Koppel wins prestigious award for jewish saga

Danish author and musician Benjamin Koppel has been honored with the book prize De Gyldne Laurbær for his novel ‘Sommerfuglens stemme’, a compelling and stark narrative about the Jewish Koppelman family history, spanning multiple decades. One story thread follows opera singer Ruth Koppelman’s ordeal in the Theresienstadt concentration camp during 1943, while the other focuses on her grandson Alexander’s struggles in 2015 with his singing career and fertility treatments. Their stories intertwine as Alexander discovers cassette tapes, narrated by Ruth at a Jewish nursing home in New York, which are addressed to him. The novel has been praised by Berlingske with five out of six stars. The award is given by a booksellers association, with Koppel receiving about half of the votes cast.