The Violinist's Daughter

The Violinist’s Daughter is a look into a celebrated family that is both gifted and dysfunctional. It is also a portrayal of the complexities of sibling rivalry.



Hannah and her older sister Eva grow up surrounded by the beauty of the Pacific Northwest and the glorious music of their father’s violin. Axel Henke, a violin virtuoso from Germany, is frustrated that the world has not recognized his talent. He is a harsh figure, and though he has two daughters, it is Hannah who is usually the target of his aggression.



Eva, the beautiful older sister mostly escapes her father’s tirades when as a young child it is discovered that she has inherited his musical ability and becomes his protégé. Hannah, the self-described plain sister, has no musical talent and is forced to be the audience to her father and Eva’s increasingly seductive relationship.



Though Eva is gifted she is a difficult child, erratic and volatile, and her increasing attachment to her father, and his envy of her growing fame as a violinist intensifies her emotional instability. Their mother, Axel’s former violin student, is emotionally detached from her daughters and not able to deal with Eva’s behavior or to stand up to her husband who governs the household.



Eva’s fame as a violinist grows while Hannah leaves home to study nursing in New York and marries a charismatic but cruelly manipulative psychiatrist. Shortly thereafter she must return home to care for her ill mother and tend to her father’s failing eyesight.



A series of events occur, including Eva giving birth to a child she is incapable of caring for, a marital betrayal, and a shocking revelation that threatens Hannah’s place in the family. Through these challenges, Hannah begins to understand her father’s disdain, forgives her mother’s emotional distance, and sets boundaries on her sister’s behavior. She demonstrates powers of resilience which are transformative for herself as well as for Eva, and finally, as fate intervenes, Hannah meets someone who changes her life forever.