November's Read

Our read for November, chosen by Jacque is The Last Waltz by G.G. Vandagriff

From Amazon:

“The Last Waltz is a book to savor. It educates; it is filled with action; the tender love story is mirrored in the political conflicts of the day, it is filled with points to ponder, and it entertains.”--Meridian Magazine.

“In GG Vandagriff's newest novel, pre-World War II Austria explodes with intrigue, and volatile politics that would eventually bring the Austrian people under Hitler's rule, and a love story that proves that a woman's heart is as vast as the ocean.

“Before reading this book, I'd never given too much thought to those who lived in pre-Hitler controlled Austria. Of course, I've seen the Sound of Music enough times to understand that those who did not swear allegiance to Hitler were in mortal danger. Yet, the events leading up to this historical time were fascinating. The Last Waltz is truly an epic love tale, spanning four decades of Amalia's life--following her through triumph and tragedy. She'd lost so much, yet came out so strong.” — H.B. Moore, multi-award winning, best-selling author of historical fiction.

“I highly recommend this book for everyone who enjoys soaking up history in foreign lands and at the same time getting teary-eyed over a wonderful love story.” -–Michele Ashman Bell, best-selling romance writer.

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It is December of 1913 in Vienna and Amalia Faulhaber is surrounded by the whirlwind that is the life of a nineteen-year-old socialite. She is comfortable and confident in her wealth, her heritage, and most of all, in her engagement to the Prussian baron, Eberhard von Waldburg. All this comes crashing to a halt the day that her fiance informs her that their engagement is off since he is returning to Prussia to fight in what he is sure will be a glorious war.

Thus begins the tale of a heroine of extraordinary background and resource who develops into a woman who would be extraordinary in any age.

The men in her life—a German officer in World War I, a patriotic Polish doctor, and an Austrian Baron, all shape her, but more remarkably she shapes them. Her utopian socialist uncle has raised her with ideas outside those of the upper classes, imparting to her a more complete picture of the day than possessed by the other men in her life. This quality causes her to champion the Austrian Democratic Experiment and to especially mourn its demise.

The Last Waltz is full of little known history of a land that was, in 1913, the apex of the worlds of science, medicine, art, and music. The speed with which the five-hundred year old empire fell, and the reasons behind that failure carry many warnings for the world we live in today.