After Silence – Hardback
Leningrad 1941. German forces surround the city at the start of the most harrowing winter in its history. The siege becomes a battle for survival. Bodies fill the streets and the crushing horror of cold starvation and bone-deep fear is relentless.
Set against this background of tragedy and suffering a remarkable group of musicians – soldiers and civilians all of whom have been wasted by war and hunger – come together to perform Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony. They scarcely have the strength to carry their instruments but their performance of this haunting and defiant new piece provides a rare light of hope in the darkness. Friendship love and a vibrant passion for music combine in this ambitious absorbing and richly sensuous masterpiece.
Jessica Gregson
Jessica Gregson was born in London in 1978. She is a humanitarian education specialist and a writer, with occasional forays into other careers. She has lived and worked in a variety of places, including South Sudan, Myanmar and Azerbaijan, and currently divides her time between Glasgow and everywhere else.
