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A celebrated opera singer faces pressure to perform for Adolf Hitler in “The Diva’s Daughter,” a historical novel by Burke resident Heather Walrath that examines the perilous collision of art and politics during the Nazi era.

The story follows fictional heroine Angelika Eder, whose voice captivates European audiences in the early 1930s—and attracts Hitler’s attention. His forceful suggestion that she sing for him leaves Angelika confronting difficult questions about complicity, resistance and the risks artists face when political leaders seek their allegiance.

Walrath drew inspiration from the life of renowned opera singer Lotte Lehmann, who appears in the novel as Angelika’s mentor. Nazi officials pressured Lehmann and other performers to align themselves with the party, providing a historical foundation for Angelika’s choices.

Walrath said she wanted to illuminate the period’s grim realities in a form accessible both to historical-fiction readers and to people who might find dense nonfiction intimidating. The novel also raises broader questions about censorship and whether artists and their patrons should publicly defend their beliefs.

Her interest in the era has a family connection. Walrath’s husband, Stephen, had a grandfather who served in the Army Signal Corps during World War II and participated in the liberation of Dachau, the German concentration camp where more than 40,000 prisoners died.

As the number of surviving World War II veterans declines, Walrath said it is increasingly important to preserve the period and its lessons through recorded history and storytelling.

Opera, musical theater and the arts helped shape the book. Walrath also found inspiration in “The Sound of Music,” particularly what she viewed as the limited attention paid to the family’s mother. That observation influenced a subplot involving Angelika’s mother, an opera star.

Walrath grew up in the Los Angeles suburbs and credits an encouraging high school teacher with nurturing her interest in history and writing. She earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from California State University Northridge, moved to the Washington area for a congressional internship program and later received a master’s degree in publishing from George Washington University.

“The Diva’s Daughter” is her debut novel. Walrath is also pitching a second book, “The Banished Baker’s Forgotten Recipe,” set in Yonkers, New York, during Prohibition.