Book 3: The Louise trilogy
The year is 1913. The portrait of Louise is now hanging in the home of a Jewish family, the Abrahams, in Vienna. Izaac Abrahams is showing early signs of the talent that will make him a famous violin virtuoso and often practices in front of the picture.
After the Anschluss of 1939, Izaac is sent to the Theresienstadt concentration camp and then to Auschwitz.
The portrait of Louisa falls into the hands of Erich Hoffman, an SS officer, and seems destined to join the art collection being amassed on the orders of Adolf Hitler
What now for Louise and her portrait? Can Louise save Izaac from the gas chamber and Erich from his Nazism? And what is to be her decision on her own future?
Aubrey Flegg's Louise trilogy began with Wings Over Delft, winner of the Bisto Book of the Year Award 2004 and the Reading Association of Ireland Award 2005, and continued with The Rainbow Bridge.
Robert Dunbars Top 30 Children's Books of the Year 'poignant and humane' - Irish Times
'By turns joyful and harrowing, this finely written and moving finale to the trilogy contrasts the life-affirming power of music with the destructive forces of prejudice during one of the most troubled periods in modern European history.' - Bookfest Ireland - Recommended Reading Guide
'interesting and challenging ... avoids the usual stereotypes' - Irish Independent
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