The Butterfly and the Violin
Read The Butterfly and the Violin Online
Authors: Kristy Cambron
Tags: #Fiction, #Christian, #Historical, #Romance, #Contemporary, #ebook
ADVANCE PRAISE FOR
The Butterfly and the Violin
“Cambron’s debut novel is rife with history, faith, and hope. It will entrance readers with its poignant characters, intriguing plot, and unpredictable love story.”
—S
UZANNE
W
OODS
F
ISHER
,
AWARD
-
WINNING
,
BEST
-
SELLING AUTHOR OF THE
L
ANCASTER
C
OUNTY
S
ECRETS SERIES
“Fresh. Fascinating. Unforgettable.
The Butterfly and the Violin
is a masterpiece of a debut. From stunning cover to satisfying conclusion, this poignant novel marks Kristy Cambron as an author to watch.”
—L
AURA
F
RANTZ
, C
HRISTY
A
WARD FINALIST AND AUTHOR OF
L
OVE
’
S
R
ECKONING
“
The Butterfly and the Violin
held me captive from first note to final moment. Just like the beautiful violin Adele plays, Cambron lyrically weaves words and emotions, carries you through a simultaneously heartbreaking and uplifting story, and leaves you yearning for more. Absolutely spellbinding!”
—K
ATHERINE
R
EAY
,
AUTHOR OF
D
EAR
M
R
. K
NIGHTLEY
“
The Butterfly and the Violin
is a powerful debut novel that weaves together a touching contemporary story with dramatic events in World War II. A compelling plot and an intriguing cast of characters illustrate that even in the darkest times, when evil seems impossible to overcome, hope can be found through trusting God and using our gifts as an act of worship. Readers of historical fiction will be captivated by this inspiring novel!”
—C
ARRIE
T
URANSKY
,
AWARD
-
WINNING AUTHOR OF
T
HE
G
OVERNESS OF
H
IGHLAND
H
ALL
AND
T
HE
D
AUGHTER OF
H
IGHLAND
H
ALL
“Cambron’s debut,
The Butterfly and the Violin
, is a wonderful read! I loved deciphering the mystery of what really happened, and the novel revealed a piece of World War II history I’d never heard before. Original and enthralling.”
—C
OLLEEN
C
OBLE
,
USA T
ODAY
BEST
-
SELLING AUTHOR OF THE
H
OPE
B
EACH SERIES AND
B
UTTERFLY
P
ALACE
“In
The Butterfly and the Violin
author Kristy Cambron weaves together two intriguing stories: one set during World War II in Auschwitz, and the other set in present day. The past and the present intersect, revealing profound truths of how there is beauty to be found in the darkest moments of our lives—and reasons to trust God even when it seems wiser to abandon hope. Cambron’s novel touched my heart and challenged me to think more about the meaning—and the cost—of love and courage.”
—B
ETH
K. V
OGT
,
AUTHOR OF
S
OMEBODY
L
IKE
Y
OU
“
The Butterfly and the Violin,
with its skillfully woven modern-day and World War II storylines, instantly put Kristy Cambron on my ‘favorite authors’ list. Her characters captured my heart right from the start, and her wonderfully paced plot fed my love for both historical and contemporary fiction. Cambron’s portrayal of Auschwitz, especially, stunned and impacted me. Truly, one of the most moving novels I’ve read.”
—M
ELISSA
T
AGG
,
AUTHOR OF
M
ADE TO
L
AST
AND
H
ERE TO
S
TAY
© 2014 by Kristy Cambron
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a trademark of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc.
Published in association with Hartline Literary Agency, Pittsburgh, PA 15235.
Thomas Nelson, Inc., titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail [email protected].
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible,
New International Version
®
,
NIV
®
. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com
Publisher’s Note: This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. All characters are fictional, and any similarity to people living or dead is purely coincidental.
ISBN 978-1-4016-9060-1 (eBook)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Cambron, Kristy.
The butterfly and the violin : a hidden masterpiece novel / Kristy Cambron.
pages cm
ISBN 978-1-4016-9059-5 (trade paper)
I. Title.
PS3603.A4468B88 2014
813'.6—dc23
2014002836
14 15 16 17 18 19 RRD 6 5 4 3 2 1
For my dad.
And for Jeremy, whom Yahweh has uplifted.
Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”
ISAIAH 30:21
CONTENTS
Present day, New York City
I
s this it?”
Sera James bounded through the front doors of the Manhattan gallery, so excited that she nearly slipped for running across the hardwood floor in her heels. She came to a flustered stop in front of the large canvas hanging on the back wall. Breathless, she asked, “You’ve confirmed—this is her?”
“Did you run all the way here, Sera?”
“Yes. Wouldn’t you?” She wasn’t ashamed to admit it. From the second she’d received the phone call, Sera had pushed and shoved her way off the subway in a frenzy and had run the eight blocks back to the gallery, dodging taxis and cracks in the sidewalks all the way.
Penny nodded. “The guys in the back just opened the crate. Can you believe it’s been there for a week and we didn’t even know it?”
She shook her head in disbelief. “Unfathomable.”
Sera unwound the chiffon scarf from her neck and shrugged off her trench coat as she stepped away for a moment, draping them both over the antique wooden counter stretching across the back of the room. She twisted her long ebony hair and tucked it into a loose bun, then secured it atop her head with a pencil
she found nearby. It wasn’t until she turned back to her assistant that she noticed the girl hadn’t moved an inch. Penny stood like a statue, her only movement an index finger that twirled a lock of strawberry blond hair at her nape.
Sera laughed. When her assistant took to whirling a strand of hair around her finger, something had to have completely captured her attention.
“You’re doing it again, Penny.”
The action was telltale. But Sera didn’t blame Penny in the least. This moment was special. If the painting was what they both thought it was, standing in awe was warranted. The rest of the city could have flown by outside the front windows and neither one of them would have noticed. Or cared.
“I’m just sorry it’s not the original.” Penny offered Sera an envelope without looking away from the canvas. “But it is another step closer and that’s what matters.”
“You’ve inspected the borders?”
“My hands were shaking like crazy the whole time,” Penny admitted, tilting her head to one side. “But yeah. Even though I knew this was paint on canvas, I still checked to be sure. The negatives are inside.”
Sera opened the envelope and held the negatives up to the light. Penny was right—the painting before them was eerily similar to the one they sought. Checking the borders was the only way to distinguish the original from a copy. And if the borders didn’t match, then this couldn’t be the one they’d been searching for. Her heart almost sank a little before she realized that while it may not have been
the
portrait, it was still a portrait of
her
. The borders didn’t matter much when those piercing eyes continued to stare out, haunting the viewer.
