This book was beautifully written and had a complex structure which worked for me once I got the hang of it! The interwoven stories of ballet dancer, Katya, who was controlled by the famous choreographer of the company she danced for, and John, a Jewish man trying to come to terms with his past as a Holocaust victim, was unpredictable and interesting. They meet in the US, when John falls instantly in love with Katya, when he sees her dancing. The ballet scenes were detailed and shone a light on the pressures and expectations on the dancers, including submitting to sexual demands from those with more power in the ballet company; currently a theme in many #MeToo novels set in a range of different employment situations.

Some of the plot coincidences seemed far-fetched, but the writing was so lyrical, I enjoyed it anyway! Thankyou to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance digital galley.

Three Muses by Martha Anna Toll started out captivating. The story of John Curtin as a survivor of the Holocaust is harrowing. His infatuation and love of a Prima Ballerina was lovely. It just kind of dropped the ball somewhere in the middle. It's an interesting story with an interesting premiss; I would have loved more depth. It was a quick read. Thank you to Netgalley and Regal House Publishing for the epub.

When a ticket to the ballet in Paris is thrust in his hand…Dr John Curtain has no idea that the star ballerina would change his life and help him to see past the memories that haunt him. Having lost his family in the Holocaust, he is burdened with survivors guilt and a not a complete understanding of why his mother told the guard he could sing and then turned her back on him.

Katya Symanova wanted to dance her whole life. She dedicated herself to the ballet and it’s choreographer. She was certain he held the key to her success and she would do whatever it took to remain on that stage and a bright spot in the eyes of the imaginative choreographer. When her path crosses with John’s, they both begin to see more to life than what they had already lived but the outcomes were quite different. John learned how to forgive himself for surviving and move forward. Katya learned how to love and be loved but would that be enough?

This story was just okay for me. It held my attention but I didn’t find the emotional connection I was hoping for. I greatly appreciate the inclusion of survivors guilt which was and is a very real thing that I think was a completely foreign subject in the years following the war. I absolutely loved Johns adopted parents, the couple that took him in once he immigrated to New York. They were wonderful teachers for John and in time were able to fill a void.

Thank you to NetGalley, Regal House Publishing and Martha Anne Toll for early access to this story.

This is such a terrifically frustrating book! It could have been great. Everything is there. Toll can *write*. The premise is amazing: Holocaust survivor psychiatrist helps trauma victim ballerina. Based on the premise, I would read this book once a week for the rest of my life. The problem is that the plot simply isn't developed. We get the psychiatrist's history, the ballerina's trauma. What we don't get is depth. We don't get the ballet--which, the cover very much promises that. It's just not fleshed out and it probably should have been 200 pages longer to get there. Then, it would have five stars. For now, just three.

I found this novel to be interesting and engaging the whole way through. It was the eloquently-told story of a ballerina and a young psychiatrist in the 1950s and '60s who both have tragedy in their pasts. It is not a romance per se, although the paths of the two characters do become intertwined.

I was much more drawn in by the story of John/Janko, the psychiatrist. He is a Holocaust survivor and we follow him from his life as an innocent child, to starting over in the USA with a new family, to becoming a psychiatrist. His story was of course very poignant and sad, and it felt true to life. The way people talk about the Holocaust now is not the way people talked about it in the 1950s, pre-Raul Hilberg. Toll's depiction of the way people thought and talked (and didn't talk!) about what had happened to John, and the way he thought about himself, really rang true to me.

Katya/Katherine's story had a greater credibility problem for me. After the death of Katherine's mother when Katherine was only a child, she trained to be a ballerina. Boris Yanakov, the choreographer and head of the NYC company she joined was like Mr. Balanchine in that he felt ballet was woman and he also mounted a Nutcracker in the 1950s. But Boris is a sex pest and abuser who is not well-liked by the women in the company. He grooms Katherine and makes her his prima ballerina/"secret" girlfriend and he takes her choreographic ideas without giving her any credit. Of course in the 1950s setting this was seen as pretty innocuous. The story had all the ingredients to be a really interesting situation, but we never hear anything about the dynamics within the company or anything substantial beyond the painful interactions between Boris and Katherine. A crucial portion of the plot was hanging on the premise that Katherine was worried because Boris never "wrote down" any of his ballets and she had to remember them for him, and it seemed that she felt this was her sacred destiny. But even to this day when videoing is so easy, ballets are customarily taught by dancers from memory. So I didn't really understand what was supposed to be unique or compelling about this situation, and it seemed implausible as the impetus for Katherine to make the life decisions she did. It seemed to me that this book wanted to tell the story of a young girl's development into a great artist, but I'm sorry to say that for me it didn't come across.

The strongest part of this novel for me was how music had affected both of these characters lives, for good and for ill. We are given the story of two people, John and Katherine, who were important to each other and had a lasting effect on each other's lives, but there was no fairy tale. I found that refreshing. I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley in return for this honest review.

The intertwining of music, ballet, psychology, trauma, and emotional abuse has promise. John's sense of guilt of surviving, and the task he was set that ensured his survival was heartbreaking. How do you make that choice as a mother, and how do you convey that to your child in a way that makes them understand. Authentically, Martha Toll shows us that its impossible to convey that choice in a coherent way at the time. You just do it, and hope that eventually the child understands.

I sympathized with Katya. Having an alcoholic for a parent is an odd type of trauma, especially when that alcoholism is not blatantly obvious to your young mind. Its not until later that the truth behind your reality sets in, and then you are left with feelings of anger, confusion and guilt. I though Martha Toll depicted this in a relatively accurate way. Though I wish she would have explored it more. Katya's character never full processes that life complication, and she makes a choice in the book that leaves it virtually impossible to process. Choosing the toxic relationship, over the one that promises health, healing and happiness was sort of astounding to me.

I also wish that there was more exploration of Johns relationship with music, his therapy sessions deal with it, and the ballet without music gives him solace, but he never fully comes to terms with the emotions music instills in him.

Overall, this story had so much promise. It ends maybe too abruptly, there was so much more to explore. None of the main characters stories comes to have sort of conclusion, its all just open ended, and the final chapters suddenly tries to neatly tie it all together.

I would give this 3 stars. The writing was beautiful. The description of the ballet was gorgeous. There was emotional honesty in the story, but it just was not fully realized.

Thank you Netgalley for the free arc of this in exchange for an honest review.

This is a story of hope and grief while also dancing around the hopes and beauty these two main characters had embarked on. This is a historical fiction that tackles the struggles between the two characters, a WWII survivor and a dancing ballerina. While there are times when my attentiveness throughout the book was constant, there are also times when the pacing was dragging. However, don't be discouraged by that. I tell you this book is beautiful in all levels of writing, and this will not disappoint you.

Thank you thank you to Netgalley and Regal House Publishing for the eARC!

A story of two people drawn together with parallel stories of trauma which is not fully explored to its potential.

John is a Holocaust survivor who lost his family as a child and has changed his name upon migration to America and is taken in by an American family who lost their son during World War II. Throughout the novel, John grapples with the trauma of having entertained German troops which allowed him to survive.

Katya has stripped herself of her identity to become the ballerina muse sought by Boris Yanakov. Through chance, John watches Katya perform in Paris and becomes instantly drawn to her. They meet again in New York where their relationship develops through their shared history of trauma.
Whilst the concepts of memory and trauma were there through the novel, but I just didn’t feel invested in Katya and John’s relationship. It felt like two people being forced together and there were too many threads to this story that never ended up tying together. The ending was wonderfully bittersweet but was let down in emotional poignancy through an underdeveloped relationship between John and Katya.

This forced relationship made this feel like a novel trying to do a lot and, in some ways, it did achieve them. The ability to change identity and bend to an ideal was an interesting concept and one I would’ve enjoyed being explored a little more.

I knew this book was going to wreck me and that is what it did. Toll choreographed her characters to mirror the three muses that are mentioned and used within the ballet setting to obviously move the plot along and it was done in such a brilliant way. From John to Katya and also Boris, these characters were fully playing a role within this book which allowed for great progression of the story. The trauma that was presented together with the healing process of John, Katya's goal and perseverance in a career that makes or breaks you along with their interactions were soulful and downright cute. I loved their dynamic. Boris & Katya should also be commented on. It was frustrating to read their interactions at times. Boris was a little difficult to fully understand but it did add to his character since not even the characters within the ballet setting really knew him. The contrast between John and Katya and Boris and Katya really allowed for greater. Look into dynamics within relationships ie. The give and take , the selfishness and selflessness mong and between them. I do recommend reading this book. I love historical fiction so I was immediately drawn to this story. So if you are as well please give this a read.

Please check link for bookstagram post

This was a beautiful writing book; the description allowed me to picture when Katya was dancing, this girl suffering so much. The author did a great job making us understand the choices made here. Such an amazing book. Love it from the start to finish.

Thank you to NetGalley and Regal House publishing for allowing me to read this advanced copy. I cannot express how incredible this book is. As I librarian I can already think of 5 patrons who need this book in their hands. It was poignant and beautiful. The artful use of time as a character itself added to this gorgeous story. I truly felt that the story in itself was a moving ballet full of push, pull, and plenty emotion. John's growth throughout the book is raw and powerful. Memory is a tricky thing and I feel Toll has encapsulated what it is to find memories after trauma and learn to embrace them. Katya is such an interesting and poetic character. I feel as though the descriptions of the ballets were so vivid I felt as if I was sitting next to John in the audience. Even though the ending broke my heart, I still feel it was true to the story. Thank you for such an incredible story. I can't wait to recommend it to every person I can!

This was my first book by this author and it was in interesting read about coming to age, dealing with the past and how art in all it shapes and forms can influence a person and their journey.

The interactions between the main characters were different then usual.

Three Muses is an easy read. John, now training to be a psychiatrist in America, is the only member of his family to survive the Holocaust, and lives with feelings of guilt. Katya threw herself into ballet after the death of her drunk mother. She is at the top of her game as Prima ballerina, in her choreographer’s bed as well as his dances. Their paths cross in Paris when John is unable to refuse a ticket to the ballet. He sees Katya in Three Muses and there is an instant connection. The three muses of song, discipline and memory play as much a roll off stage as both Katya and John explore the griefs and their current identities.

Where this book loses some stars is in detail. To tell both stories adequately would have required more words. In many ways I feel this is Katya’s story more than John’s. The war survival is brushed over quickly, it feels at times like his trauma is only important for how it will eventually effect her. I found the ending very disappointing.

This was a very beautifully written book - the theme of grief was interwoven perfectly, touching each of the characters in a way which brings them together but also kept them separated from each other.
Following Janko/John from Germany, to the horrors of the concentration camp, across the sea to America and into the arms of Barney and Selma was a moving journey.
The descriptions of ballet and dancing were one of my favourite parts of this read. “Memory holds us together.” is a phrase that really stuck out to me and I think sums up Three Muses perfectly.
A critique of mine would be that the ten year time jumps were slightly jarring and left a lot of unanswered/missed opportunity for resolution. The ending did come as a shock to me, however I felt it fit the characters well.
Thank you to Netgalley and Regal House Publishing for the e-arc :)

I was really looking forward to reading this book. The premise sounded really interesting and like something I would love but unfortunately that was not the case.

The premise of this and the writing were both successful, it was just a little disjointed, particularly towards the end. Potentially both moving and well written, but the ending was not good and I felt the author was just rushing. It could have been really good.

Three Muses was based on 2 independent heartbreaking stories that come together for another heartbreak. Each story was told in snapshots of memories for the characters that would all the sudden jump forward to another 10 years later. While I love the snapshots, I wish that there was a little more connection between them to help with the flow of the story and where the 2 stories would eventually connect.

I really wanted to love this book more and because of that I don't know if the problem was me or the book.
Based on the reviews at the start of the book, I believed I was in for something different within the genre of world war fiction, possibly along the lines of All the Light We Cannot See, but what I found was along the same lines as all the other fiction we have that has covered the same period and aftermath with the same cliches thrown into the dialogue and prose and I've just seen it too many times before that there's nothing new here.

The story revolves around two characters, one a Jewish boy who has been taken along with his mother and brother to a concentration/death camp and survives due to his ability to sing to those running the camp (his captors) and a young girl who loses her mother and finds ballet and changes her name to Katya and forms connection with a choreographer who is very much based on Balanchine (Mr B).

I thought we were getting something other than what we got and what we were getting was an insta love story, which is fine, but it wasn't really marketed as that. It was all a little cliched too, Katya, the ballerina, felt him in the audience before she'd even met him, I mean, really?

He falls in love with her whilst watching her on stage then waits for her at the stage door and he becomes obsessed with her. This is a little strange because it's not unlike a lot of people who DO feel as if they have fallen in love with performers after seeing their act and magic on stage, but somehow there is just a 'connection'. She accepts some flowers from him and that's it, she's obsessed with him too, she just knows it. The connection between them is tenuous at best.

And a lot of the things that happened were merely tools to force the connection between the two of them, for instance her father breaks his leg, which means they run into each other in the hospital, OK. Then when she goes back there intending to see John, she briefly thinks of her father just upstairs in traction, she asks if John is in, he is out for the week and she leaves the hospital without even seeing the poor father!

One very quick and cliched filled chat with Katya and John's demons of the holocaust are laid to rest and his peace made with everything, not the intensive therapy he’s been in. ‘Katya, not Dr Roth has returned Papa to John. She had led John to the edge of self-forgiveness and showed his profession to be worthy of papa.’ How? She asked him about his family and stated he was a child when it happened, it wasn’t any great revelation! And that’s just one example. There were depths that could have been explored here and the effects of PTSD, but they were left on the wayside and used merely as a device to thread the two characters together.

There were also a few bits I didn't like or understand even. The cast of characters are all white, then there's this line 'Several Black families were lined up to buy a meal before heading upstairs.' Why was their race relevant that it should be mentioned? Is it because there are no people of colour in the book? It just seemed redundant to throw in that they were black for no reason.
Also '"That was the first performance Mama didn't come to."' She didn't go to any, she was already dead before she took up ballet.
Sometimes the dialogue was all over the place, with them having a talk about one thing, throwing in a line about something randomly and then back to what they were talking about and I felt there was no real connection between the two of them.

I did enjoy the ballet part of the book, as an ex dancer and great ballet lover, it was on the whole well done.

I'm really sad to say this book wasn't for me, the premise seemed great and the cover is gorgeous, but I just found myself rolling my eyes far too much, I'm sorry to say.

A beautiful tale which revolves around a Jewish boy Janko, later known as John and an American girl Katherine, later known as Katya. Both were absolutely opposite from each other. Katya embraced her past on the other had John tried to avoid it as much as possible. The only common interest they had was music but both had different meanings for it. John was a holocaust survivor who buried his love for music deep down and developed a kind of hatred for it due to past incidents that crumbled him completely and haunted him forever. The trauma shuffled his life and it got difficult for him to get out of it. He became a pyschologist and I loved he was his own very first patient. Katya, a graceful ballerina whose life was all about music and dance. She devoted her life to Boris who was her mentor and lover. I disliked how she was confused about her feelings for him yet she pushed herself to be with him. Boris took advantage of her for his own means . All characters were well developed. I loved reading John more than Katya, though she was a good lead. The lyrical writing was impressive - simple yet deep, engrossing the reader completely into the story. The author had done a great job. The terms used in the book show how well the author had researched and woven a beautiful and emotional story. A great debut novel. I would definitely get a copy of this book . Must read for all historical fiction lovers. Would love to read the author more in future.

“Three Muses” started off well but lost me 1/2 to 3/4 of the way through.

It’s the story of two people: Kathryn, or Katya, who loses her mother at an early age but finds her passion in the ballet where she falls under the thrall, romantically and otherwise, of her choreographer; and Janko, or John, a Jewish psychiatrist who, as a child, escaped death in one of the Nazi concentration camps by singing for the commandant and his SS underlings and is now emotionally crippled by survivor’s guilt.

Unfortunately, despite their complex backgrounds, I didn’t find the characters all that interesting, much less compelling. I had trouble seeing what each offered the other; and therefore, had a lot of difficulty believing the love story between them. Indeed, both seemed so self-absorbed and caught up in their own problems that it was tough to see how either had any time or energy left for being in love. Also, some of the dialogue between them seemed so commonplace and ho-hum that I wondered how it got past the editor.

And while I thought that scenes involving and depicting the ballet, and Katya’s passion for it, were well described, other areas lacked the specificity necessary to sweep me up and keep me glued to the story. For example, the description of the concentration camp and what went on was cursory and not at all absorbing, almost as if the author thought it was such common knowledge that further description was unneeded. (In fact, neither the camp nor its commandant is ever specifically identified). I was never frightened for Janko. Nor did I feel any real sympathy or empathy for him—which is odd considering the circumstances in which he’s placed by the author.

As other reviewers have mentioned, some of the writing is pleasing, even impressive, from a literary point of view. But the characters and their story left me non-plussed.

My thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing with an ARC. The foregoing is my independent opinion.