The Book of Harlan

During WWII two African American musicians are captured by the Nazis in Paris and imprisoned at the Buchenwald concentration camp. Simply miraculous . . . As her saga becomes ever more spellbinding so does the readers astonishment at the magic she creates. This is a story about the triumph of the human spirit over bigotry intolerance and cruelty and at the center of The Book of Harlan is the restorative force that is music. Washington Post McFaddens writing breaks the heartand then heals it again. The perspective of a black man in a concentration camp is unique and harrowing and this is a riveting worthwhile read. Toronto Star The Book of Harlan opens with the courtship of Harlans parents and his 1917 birth in Macon Georgia. After his prominent minister grandfather dies Harlan and his parents move to Harlem where he eventually becomes a professional musician. When Harlan and his best friend trumpeter Lizard Robbins are invited to perform at a popular cabaret in the Parisian enclave of Montmartreaffectionately referred to as The Harlem of Paris by black American musiciansHarlan jumps at the opportunity convincing Lizard to join him. But after the City of Light falls under Nazi occupation Harlan and Lizard are thrown into Buchenwaldthe notorious concentration camp in Weimar Germanyirreparably changing the course of Harlans life. Based on exhaustive research and told in McFaddens mesmeric prose The Book of Harlan skillfully blends the stories of McFaddens familial ancestors with those of real and imagined characters.