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Had I known this book was labeled as “Christian fiction” I think I wouldn’t have requested it, and it was my entire fault since the synopsis mentions God at least three times, but I didn’t realize until it was too late. At least now I can say that I have tried Christian books, right?
The butterfly and the violin contents two stories in two different times. During the Second World War, in Vienna, Adele Von Bron, a promising violinist, falls in love with a member of the Vienna Philharmonic, for which they both play. Vladimir is a nice man, but Adele’s parents are looking for an upper class husband for their child, and Vladimir doesn’t belong to that specific group. They live their love in secret and not only that, but even though Adele’s father is a Nazi officer, she helps Vladimir to get some Jews out of Vienna… until she is uncovered.
Today, Sera James looks for the original painting of a girl in Auschwitz playing the violin; she has been obsessed with that painting since she first saw it long years ago, and now she discovers that it may belong to a man who has just died, so she decides to go and talk with his heirs. She meets Will Hanover, a handsome man who actually doesn’t have the painting but also has his own reasons to get it, so they investigate together.
Both stories are linked through that painting.
The part set in the past is the one I liked most. Adele is a sensible young girl who just wants to help other people, and her love story with Vladimir is really beautiful. In Auschwitz she is forced to play the violin with other girls while the Nazis bring people to the camp and do their first selection, taking the people who can’t work to the gas chambers; but even in that situation she can consider herself luckier than the other prisoners. The “Christian” issue here is that she plays for God, which I found perfectly natural, taking into account that the poor girl needs to blow her mind somehow in a situation like that.
Sera’s part is like a romance novel, but it wasn’t very good, in my opinion. To summarize, she is devastated because her husband-to-be cancelled their wedding so she hasn’t dated other men for years, but she falls in love with Will Hanover who, by the way, is rich, and she is not sure about opening her heart and all that. He, meanwhile, confesses his deepest secret ever – which might be considered SPOILERS, you are warned – taking the plot to a momentous scene when he puts a bible on Sera’s table and says his dream was to be a minister since he was young, but his family didn’t let him because his fate was to be the head of the family business – business of millions of dollars, I mean, what a terrible fate! – and her heart instantly pounds harder full of love for him, while I was laughing out loud. I’m sorry, but that was too much Christianity for me.
So, did I like the book? Fifty-fifty. I loved Adele’s part, and it talks about a subject I didn’t know anything about: the art created in Auschwitz by the prisoners, which I found fascinating. But the plot set in the present is boring, trying to fit God everywhere, except for the end, when they discover the painting and the story behind it.
The buttefly and the violin
Kristy Cambron
Published by Thomas Nelson
329 pages.
From Isi 
I haven’t read any Christian novel, I have never felt the necessity to do it 😉
According to your summary, I think I would have also liked more Adele’s part.
Kisses,
Inma
Inma, I perfectly understand why you haven’t read Christian fiction, and seriously, you are happier like that 😛
Adele’s story is beautiful, but it’s a shame Sera’s part is so uninteresting.
I haven’t read a lot of Christian fiction, but I won’t be impartial against trying it. This one sounds like a read I would enjoy, mostly because the setting in the past is around WWII. I also think I would be interested in the art that were created by prisoners of WWII/Auschwitz! I’d probably be most interested in Adele’s story too!
Well, in these kind of books set in two different times, one of the stories is always more interesting than the other. This is exactly what happens here, and I also think you’d like Adele’s part.
Christian fiction is generally just bad. I don’t know what it is or why (I’m a Christian after all and love Christian nonfiction), but I rarely ever enjoy it. Beverly Lewis, who writes stories about the more Christianized Amish, is about all I can take. I like her books.
I didn’t know that author, Jennine, but I don’t want to read this genre for the moment. It’s just that I found it weird every time the characters began talking about God. I didn’t see God had to do anything with the story!
I haven’t read any Christian fiction though I am a Christian. Sorry it disappointed you, the synopsis did sound like a good one.
Yes, it sounds good, and the part set in the past was very-very good, but the other just didn’t make much sense to me.
I haven’t read the spoiler part so my comment isn’t completely…informed… but I think I’d give this one a go. I’m actually trying out my first Christian novel at the moment, but I’m not enjoying the dialogue (the author’s tried too hard to be historical). I’ll just remember your misgivings.
I’m curious about your Christian novel. This one has a very interesting historical plot, so I think you can like it as I did, but the other is a little bit worse. Hope your characters don’t want to be ministers of God 😉
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