Invictus by L.L. Holt (Harvard Square Editions, 2019) was named a Finalist in the international Next Generation Indie Book Awards for 2021. Also known as the Indie Book Awards, the literary awards program recognizes and honors authors and publishers of exceptional independently published books in 70 different categories.

Holt's novel builds on the long-persisting legend that the composer Ludwig van Beethoven may have been, or been treated and discriminated against as, a person of color during his lifetime (1770-1827) 

The book is the prelude to The Black Spaniard by L.L. Holt (Unsolicited Press, 2016), a novel in which Beethoven breaks away, faces adversity, and challenges Fate.

Award recognition is nothing new to this author. She has been mesmerized by Beethoven's music and life story since her childhood. Earlier, The Black Spaniard was short-listed for the GOETHE Book Awards for Historic post-1750s Fiction, a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards. Invictus was also a Finalist for the Landmark Prize for Fiction when it was still in manuscript form (under the title, Intensia).

Holt's award is in an exciting new category designated for books that deal with issues experienced by Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC). She is currently contemplating writing a third and final novel about Beethoven as well as a fictional reimagining of the swashbuckling life story of the Chevalier de Saint-Georges, a prominent composer and swordsman during the French Revolution.

Invictus                           Beethoven age: 0-16    Order here:        tinyurl.com/bdch9drp  

The Black Spaniard       Beethoven age: 21-33   Order here:        https://tinyurl.com/5n79nact