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by Martha Anne Toll (Author)
...Three Muses captivates the reader from the first page to the last." --Paul Harding, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Tinkers and Enon
Three Muses is a love story that enthralls: a tale of Holocaust survival venturing through memory, trauma, and identity, while raising the curtain on the unforgiving discipline of ballet. In post-WWII New York, John Curtin suffers lasting damage from having been forced to sing for the concentration camp kommandant who murdered his family. John trains to be a psychiatrist, struggling to wrest his life from his terror of music and his past. Katya Symanova climbs the arduous path to Prima Ballerina of the New York State Ballet, becoming enmeshed in an abusive relationship with her choreographer, who makes Katya a star but controls her life. When John receives a ticket to attend a ballet featuring Katya Symanova, a spell is cast. As John and Katya follow circuitous paths to one another, fear and promise rise in equal measure. Song, Discipline, and Memory weave their way through love and loss, heartbreak and triumph.
Author Biography
Martha Anne Toll's reviews, essays, and short fiction regularly appear in NPR Books, The Washington Post, The Millions, and elsewhere. A passionate advocate for racial and social justice, Martha was the founding Executive Director of the Butler Family Fund. She lives with her husband, a climate activist, and their espresso machine just outside Washington, DC. They are the lucky parents of two daughters. Three Muses is Martha's debut novel. Please visit her at www.marthannetoll.com and @marthaannetoll.
