"The Vienna Sketchbook" e-book by Meritta Koivisto

INTRODUCTION

An artist girl’s drawing talent saves her from persecution in Nazi-German occupied Austria during WWII.
Set against the haunting backdrop of 1938 Vienna and turn-of-the-millennium New York, The Vienna Sketchbook is a morally complex tale of survival, stark choices, and the healing power of art.

When 13-year-old Ingria arrives in Vienna for her sister’s wedding to Januck, a young Austrian doctor, life seems full of hope. But as Nazi Germany occupies Austria, everything changes.

Returning from drawing class, Ingria and Magda, Januck’s younger sister, find their families gone and their lives shattered. Then, Ingria's portrait of Hitler, reluctantly drawn for a school assignment, unexpectedly wins a Nazi-sponsored competition, setting off a chain of betrayal and consequence that will haunt them for decades.

Now, sixty years later, Ingria resides in New York, surrounded by priceless art yet burdened by a wartime memory she has never shared. Waking in the night, she fetches her old sketchbook. What weighs more: the past or the present? And can the present ever make amends for the past? Those are the questions that Magda and Januck too, must face when they finally meet again.

REVIEWS

“

Meritta Koivisto's cinematic storytelling and vivid characters take you into a story that you cannot put dow.

Storytel

quotes

“

You could describe Meritta Koivisto’s historical novel The Vienna Sketchbook, first published in 2017, as a forgotten gem. (…) Koivisto carries the story along at a rapid pace, but keeps the tension right to the end. (…) She uses very small tools to say something unbelievably large about how war can change a person.

Kirsinkirjanurkka

“

The book describes in a subtle way how evil begins to manifest itself little by little, with whispers in the corners of apartments and conversations on street corners. (…) Koivisto writes skillfully about a change that no one wanted to believe could happen, and how in the end it changed everything. (…) Koivisto’s novel is a moving tale of tragic events.

Kuohu

“

The Vienna Sketchbook is an impressive book in many ways. (…) Koivisto writes with great skill and with respect for her readers’ intelligence, never explaining too much. (…) The Vienna Sketchbook is an enjoyable reading experience in spite of its heavy subject.

Kirjaluotsi