Reviews

This is storytelling from the Old World, a panoramic sweep through the tortured times and people of Eastern Europe. It is the story of Elazar, a young Jewish violinist in search of redemptive love and transportive music, in a world full of ugly bigotry and hate. Drifting back and forth between Uzbekistan and the Ukraine between 1922 and 1944, our hero navigates wedding-night steam rooms and birch-branch floggings; rivers of refugees and rivers of blood; lice and typhoid and refugee tent camps; horse-drawn carriage rides through betrayal and death and flattened shtetls; and the small luxuries of the desperate, a simple plate of chicken and cabbage. But always, always, the ebb and flow of music, weaving in and out of a life lost in the terrifying wilderness, searching for family and home. Does our hero find what he is yearning for? Read the book to find out. I picked it up and had to find out what happened to Elazar, a narrator I cared about.

Richard C. Morais

author of the New York Times and international best-selling novel The Hundred Foot Journey.

Tim Turner and Moisey Gorbaty have written an emotionally powerful novel that captures Jewish life in the Soviet Union, before during and after WWII. The Reluctant Conductor depicts the hardship, oppression and hope of the era, combining the engaging storytelling of a novel against the turbulent history of the era. In addition to finding it a great read, I particularly enjoyed the history as it enabled me to better understand the situation in Ukraine and with Russia today.

Sean Strub

author of Body Counts, A Memoir of Activism, Sex and Survival.

The Reluctant Conductor is most definitely a page turner. It is also timely and beautifully written. The cost of love and war and… the power of music. While the book is set during and after the war, WWll, it could’ve been written yesterday with all that is going on in the world – Ukraine and Russia. The authors, Turner and Gorbaty, have written a powerful historical novel. The hero, Elazar, a violinist, is both tender and audacious; his journey is filled with all of life – love, pain, devastation and hope.

Amy Ferris

Amy Ferris is a screenwriter, influencer, badass and author of Mighty Gorgeous: A Little Book About Messy Love, as well as Marrying George Clooney: Confessions from a Midlife Crisis

The Reluctant Conductor is a memorable and brilliant tale that will take its readers on an enthralling and poignant journey from start to finish… (It) will thrust the reader back in time to before, during, and after WWII as we witness one Jewish family’s struggle against the backdrop of the USSR and Hitler’s reign. The Reluctant Conductor managed to entertain me for many hours on end thanks to the unique premise of the story as well as the excellent literature courtesy of Tim Turner & Moisey Gorbaty. Very rarely do I discover a book that captivates me as fast as The Reluctant Conductor has so the fact that I am so taken with this book shows you, readers, that this book indeed is incredible and not to be missed!

Red Headed Book Lover

Most books about World War II take place in France or Germany, but this one takes place in Russia and gives a different viewpoint on how people were affected by the war in this country… This interwoven idea of music throughout the story, adds a taste of beauty amidst destruction… the writing was beautiful, and the story is one that has not been told often.

ReedsyDiscovery

The authors touchingly handle themes of loss and belonging as they dramatize, in brisk and poignant scenes, the everyday yet extraordinary experiences of refugee life… Despite the complexity of the political instability of the era, The Reluctant Conductor is at heart an elemental story of one family caught up in the larger context of geopolitics and genocide, a humane examination of the cost in individual lives of ancient hatreds.

Publishers Weekly BookLife

Turner and Gorbaty’s engaging debut novel is promising and timely, considering what is going on in the protagonist’s part of the world. Elazar, the narrator, carries the story and will win readers over right from the start… A scene involving the family member fighting typhus is beautiful and poignant (Dickens would approve)… A moving family tale with a strong cast that readers will love.

Kirkus Reviews