Harvard Club of the Palm Beaches

Crimson Conversations

presents
 

Johanna Neuman, PhD
Hybrid Event!
This event will be in-person and also broadcast on Zoom.

Thursday, October 26, 2023

6:00 pm Networking Reception
7:00 pm Presentation

This is a free event, but we ask that you register in advance to ensure proper seating is available.

 

As acclaimed author Johanna Neuman’s first work of historical fiction, The Concert paints the true story of the World War II siege waged by the Nazis against the City of Leningrad (now St. Petersburg).  Lasting 872 days, the City's three million residents were categorically robbed of food, electricity, heat, and dignity.  Amid this inhumane treatment, a group of musicians band together, many themselves starving and near death, to perform a stirring symphony that resurrects the morale of the war-stricken nation and of the entire Allied world. Audience members heard in the chords of Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7 the sounds of their own suffering and ultimate redemption and victory. The story is told through the eyes of Olga Berggolts, a poet who meets often with her circle of female artists, dancers, and writers, to chronicle the war. Their conversations and fears about the twin horrors of fascism and communism thread the book with a political commentary relevant to our own times.  Written during the pandemic, this book is offered as a meditation on the strength of the individual to overcome hardship.

This event will take place at the Old Palm Beach Post Office, thanks to the generosity of HCotPB's Jeff Greene.
95 N. County Road, Palm Beach 33480


 

About the Author/Speaker
Johanna Neuman, PhD

Johanna Neuman is an author, historian, and blogger who believes in the power of words to illuminate history.  An award-winning historian, she is one of the nation’s leading experts on women’s suffrage, with two highly-acclaimed books to her credit. A former Washinton D.C.-based journalist, she covered the White House, Congress, and the State Department for USA Today and The Los Angeles Times.    Ms. Neuman holds an M.A. in Journalism from the University of Southern California; an M.A. and Ph.D. in History from American University; and she served as a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University.