Claudia

Things weren't meant to turn out this way. It wasn't part of the plan. But, since when had Claudia ever been in control of her own life?

Claudia looked out the window at the densely forested Italian hillside. 

Her high society life in Vienna was over, her designer wardrobe and beautiful apartment along with it. She'd been so close to getting away from her controlling father and foul-tempered aunt. How had it all gone so wrong?

In pre-war Vienna, the air crackles with anticipation. Austria is now under the control of the Third Reich and the city's inhabitants are witnessing first-hand the brutal change Hitler has in store for Europe. Fresh from her Swiss finishing school, Claudia is awash with expectation; Aunt Petra's well-orchestrated plan of soirees and parties must surely succeed in finding her niece a suitable husband. Within weeks Claudia has caught the eye of an ambitious German officer and suddenly she can see a life free from the pain and loneliness she's felt since losing her mother. What she hadn't expected was becoming reacquainted with her mother's bohemian family and her childhood sweetheart Dominik. What she hadn't expected was just how far her father was prepared go to secure their shared fate.

Claudia will pull you deep into a life that will challenge everything you might have thought about one of The Luthier's most polarising characters.

Claudia is a companion novella and should be read after The Luthier.