In Mozart's Shadow: His Sister's Story [Hardcover]

Carolyn Meyer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2008

Nannerl Mozart was a musical prodigy who seemed to have a brilliant future. But once her younger brother, Wolfgang, began composing symphonies at the age of five, her career and talents were utterly eclipsed. Here, at last, is Nannerl's heart-wrenching tale. It's the story of her undying passion for music; her relationship with her "miracle boy" brother; and her life as the "other Mozart," the one forgotten by history.

          

The acclaimed Carolyn Meyer has written a powerful historical novel about a little-known but gifted musician who never stopped dreaming.

 

Includes an author's note.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 8 Up—For many people, knowledge of Nannerl Mozart is confined to the footnotes of her younger brother Wolfgang Amadeus's biography, a fellow wunderkind touring the courts of Europe with her more renowned sibling before fading into the background as an adult. Meyer brings Nannerl to the fore, presenting her as a gifted, sensitive musician whose ambitions for a professional career are thwarted by the restrictions placed on her gender and the demands of her father, who is more interested in promoting his genius son. Her childhood closeness with Wolferl becomes increasingly strained as his career takes him farther from his family and ultimately to a too-early grave. The narrative occasionally descends into a dry recitation of facts, but Meyer creates interesting portraits of Nannerl, the impudent Wolfgang, and their tyrannical father. Give this one to music students and historical fiction devotees.—Christi Voth Esterle, Parker Library, CO
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From Booklist

What was it like to grow up the older sister of a genius composer? Meyer imagines the life of Nannerl Mozart from the time she is 13 and Wolfgang is 8. They perform together before rapt audiences across Europe until his extraordinary talent and genius as a composer overshadow her musical gifts. The feminist message is not overdone, but the novel is far too long and detailed, with numerous similar scenarios of the siblings growing up under the eyes of their devoted, autocratic father and of Wolfgang’s traveling while Nannerl, furious, remains at home (Why must I be left behind again?). In addition, Meyer gives no information about her sources, so it’s hard to know how much is based on fact. Problems aside, Nannerl’s first-person narrative still makes for universal drama, especially because her anger and jealousy never subsume her enduring love for her brother, their mischievous bond, or their shared love of music as refuge and joy. Grades 7-12. --Hazel Rochman

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books; 1 edition (June 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152055940
• ISBN-13: 978-0152055943
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #572,770 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

My first book, MISS PATCH'S LEARN-TO-SEW BOOK, published more than forty years ago, was intended to teach young girls how to knot thread, make a neat stitch, and sew simple items. The main character of my next book, CLEOPATRA CONFESSES, coming in June 2011, is a far cry from the roundish, gray-haired lady with a needle in her hand and spectacles on her nose. Since the thrill of seeing that first book in print, I've written over fifty more books, non-fiction and novels (most recently, historical fiction). In the process I've learned more about writing and a lot about history, a subject that was not my favorite when I was a young student but has become my passion--a passion I love to share with readers.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the gifted older sister of a genius, June 8, 2008

By 

Stephanie Cowell (New York, New York United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: In Mozart's Shadow: His Sister's Story (Hardcover)

Beautifully evoked in every way, this is the story of the forgotten Mozart: his charming, pretty, highly gifted musical sister Nannerl. Beginning in the backwater town of Salzburg in the early 1760's, the father of the family Leopold Mozart (who was a gifted composer himself), realized his six year old son Wolfgang and eleven year old daughter Nannerl were extraordinary musicians and toured them all over Europe to play before royalty and the elite. But the spirited, imaginative boy Wolfgang Mozart soon drew all the attention. Nannerl was a gifted keyboardist and he was a genius in performing and composition. For the rest of her long life she would live in his shadow.

As an 18th century woman, Nannerl could have made her way in music as a singer, but she was not a singer and thus her love of music, which she had shared with her little brother and which equaled his, largely lay frustrated within her. All the family energy went to further her brother's career, for as a man and a composer, he could one day support them well. But he grew up and away from his father's possessive hold and Nannerl went on to make her own life.

One so loves Nannerl in this sypathetic book as she tries gently to find who she is apart from her brilliant brother and domineering father. The Mozart family, friends and times are warmly, wonderfully drawn. She grows up, tries to find love and to compromise and still, even as her correspondance with her beloved brother who is now famous in Vienna draws to an end, she is determined to keep the music she shared with him as a child alive in her.

In the end this novel is not just for someone who wants to read about the Mozart family, but for any girl or young woman who ever struggled between adoration and envy of a brilliant brother and goes on loving him long after he has left her for a brighter life.

I am the author of the novel MARRYING MOZART (Viking Penguin).

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Triumph, July 10, 2008

By 

K.Warner "Underage Bookworm" - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: In Mozart's Shadow: His Sister's Story (Hardcover)

I have loved every single one of Carolyn Meyer's books. She draws characters so life-like that we grow to love each and every one of them like we personally know them. Princess Catherine has always been my favorite, yet Nannerl might take her place.

Nannerl Mozart is the older and very talented sister of the more famous Wolfgang. She never gives up hope that one day she will be sent to Italy to study, therefore becoming Europe's best female clavier player. However, her control-freak and ambitious father is concentrated fully on young Wolferl, who he believes can bring fame and fortune to the family. Much of their childhood is spent traveling to the grand courts, but when Nannerl wants to go to Italy with her brother she is denied. She has been left home and abandoned mentally by her father. Throughout the book several love intrests pop up, but her true love is an aging captain named Armand, who is by her side all the time even when her father forbids them from marrying.

The writing in this book is flawless. Although a little dragging at parts, I found the detail and imagining very accurate. The only comment I have is that characters with no particular significance to the story, like Davey, shouldn't really have been put in as they have nothing to add. As this is a work that has real people in it, I understand why Nannerl didn't have a happy ending, but at the same time I wish she became a big star and married Armand. But that's history, so it cannot be changed for romantics such as me.

This new Carolyn Meyer book pleases. Nannerl is a strong and hopeful girl, and she might become your new favorite character. If you enjoyed the author's other books, you will certainly like this one.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Touching and beautiful, August 3, 2009

By 

Sarah Bruce Kelly "Author of VIVALDI'S MUSE, ... - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: In Mozart's Shadow: His Sister's Story (Hardcover)

Carolyn Meyer again spins a touching and beautiful tale, imagined from the point of view of Mozart's sister, Nannerl. The frustration talented girls must have felt at that time, especially one who was constantly in the "shadow" of her famous younger brother, is eloquently depicted in this engaging novel.

I'm always on the lookout for well-researched novels about composers, and fortunately more and more of them have appeared in recent years. I especially appreciate when these stories are told from a female perspective, giving voice to the "unsung heroines" who so often played a major role in the lives and artistries of their more famous male counterparts.

Sarah Bruce Kelly

Author of THE RED PRIEST'S ANNINA