The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu

 The Kingdom of Back

by

Marie Lu

      One fall afternoon, I surprised my youngest with a trip to our local library so she could participate in a craft session making lip balm. I am always amazed at the great activities that our library hosts with all supplies provided. As I was waiting and sometimes helping my daughter, I browsed the nearby books. My eyes landed on one author’s name, Marie Lu. I knew this name from reading her amazing Legend series many years ago. I was excited to see a book by her that I had not yet read. The Kingdom of Back was an unexpected find, and a pleasure to read.

     The Kingdom of Back is a historical fiction book based on the Mozart family. Yes, Mozart, as in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The hook, for me, was that the main character is not Wolfgang, as you would expect, but his older sister, Marianne. It turns out that Marianne, like Wolfgang, was a musical prodigy. She dreamed of performing for royalty, composing her own music, making her father proud, and, most importantly, being remembered.     

     During this period of time, girls were expected to marry and become mothers as soon as they were of marrying age. Because of this, Marianne, affectionately known as Nannerl, knew that her time to perform music was short. A girl composing her own music was frowned upon. Nannerl really struggled with this limitation, as her heart and head truly desired to compose her own music and for her music to live on forever. Her biggest fear was to bring shame to her family name by going against what was expected and disappointing her father. As a result, Nannerl composed music in secret, never sharing her music with her father. All the while secretly hoping that her music would be heard and allow her to be remembered.

     Nannerl was torn between her heart’s desire and what was expected of her. This is a timeless struggle that many deal with every day. The Kingdom of Back explores this struggle using a fantasy twist. Nannerl makes what she thinks is an unheard wish to be remembered. Then, first in her dreams, a boy appears in a world where there are two moons and trees grow upside down. Nannerl and her brother, Wolfgang, then both see the boy in real life. Not sure what they saw is real, Nannerl and Wolfgang begin to make up a story about the boy in the world with two moons and where trees grow upside down. They decide to call the boy’s world the Kingdom of Back, because the trees grow backwards. 

     Time passes and Nannerl tells herself that the boy is not real, just in her imagination. How could he be real? Then, Nannerl sees the boy again and talks to him. His name is Hyacinth and he is a prince who has lost his kingdom. Hyacinth tells Nannerl that he can grant her wish to be remembered if she helps him regain his kingdom. Nannerl agrees to help Hyacinth so that she can obtain her wish of being remembered. 

     Then, their journey begins….

     I enjoyed reading the Kingdom of Back. The fantasy element was unexpected, but very welcome. It added intrigue to a well told historical fiction story. Nannerl’s longing to compose, but knowing her father and society would frown upon this type of work from a woman, is similar to glass ceilings that women are still trying to shatter today. Nannerl’s story is one that many people can emphasize with. 

I would highly recommend this book.