The Patent Clerk’s Violin
Published by: Rain and Breeze Books
Release Date: May 23, 2019
Genre: Historical Fiction
Pages: 346
ISBN13: 978-1-950631-00-1
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A luthier in Bern, Switzerland is asked to repair a Patent Office clerk’s violin which has inexplicably lost its tone. This chance meeting in 1904 begins the friendship of two very different people – the one immersed in his physical craft on a daily basis, and the other obsessed with key problems facing the world of physics at the dawn of the 20th century.
The book is set in the months leading up to Albert Einstein’s “Miracle Year” when he published four ground-breaking scientific articles. During this period, Albert is busy with his day-to-day workload at the Patent Office and is a new parent; however, his mental experiments in physics are always at the forefront of his thoughts. The luthier, Carl, is struggling with a heavy workload, a long-distance marriage, and increasing dissatisfaction with his routine job. The two are also friends with the musician and budding artist, Paul Klee. Somehow, Carl and Albert manage time for music and play together in a local quintet. Carl also becomes involved in the mystery of a valuable violin bow that strangely appears in the hands of a local student and discovers its connection to Albert’s violin.