THREE MUSES

"Martha Anne Toll's three muses are those of song, discipline, and memory. In this beautiful, dark novel, she has choreographed the mysterious ways these forces push and pull and shape the lives of her characters – lives of terrible loss and precious if dismaying survival – through their dissonances, harmonies, deprivations and recoveries. A meditation on history, music, the catastrophic inheritances of the Holocaust, and the so common, painful hiddenness of hope itself, THREE MUSES captivates the reader from the first page to the last." --Paul Harding, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Tinkers and Enon “Martha Anne Toll's Three Muses is so surprisingly soulful. The surprise doesn't lie in the existence of textured prose that explores dance, music, love and time in wholly different ways; it lies in how that textured prose actually creates a new time signature wholly dependent on practice and discipline. This is phenomenal writing. It just is.” —Kiese Makeba Laymon, bestselling author of Heavy, How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America, and Long Division “Three Muses is a tender, well-told story about how tragedies reverberate through the years and shape the course of two intersecting lives. This is a wonderful meditation on trauma and loss—and a love story in its own right.” —Lydia Kiesling, author of The Golden State and former Editor (now Contributing Editor) at The Millions “Three Muses is a hauntingly beautiful testament to the power of art and love. With exquisite craft, Toll writes about dance and music in sentences that sing. She is a writer to watch.” —Lara Prescott, New York Times bestselling author of The Secrets We Kept “A grand generosity of spirit pervades this book, which weaves together threads of love, loss, memory and art. Martha Anne Toll's Three Muses takes art seriously, delves deeply into the discipline and sacrifice it requires, and connects its transcendent power to the messy, quotidian world not just of artist and performers, but the audience as well This is the rare book that looks behind the curtain with genuine empathy, insight and love.” —Philip Kennicott, Pulitzer Prize winning art and architecture critic for The Washington Post, and author of Counterpoint: A Memoir of Bach and Mourning “Delving deep into the heart of the human experience, Toll has given us a capacious and deeply felt novel about trauma and ambition, art, passion, and the vagaries of memory. Three Muses is a love story that isn't afraid to contend with difficult questions, a wise and compassionate meditation on beauty, loss, and the many invisible lives we might have lived.” —Michael David Lukas, author and winner of the National Jewish Book Award for theLast Watchman of Old Cairo “Martha Anne Toll's Three Muses follows two characters for whom, as children on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean, art functions as both a means to salvation, and as a burden that can come close to feeling like a curse. Beautifully written, and vivid with detail and insight, this novel is brimming with moments of kindness and light that thread through tapestries of loss and pain.” —Moriel Rothman-Zecher, author of Sadness is a White Bird, Finalist, National Jewish Book Award and Dayton Literary Peace Prize

"Toll's novel is not only notable for its poignant prose, clever foreshadowing, and deeply moving ending, it also comments on many of the harsher truths present in the ballet world, acknowledging the reality without glamorizing it. The author ... not only uses a true-to-life version of the 1950s dance world as her stage, she uses choreography as a key element of the plot, with the dances she creates for her characters perfectly echoing their inner lives." Read more...

"An affecting chamber piece with plenty to say about art, trauma, and healing." Read more...

"Toll has crafted a roller-coaster story that is an easy and arresting read. (...) This is a remarkable debut novel enriched by the years that Toll has taken to pull together her diverse experiences: of ballet; of her family's tragic experiences of the Holocaust, living in Mainz and living in the USA. Above all else, it is highly recommended as a first class read." Read more...

- Finalist, 2023 Gotham Book Prize ($50,000 award sum) - Winner, Petrichor Prize for Finely Crafted Fiction - Honorable Mention for the 2020 Landmark Prize for Fiction (top five finalists)

"With healthy doses of nostalgia and authenticity—and a tear-jerker ending—Three Muses is a deeply honest story that embraces the magic of fiction while not shying away from life's harsher realities."

"In Toll's exquisite, post-World War II-set novel, dance serves as the catalyst to an attraction that endures through decades. After witnessing prima ballerina Katya Symanova perform, Dr. John Curtin is so enchanted that he waits with white roses at the stage door. Over the years, their paths will diverge and recross as each struggles with the lingering effects of trauma. Yet their gravitational pull toward each other offers glimpses of a possible life filled with peace and happiness."

"Toll has crafted an engag­ing romance, with poignant reflections on the ritual of remembrance." Read more...