Synopsis
William Trotter’s critically acclaimed fictional debut explores the deep forests of Finland with Nazi intelligence officer Erich Ziegler, a gifted orchestra conductor swept up in the maelstrom of war. Laden with the magic of Norse legends, the savage power of the northern forests, and the horrors of the Finnish and Eastern fronts, this tale burns with the fuel of timeless music and an ancient civilization. Called upon to investigate the loyalties of the highly cultured Finns and keep them allied to the Nazi cause, Ziegler meets the famed composer Jean Sibelius. Obsessed by the genius of Sibelius’s mysterious Eighth Symphony and bewitched by a beautiful servant named Kylliki, one act of defiance against his superiors lands Ziegler in the middle of the fire and ice of the Russian front. When he returns from the apocalypse of total war to the home of his revered composer and beloved forest maiden, he has been transformed into the ruthless soldier he once professed to despise. Exhibiting his outstanding knowledge of military battles, and his peerless mastery of place and the cadences of music, Trotter has written a timeless novel for historical fiction fans, military buffs, music lovers, and those fascinated by Norse mythology.
Publishers Weekly
Historian Trotter ( A Frozen Hell: The Russo-Finnish Winter War of 1939 - 40 ) ably draws on his area of expertise for his first novel, although his narrative occasionally strikes melodramatic chords. Rising conductor Erich Ziegler is drafted into the Wehrmacht and sent to the Arctic in June 1941. Surviving the grueling winter, he becomes a roving liaison (read: spy) in Finland and a friend and protege of the great composer Jean Sibelius. In Sibelius's woodland hideaway, Erich falls under the spells of the northern forest and of Kylliki, a beautiful young kitchen servant. Wounded in further action, Erich recuperates at the Sibelius estate, where he wins more than Kylliki's hand, conducts the Fourth Symphony for the master's 79th birthday and hears the composer's piano version of the long-sought Eighth Symphony. Convinced he possesses tickets to postwar success and bliss (the debut of the Eighth and Kylliki), Erich is shattered when both composer and woman deny him. Although he clearly limns the twists of Finnish wartime policy--from belligerence with Germany to alliance with Russia--and the horrors at the Finnish and Eastern fronts, Trotter mars his debut with an overly contrived ending. (Feb.)