The Piano Lady

By Michelle McNiff

A stunning French woman cloaked in mystery dazzles her audience at Hotel Paris Rivoli every Saturday night. Playing on an antique Steinway grand, her memories come alive in her music set, unraveling a time capsule of her life. Her music is her only solace as she flashes back to the four-year Nazi occupation

• Language: English
• Publisher: Michelle Marie McNiff
• Release date: May 19, 2023
• ISBN: 9798988369417

Book preview

The

Piano

Lady

Michelle Marie McNiff

The Piano Lady

Copyright 2023 Michelle Marie McNiff All rights reserved

Cover art: Taylor McNiff

Original artwork gauche on canvas

Published by New Moon Media Group

New York

This is a work of fiction. Any semblance between

original characters and real persons, living or dead

is coincidental. The author in no way represents

the companies, corporations, or brands mentioned

in this book. The likeness of historical/famous figures

have been used fictitiously; the author does not speak

for or represent these people. All opinions expressed

in this book are the author’s or fictional.

ISBN: 979-8-9883694-1-7 Ebook

Printed in the United States of America

War leaves scars no one can heal; love clenches a memory no one can steal.

~MMM

Paris

1958

The bells of Notre Dame tolled the death of a holy diplomat. Raindrops dampened the pavement as though tears had fallen from the night sky. A tall woman in a gray hooded cloak and red stiletto heels walked briskly past shuttered cafes and storefronts. A sudden gust of wind tugged at her umbrella and flapped her dress underneath the gray cape. The hem of her evening gown twirled like red ribbons on the rue de Rivoli.

The woman halted her steps at a dark-green newsstand with an ornate dome. Inside the tiny shack, a street vendor cut strings tied on the evening editions of Le Monde. A lamppost beamed a yellow shaft on the front-page headline: PAPE EN PAIX—Pope in Peace.

She raised her right thumb to her forehead and made the sign of the cross in the somber peal of the cathedral bells that echoed throughout the city. She fondly remembered Pope Pius XII. His gentle voice and intense eyes stamped in her memory. The Pope was a friend of France. The holy leader sent monetary aid and care packages to citizens who fought like soldiers, spilling onto the streets in front of Hôtel de Ville, tearing down sandbag barricades, swastika flags, and German street signs, returning Paris to France. A day