The Kingdom of Back
Author: Marie Lu
Publisher: G. P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: March 2020
Nannerl Mozart is the older sister of Wolfgang “Woferl” Mozart. She too was born with a gift for music. At age eight, her playing on the clavier is already worthy of royal performances. There are three things holding her back from the future for which she should be destined. First, there is her tyrannical father, who has made it clear that he will only instruct her and permit her to perform until she becomes an adult. There is also her gender, as there are no female composers or performers in eighteenth century Austria. And then there is Nannerl’s brother. A prodigy as well, Woferl begins to outshine his sister, playing and composing at the tender age of seven, even teaching himself the violin. It seems that Nannerl will have no chance to be remembered for her gifts, until a stranger appears to her in a dream. In a magical land, which she later comes to call the Kingdom of Back, he offers her a chance to be remembered by the world, but the cost may be giving up her world as she knows it.
The Kingdom of Back is an arresting story of the bond between the Mozart siblings, and the strain on that bond when they are forced to compete for fame. There are enough facts and historically accurate characters to infer that Lu took the time to carefully blend the Mozarts’ fictional story with known facts. The Kingdom of Back is smoothly interleaved with pieces of the Mozarts’ known, real life. The Kingdom comes to feel more like a final puzzle piece in the Mozarts’ story rather than simply an author’s imaginative idea. This is a fantastic read for YA or adult readers who enjoy historical fiction infused with mystery and magic, but also containing themes applicable to real life, including the deep bond between siblings and the difficulty of choices.
D. K. Nuray, age 13
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