Farewell My Life: Buona Notte Vita Mia

Young Adult, Romance, General Fiction

By Cynthia Haggard

Publisher : Spun Stories Press

ABOUT Cynthia Haggard

Cynthia Haggard
Cynthia Sally Haggard was born and reared in Surrey, England. About 30 years ago she surfaced in the United States, inhabiting the Mid-Atlantic region as she wound her way through four careers: violinist, cognitive scientist, medical writer, and novelist.    Cynthia graduated with an M More...

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Description

A Cinderella-ish tale with not-so-charming princes in the edgy setting of 1920s and 1930s Berlin during the rise of the Nazis, Farewell My Life spins an operatic tale of dangerous love, obsession and loss; of crumbling, dissolving and nothingness, that revolves around Grace, a shy 17-year-old whose fabulous talent for the violin promises a shimmering career.

In 2007, I wanted to write a Great American Novel that celebrated my 25 years of living in this country. Ten years later, I finally finished the book. It took another couple of years to do the audiobook version, and finally I was ready to publish in 2019. The kernel for the book was of a young woman violinist who had to leave home suddenly. It is loosely based on the story of my own violin teacher, who went to Berlin to study violin in the late 1920s.

“A unique, deftly scripted, and extraordinary novel by an author

with a distinctive narrative storytelling style that will hold the

readers dedicated attention from beginning to end, "Farewell My

Life: Buona Notte Vita Mia" is an impressive and unreservedly

recommended addition to both community and academic library

Contemporary Literary Fiction collections. One of those rare

novels that will linger in the mind and memory long after the

book itself has been finished.”—Mid-West Book Review

“The author knows her characters very, very well; this shows in

the consistent and very individual way they act. This is not a

plot-driven story; it’s character-driven. In this book, the

characters are the jam which holds everything together. The best

example of this is Grace, the talented violinist, who, simply,

jumps off the page. I loved her.”—Wishing Shelf

“This is not your typical mystery; it’s for fans of thrilling action

and historically-inspired events…Contra to the status quo of the

genre, the men are the romantics – though in a deranged manner

– and the women showcased are the core strength of the

novel.”—BookLife Prize.

“The author…adeptly summons the era in all its manners and

details with her descriptive prose…Her omniscient, third-person

narrator effectively flits through the heads of various characters,

offering momentary glimpses of their inner lives.”—Kirkus

Reviews