"Here is a virtual masterclass for violinists, and for all those who love the music of that instrument, by one of the legendary virtuosi of our time...for this new Dover edition, famous musicologist and musician Spike Hughes, a long-time friend of Szigeti, has added a preface which acts as a charming anecdotal biography of the great violinist." (back cover).

Norma Barzman is a blacklisted writer living in Southern France. Henry Myers is her beloved cousin, a former member of the Algonquin circle who has found his writing talent diminished with age, and is living an isolated life in New York City. When Norma invites Henry to Italy to realize their mutual dream of traveling together to Cremona to write about the mysterious origins of violin making, neither one could have anticipated the explosive consequences of their journey. But their adventure opens a Pandora's box of long-suppressed emotions, family secrets, and forces each to reassess their feelings towards each other, and themselves.