- Published: 30 August 2022
- ISBN: 9780141991078
- Imprint: Penguin Press
- Format: Paperback
- Pages: 224
- RRP: $22.99
Lev's Violin
An Italian Adventure
- Published: 30 August 2022
- ISBN: 9780141991078
- Imprint: Penguin Press
- Format: Paperback
- Pages: 224
- RRP: $22.99
Utterly enthralling - a beautifully written voyage of discovery that takes us deep into the heart of music-making.
Deborah Moggach, author of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
A beguiling quest that draws its author from the Italian heartland of the violin to the edge of Asiatic Russia, told with a passion that is at once gentle and compelling.
Colin Thubron, author of To a Mountain in Tibet
In limpid, searching prose, Helena Attlee shows us how music can cast spells but also bridge the distance of centuries.
Marina Benjamin, author of The Middlepause
Charming and original ... Attlee has the natural storyteller's gift.
Stephen Walsh, author of Debussy
Reading Lev's Violin is like listening to a fine instrument: thoroughly relaxing but also exciting, fun yet deeply serious ... with constant surprises and charms
Tobias Jones, author of The Dark Heart of Italy
Illuminating, engrossing ... a wide-ranging exploration of the history and cultural significance of the Italian violin
TLS
Beguiling and truly original ... An amazing journey ... one of the joys is the glimpses it affords of forgotten historical byways and of a colourful, sometimes roguish cast of characters ... Attlee has such a wonderful way with words that as a reader you almost imagine you can see, as well as hear, Lev's violin
Daily Mail
Charming ... Attlee tells the story in easy, luminous prose, infused with a deep understanding for the way human value accrues mysteriously in things, and in the act of making them
Telegraph
Seductive, captivating ... A book that pleases the more for so neatly resisting characterisation
Literary Review
Elegant and ambitious ... Attlee pursues her story with honesty, diligence and open-mindedness ... An original and refreshingly unorthodox approach to history
Guardian
Attlee writes with rare beauty and sensitivity about music, and her love of Italian culture positively sings from the pages ... Deeply absorbing
Kate Wakeling, BBC Music Magazine
Attlee's love and unbounded enthusiasm for Italy shine through the pages ... She writes with zest about her sleuthing odyssey, her investigations into the art of lutherie and the dynasties dedicated to the crafting of these delightful objects. Whether it be a distant family history, the timber forests of the Dolomites or a momentary encounter, Attlee captures it in firm, fresh prose.
Graham Elliot, Spectator