"The older we were, the less magnificent we seemed"

The Kingdom of Back, Marie Lu
















Puntuación: 5 de 5.

This was a novel I did not expect to fall in love with. Okay, to be fair I say that with all most all the novels I read, but this time I actually mean it! I do read almost anything, but historical fiction is something I don't necessarily reach for when I'm in a reading rut. The main reason why I decided to read this novel was because of the DC Icons series. This series is essentially, DC giving popular YA authors the green light to write a coming-of-age novel of a certain DC superhero. The Catwoman novel was written by Sarah J. Maas, Superman by Matt De la Pena, Wonder Woman by Leigh Bardugo and Batman by Marie Lu.

Basically, since I was such a fan of the Batman novel Marie Lu wrote, I thought of reading some of her other novels (the Batman novel was the first time I read anything by Marie Lu). At the time I was looking for something to read by Marie Lu, The Kingdom of Back was recently published so I thought of giving it a go. And wow. I am so glad I read it!

So, this novel is about the Mozart siblings - specifically, about Nannerl Mozart, Wolfgang Mozart's older sister (just for reference the Mozart we all know is Wolfgang). Nannerl was gifted with music, however, being a woman in 18th century Europe meant that she would never be allowed to make and play music when she gets older. Eventually, she'll have to marry, give up her love for music and be a housewife. She hates that future. So, her only wish was to be remembered for the music she made. Not her little brother (who is still a child and at this point, still learning about music).

Image taken from Goodreads. Image does not belong to me.

However, she's getting older, and the pressure is on her to make her father as much money as she can before she's married off. Also, her father is starting to pay more attention to her little brother, who innocently wants to be like his older sister, but is unintentionally imposing gender roles on Nunneral. So, losing her right to play music, she starts teaching her little brother all that she knows, all the while she is secretly composing her own music - something her father made clear that she doesn't have the brains to do. Yes, in case it wasn't clear, her father is a sexist jerk.

Eventually, one day, Nunnerl made a wish to a mysterious stranger from a magical land. He has the power to make Nunnerl's wish come true, but in return, her little brother's life may be at stake.

Nannerl is unfortunately weakened by the time period. As I mentioned, she's incredibly talented, but she is constantly held back by the social standards women were expected to adhere to. This entire novel is balanced on her love for music and for wanting to be known for her music, but also the pressure to be a traditional submissive girl. Her story is interesting and equally tragic. She wants music to be part of her life always, but she knows that it will be her younger brother who has a future in music. This is what makes Nunnerl a very interesting character. She's constantly having to choose between her brother and her music. Of course, in the end, she chose her brother, but her journey and the pain she's experienced to make that decision at the end was emotional, paradoxical and AMAZING to read about.

Wolfgang Mozart is Nunnerl's younger brother and this is the Mozart the world knows as the great musician. And that is enough to be the problem in this novel. Wolfgang's innocence is what causes Nannerl a lot of problems, she knows that it's not Wolfgang's fault that she has to eventually give up her music, but she does envy him that he can grow up and keep making music while she can't. At the same time, she loves her little brother. At this age, Wolfgang is prone to sickness, and Nunnerl makes it her responsibility to take care of him. This conflict between Nunnerl's music and her love for her little brother is truly at the heart of the novel. Hence why I said that this novel is really about Nunnerl's journey more than anything else.

The author, Marie Lu, did include an author's note at the end of the novel where she explains the historical significance of the real lives of the Mozart's. If you do decide to get your hands of a copy of The Kingdom of Back, then I highly recommend reading the author's note for that extra bit of detail.

Overall, I can't think of any issues I had with the novel. It was a great stand-alone novel to read, it had an element of fantasy, but all in all, it's a lovely and emotional retelling of a small part of the Mozart children's lives before they were famous. This is a novel I highly recommend if you want a fantastical historical fiction, with some emotion, feminism and familial love. That's it for my review, thanks for reading and I hope you have a lovely day.

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