And the Cello Came Too – Robin Lustig at Hatchards, Piccadilly

We are delighted to invite you to an evening with Robin Lustig discussing his book

And the Cello Came Too: A Story of Survival

When Robin Lustig’s mother died in 2013, he found himself drawn back into the tangled history of his German-Jewish family – a story of survival, exile, death and endurance. 'And the Cello Came Too' is both a personal memoir and a family chronicle, spanning centuries of Jewish life in Europe, its near-destruction under the Nazis and its slow rebirth in the years after the Second World War.

At its heart is the award-winning journalist and broadcaster’s father, Fritz Lustig, a refugee from Berlin whose cello accompanied him through upheaval, war and a new life in Britain.

This is a history not just of persecution but also of resilience and continuity – of lives rebuilt, music played, and stories reclaimed.

Moving, intimate, and meticulously researched, And the Cello Came Too shows how one family’s journey can illuminate the universal struggle to survive, remember, and belong.

The journalist and historian Neal Ascherson calls it ‘the most sensitive account I know of how the survivors rediscovered one another, slowly settled into unfamiliar jobs in alien cities, and found new lives and loves.’

Jonathan Freedland, author of The Traitors Circle and The Escape Artist, says it is ‘a poignant, evocative family history by a consummate journalist,’

and Anne Sebba, author of The Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz, says ‘I urge everyone to read 'And The Cello Came Too' and reflect on the chance nature of survival, the courage to start again and the nature of patriotism.’

Robin will be in conversation with journalist and director of the European Literature Network, Rosie Goldsmith.

We hope you will be able to join us for what promises to be a fascinating and illuminating evening!

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Host or Publisher Waterstones