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1800s: The third in an evocative series of two powerful English and Prussian families
A Motif of Seasons
What you need to know before your trail
Two powerful 19th-century English and Prussian families are still riven by the consequences of an ancestral marriage – one that bequeathed venomous division, rivalry and hatred. Three beautiful women – each ambitious and musically gifted – seek to break these inherited shackles of betrayal, revenge and cruelty in their pursuit of sexual freedom and love. But the past proves a formidable and vicious opponent. Set against the backdrop of Europe’s inexorable slide towards the First World War, the final resolution of this ancient and destructive quarrel hangs by a thread and with it the fate of an 18th-century music book full of secrets
Locations
ResetTravel Guide
Edward’s Travel Guide:
The first place is Wannsee near Berlin – a beautiful lake featuring in the novel. The second is the Marmourpalais in Potsdam near Frederick the Great’s summer palace of Sanssouci. Though the Marmourpalais is different architecturally in several ways from my fictional grand house at Herzberg, it was nonetheless the inspiration behind my invention. Houghton Hall in Norfolk – an even grander house – was along with Anglesey Abbey in Cambridgeshire the spur to my creation of the Meltwater estate.
The remaining two sites featuring in the novel are Avila’s Cathedral of the Holy Saviour in Spain and the village of Guillemont on the Somme battlefront, where the soldier to whom my book is dedicated died on 15 September 1916.
Edward’s Guide to further travel:
For the First World War the Imperial War Museum in London is the best source of information – exhibits, pictures, documents and archives. For the Battle of the Somme I did a battlefield tour led by a military expert (there are several good tours available on the Internet). Any such tour should include the Thiepval Memorial in France to the missing of the Somme. Adjacent to it is a museum with some exhibits and a selection of literature (it is free admission, unlike the two recent annexes which are less impressive). For German history, the Deutsches Historisches Museum in Berlin is best. Last but not least, to flavour the 18th century in Potsdam, visit Sanssouci, once Frederick the Great’s intimate rococo style summer palace. It was the setting for the end of The Music Book, my first novel.
Booktrailer Review
Clare: @thebooktrailer
The third book in a trilogy and what an epic read. I read this without reading the other two but didn’t really feel I was missing out. Having said that, it would be good to have read the other two. The story is a great sweeping drama based on fact and fiction and given the unique view point of the author, it’s a amazing journey to go on.The world of art and paintings in this novel make it feel as it you should read it in a stately home or art gallery as this is a novel with style and panache.
Booktrail Boarding Pass Information: A Motif of Seasons
Author/Guide: Edward Glover Destination: Norfolk, Berlin, Potsdam, Avila Departure Time: 1800s
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