Vienna Prelude
Categories: Advanced Readers, Historical Fiction, Review
Tags: Bodie Thoene, Brock Thoene, World War II
Our rating: 
Europe, 1936, and Nazi darkness is beginning to descend. Elisa Lindheim is a violinist in the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra, and while she is half Jewish, she is protected by both her German Aryan looks and the stage name Elisa Linder. Though situations are worsening in both Germany and Austria, Elisa refuses to believe that Hitler’s Third Reich will gain as much power as it claims. But her family has to escape, and her father goes missing, and so many of her friends are in danger. Before she knows it, Elisa is involved with something much bigger, along with members of the orchestra and an American news-reporter, John Murphy.
This is overall a worthwhile book, providing a good look at what life was like for so many during the events that led to World War II. It also covers some of the bigger picture views involving the politics and problems that leaders in England and America were dealing with at the time. I do have a few complaints about Vienna Prelude, though, the primary one being that Elisa’s romance occasionally bogged down the main story to the point of frustration. Also, I cannot at all recommend this book to young readers, as the sheer brutality of the Gestapo and the concentration camps are not watered down. That said, it was still a fairly good read, and I will likely look into the rest of the series.
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Grandma said:
Ruth, I have all the books in this series plus the series the Thoenes wrote which actually precedes these in history. Anytime you want, come browse my bookshelves! :)
Grandma said:
Oops, I got that backwards! She wrote The Zion Chronicles first. Those books first and they tell of the founding of the Nation of Israel in 1945. Then she went back and wrote The Zion Covenant which tells of the history of WWII. At any rate, I do have the whole set and you’re welcome to borrow any/all at any time! :)