The Tristan Chord

By Bettina Von Kampen format: hardcover publication: October 2008 ISBN: 9781894283854

Price $29.95 Quantity This item is in stock and usually ships within 24 hours.

Near the end of World War II in Bayreuth, Germany, a composer meets a musically gifted SS officer. The officer’s been posted to Bayreuth to perform with other SS members in the chorus of Wagner’s Die Meistersinger. The soldier has committed atrocities at Dachau, but his artistic nature is moved by the composer’s unfinished opera, which he then steals. The story shifts to contemporary Canada, where the soldier’s sister, Johanna, lives near her son Robert, also a gifted musician. The novel turns on Johanna’s encounter with a Holocaust survivor and the re-emergence of the opera manuscript that had been in her brother’s possession. In a moving climax, Johanna comes to terms both with her complicity in covering up her brother’s past, and with the redemptive power of music.

Bettina von Kampen grew up in Winnipeg. She has written two novels: Blue Becomes You (finalist - Amazon.ca/Books in Canada first novel award) and Watch You Don’t Fall. Currently, Bettina lives in the GTA where she works as a physiotherapist and plays with the intrepid second violins in Symphony Hamilton.

If you are coming into one of our stores, we suggest that you confirm that the book you want is in stock by emailing the location nearest you: Grant Park, Polo Park, Saskatoon, or by phoning the location nearest you.

0 comments on this item