore?

©2020 Jennifer Steil (P)2020 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Gorgeous and lyrical, Exile Music captures the delicate rhythm of one girl's coming of age while driven by war and exile. Heart-wrenching, tender and powerful." (Jean Kwok, New York Times best-selling author of Searching for Sylvie Lee)

“Out of this this little-known corner of history, Steil offers a beautiful meditation on the things we all hold dear - family, friendship, home. My Beautiful Friend meets The Pianist in this elegant symphony of a novel.” (Ruth Gilligan, author of Nine Folds Makes a Paper Swan)

"Jennifer Steil has created a world that is as fierce and stunning as her exquisite language. She dares ask the question where do we belong - and forces the reader to question our own conceptions of what makes a home. Ultimately, this is a story of a woman searching for herself following unimaginable trauma." (Elizabeth L. Silver, author of The Execution of Noa P. Singleton)

War of Hearts and Eternity

To understand Loss and broken hearts is told within these pages. The destruction of lives torn asunder and Love tested beyond all boundaries. the Strength we have can not be measured by the breaths you take but only ever by the things that Take your breath away!

Magnificent!

Remember being 11yo. Not a child, not a teenager. Awkward, confused, full of frustration, excitement and rage.

Now add to that being Jewish at a time when those not Jewish seek to destroy you. Kill you. Kill all you love.

Still those events of WWII dunt remove the changes happening within your 11 year old body and mind. It only piles on.

This story is beautiful. The author takes this Jewish 11 yo to another part of the world where Jews went to escape the horrors happening in Vienna. In the telling she ages, she loses loved ones, she tries to understand who she is and who she loves. She has to determine for herself the life she will live. Her experiences are limited, restricted, and horrifying at times. But some how the author tells it in an almost melodically, lyrically to the very last note.

a story of hope and heartbreak.

An enchanting novel that will leave you wanting more. a novel that will expand your knowledge on the history of war and the reality that accompanied it.

Pretty good

This book could have been really good had the author had the courage to change the stereotypical ending. It was predictable. Excellent narration and the characters were quite good. Overall I would recommend this book but buyers beware of the storybook ending.

Holocaust story w Austria to Bolivia cultural twists

Perspective from a little girl growing up gave wide spance of understandings, experiences & changes in viewpoints with maturity. Friendships & people encountered opened her world up as well as her need to change & understand herself & her family. Excellent returns to world & current events. Recommend to those interested in a history based story of a girls growing up. Loved the music, Bolivian experiences & her passion for stories!

Absolutely beautiful

One of my favorite books to date. So much emotion and history wrapped together and narrated so perfectly.

not just another Holocaust book

I loved that the author was a child. I am so glad that i choose to listen to it rather than read it. I couldn't put it down... listened in my car, while cooking dinner and walking through the grocer. It was different from all of the other stories in many ways.

Superb!

I read a lot of books in this genre. Exile Music tells it's story from a unique point of view, that of a family that escaped Nazi occupied Vienna and settled in Bolivia. Bolivia also became a refugee to Nazi perpetrators, creating startling tension in the plot. Everything about this book is marvelous: beautifully writing, multidimensional characters, well structured plot and a perfect ending. Besides being moved to tears by the story, I learned a lot about Bolivian history and culture and the role it played during and after the Holocaust and WW II. Wonderful narration as well!

Wonderful Story

Very well written and totally captivating. I learned so much that I didn’t know about Bolivia and the Jews that fled there.

Beautiful story

Loved all the characters, beautifully written for such a tragic moment in our time. Thank you