Motherless Child

In her third novel Motherless Child, Marianne Langner Zeitlin explores the world of classical music, where powerful managers can make—and break—the careers of aspiring artists. The book opens with Elizabeth Guaragna, under an assumed name, taking a job in the new agency of famed music impresario Alfred Rossiter, a man she was raised to despise. She wants to glimpse the man who had destroyed her father's piano career and family life years earlier, when he took Elizabeth's mother as his lover.
As Elizabeth is given opportunities to exercise her artistic judgment in her new job, she becomes involved in the business itself, despite her continuing misgivings. Soon she meets George Wentworth, who is writing a biography of Rossiter. Through him and the relationship they develop, she learns that the truth she is seeking is quite different from what she was raised to believe. When her fear of identifying her real background to Rossiter threatens her own love of George, she must finally confront Rossiter and her own past, learning that there are no villains in the tale.
2012 ForeWord Book of the Year Award: Shortlist Finalist
2013 Sharp Writ Book Award: Third Prize
2013 Next Generation Indie Book Award: Short-list Finalist
2012 USA Book Award: First Prize
2013 Chautauqua Book Prize: Longlist Finalist
"One gets wrapped up in the ruse Elizabeth has woven, and becomes as determined as she is to learn the truth." — Joy Parks, Quill & Quire (Canada)
"An engrossing tale of family secrets with elements of psychological mystery and a touch of romance." — Florinda Pendley Vasquez, Shelf-Awareness
"You don’t have to know Bach from Bartok to appreciate this story... Motherless Child is a great read." —Susan G. Cole, Toronto Now
"For anyone interested in classical music, Motherless Child is a novel to be savored." — Roberta Silman, Artsfuse.org
A superbly wrought romantic page-turner that has elements in it of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca... A masterful writer." —Bill Gladstone, Canadian Jewish News
"Zeitlin brings Rossiter and Elizabeth to life with the nuance, heart, and depth of a Chopin etude." — Brenda Tremblay, WXXI-FM (Rochester, NY)
Marianne Langner Zeitlin has spent her adult life in the world of music—as the wife of acclaimed violinist Zvi Zeitlin, as one of the first women to manage an orchestra herself, and, in her young adulthood, as an employee at one of the largest music management firms in the United States. She brings her wealth of knowledge about the field to this engaging and suspenseful story. In addition to Motherless Child, she is the author of Next of Kin and Mira's Passage, and numerous short stories, articles, essays, and dramatic works.