Mozart's Sister

So, here's the deal: last night I was up past 4:00 AM this morning finishing this book by Nancy Moser. In 1984, Amadeus won the Academy Award for best picture and my husband and I saw it when it came out--from then on, I have LOVED Mozart's music, especially Ein Klein Nachtmusik (one of my phone's ringtones). But this book isn't so much about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as it is about his sister, Nannerl, who lived in her brother's shadow. It's about a father's unending quest for notoriety and fame while exploiting his children's and later, his son's talents. It's about Nannerl's quest for her own identity as a musician, and later her desire to be a wife and a mother.

I had a really hard time not being angry with Leopold Mozart, with his imperiousness, the way he ignored his daughter as if she were less than, and later, the way he used his daughter to be his servant. I wanted Maria Anna to have a backbone and tell her husband she needed him, and I wanted both of them to not depend on their children to provide the income for them.

One of the marks of a good story is when the reader gets emotionally involved. I was there, totally there. Mozart's Sister is a must-read for historical fans.