Our book for May is The Lady in Gold*, the story of Austrian painter Gustav Klimt’s portrait of wealthy Viennese Jewish socialite Adele Bloch-Bauer and its relevance to generations of Viennese who flourished during turn-of-the-century Venice, struggled to survive World War II, and attempted to rebuild their lives after the war.  Stolen by the Nazis in 1941, the theft of the Bloch-Bauer portrait and the battle for its return triggered decades of litigation and ultimately, a significant ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Our companion film is The Rape of Europa, an account of the theft, destruction, and survival of treasured European art during the Third Reich and World War II and the young art historians and curators from across Europe and the United States, who rescued and returned millions of the lost, hidden and stolen works to their rightful owners.
To view the film, visit the library’s website www.thetfordlibrary.org  and look for Kanopy Streaming Movies at the bottom of the left column on the homepage.
To request the book and register for the group discussion, please email librarians@thetfordlibrary.org
*Please note that we were unable to reserve the book Shakespeare Saved My Life listed in the library’s newsletter emailed April 8.  We’ll reschedule that book, along with the companion film, for a later date.