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The year is 1777, and the musical Weber family lives on the fifth floor of a modest town house on a side street in Mannheim, Austria. Fridolin and Maria Weber have four daughters, Josefa, Aloysia, Constanze, and Sophie, who range in age from 19 to 11. Their mother keeps a notebook with details of eligible men, hoping to assist her daughters in making wealthy marriages. Their father plays several musical instruments, and also earns money as a music copyist. Each Thursday evening, he opens their home to other musicians.
On one of those musical evenings, Mozart and his mother make an appearance, and the lives of the Weber daughters begin to become meshed with his. Mozart is described as a "pale young man with large eyes and a large nose," with a pockmarked face. His talent and musical genius are evident, but he lacks finesse in his personal relationships. He falls in love with one sister, but ends up marrying another sister.
The book begins with a prologue set in 1842 Salzburg, where Sophie is interviewed by a biographer about her family's relationship with Mozart. The elderly Sophie's thoughts are interspersed throughout the book, adding details that were not known to her sisters.
Cowell's characters are well-drawn and real. Her descriptions of eighteenth century domestic life in Germany are interestingly and accurately protrayed. Her rich word pictures made me feel as if I were there observing her characters. I highly recommend MARRYING MOZART, and will look for other work by Stephanie Cowell.
Reviewed by Marie DisBrow
for The Road to Romance
April 25, 2005
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