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Martha Anne Toll

Goodreads Author

Born

The United States

Website

https://www.marthaannetoll.com

Twitter

marthaannetoll

Genre

Fiction, Historical Fiction

Member Since

February 2008

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My fiction is about the emotional power of music and dance, the interplay of time and memory, the meaning of discipline, and love—always love—and death. I fell in love with the viola when I began studying with Max Aronoff, a founding member of the Curtis String Quartet. Max taught me three life lessons: (1) The music is in the rests; (2) if you break things into component parts, you’ll figure out how to put together the whole; and (3) practice, practice, practice.

Martha Anne Toll is a novelist and literary and cultural critic. Her debut novel, Three Muses, won the Petrichor Prize for Finely Crafted Fiction and was subsequently published by Regal House Publishing (2022). Her next novel, Duet for One, will appear in Spring 2025. Three Muses w My fiction is about the emotional power of music and dance, the interplay of time and memory, the meaning of discipline, and love—always love—and death. I fell in love with the viola when I began studying with Max Aronoff, a founding member of the Curtis String Quartet. Max taught me three life lessons: (1) The music is in the rests; (2) if you break things into component parts, you’ll figure out how to put together the whole; and (3) practice, practice, practice.

Martha Anne Toll is a novelist and literary and cultural critic. Her debut novel, Three Muses, won the Petrichor Prize for Finely Crafted Fiction and was subsequently published by Regal House Publishing (2022). Her next novel, Duet for One, will appear in Spring 2025. Three Muses won wide praise from national outlets including the Washington Post, New York Magazine’s Vulture, NPR, and LA Parent, and was shortlisted for the Gotham Book Prize. She is a recipient of Fellowships from the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts in Virginia and the South of France, Monson Arts, and Dairy Hollow. She is a member of the National Book Critics Circle, and serves on the Board of Directors of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation.

A graduate of Yale, Toll holds a B.A. Degree in Music, and her classical music training informs her artistic practice. She holds a J.D. Degree from Boston University School of Law, and comes to writing professionally after a career dedicated to social justice. As the founding Executive Director of the Butler Family Fund, she developed and led programs to prevent and end homelessness, abolish the death penalty, and combat racial injustice and inequity in the U.S. criminal justice system; and established a partnership with the Oak Foundation in Geneva and London to achieve similar aims. She grew up in Philadelphia, and now lives with her climate activist husband in Washington, D.C. They are the parents of two daughters.

Book news!! My second novel, DUET FOR ONE, will be out in early 2025. Can't wait! ...more

2 posts
Martha Anne Toll's Blog

When A Book is About Everything

There are writers who manage to put everything but the kitchen sink between the covers of a book. I say this with great reverence.

I was delighted to review poet, essayist, memoirist, and professor Garrett Hongo’s The Perfect Sound: A Memoir in Stereo for the Washington Post. Hongo is a terrific storyteller, with ancestry from Japan and Hawaii, and has a great passion for music of all kinds—and I r Read more of this blog post »

1 like · Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on April 01, 2022 07:12

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Martha Anne Toll’s books

Average rating: 3.88 · 417 ratings · 158 reviews · 2 distinct works • Similar authors

	Three Muses 3.83 avg rating — 378 ratings — published 2022 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Duet for One 4.46 avg rating — 39 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Three Muses

by Martha Anne Toll (Goodreads Author)

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Martha Anne Toll said: " I spent 10 years writing this book. It was a true labor of love, so I hope it’s ok that I rated it! I hope you’ll enjoy it!

I’m so excited that Three Muses earned a starred review on Kirkus. https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-re...

Super excited that T ...more "

Jul 14, 2022 10:26AM · see review

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I reviewed this book for Vol.1 Brooklyn https://www.vol1brooklyn.com/2026/02/... ...more
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Martha’s Friend Comments

Comments (showing 1-6) post a comment »

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message 6: by Lucy Qhuay

May 29, 2015 02:34PM

Thanks for the friend invite, Martha! :)

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message 5: by Cheryl

Apr 09, 2015 01:10PM

Hi Martha, what a pleasure to be GR friends - I'm already perusing your "favorites." Thanks for the invitation to connect :)

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message 4: by Erin *Proud Book Hoarder*

Jul 13, 2014 06:49PM

Thanks for the friend invite :)

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message 3: by Lucinda

May 06, 2014 11:39AM

Hi Martha! Thanks for the friend request. Looking forward to seeing what books you read this year. I've already added another to my to-read list thanks to you (the Skvorecky book)!
cheers
Lucinda

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message 2: by Sarah

Feb 26, 2012 05:27PM

Hi Martha, thank you for the friend request! (=

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message 1: by Lidush

Feb 22, 2012 12:53PM

Hi Martha! Thanks for friending :)

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