The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu

Ioanna Lee

Rating: ★★★★☆

April 10, 2020

Did you know Mozart had a sister? I certainly did not. I had no idea the famous composer’s sister was a musical genius alongside him as a child. I didn't know that, as adults, Wolfgang begged Nannerl to send him her compositions in letters. I had no clue until I read Marie Lu’s newest book-- The Kingdom of Back. In this book, Lu weaves historical events and figures from the eighteenth century with a fantasy alternate world called the Kingdom of Back. 

Our protagonist, Maria Anna Mozart (nicknamed Nannerl), is a musical prodigy who enraptures her audience wherever she plays. She has perfect pitch and can compose beautiful works of art. However, she can only compose in secret and has no hopes of becoming the famous composer she yearns to be. Her father makes sure she is aware that girls cannot become composers and that she will only be performing until she reaches a marriageable age. 

When her younger brother is born, the two siblings form a sweet and unbreakable bond. But with every year that passes, Woferl only seems to be shining brighter and brighter. Until at some point, he outshines Nannerl’s own brilliant talent in music. In addition to this, he is wholeheartedly supported by their father who’s attention Nannerl craves so much. The family is paid handsomely for every performance and every composition that comes from the god-like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Nannerl gets to accompany his pieces and aid him when composing. 

One day, she meets a mysterious and magical boy called Hyacinth who is willing to make her only wish--to be remembered forever--real. He comes from a land with upside down trees, pools of moonlight, and a missing prince and princess. In return for Hyacinth's help Nannerl and Woferl are pulled into the Kingdom of Back to go on dangerous missions. As always, things go terribly wrong and Nannerl must make huge decisions to keep her precious little brother safe. 

I enjoyed this book for a number of reasons. The first is the way the author takes facts from history and builds on it to create an intricate story full of magic. She fills the holes that were in between the facts and events of the Mozart family to make a whole world. I looked it up, and apparently the Mozart siblings actually had an imaginary world they created to entertain themselves while touring Europe, even having a map of the realm made. The book displays the ambitions women had before the status quo stifled them. Nannerl’s dream to be a legacy was constantly suppressed by society and even herself. Even if I was skeptical about the fantasy land, the siblings' too-good-to-be-true relationship, and Nannerl’s ugly jealousy, the book was able to put it all together nicely in the end.

This novel was Marie Lu’s first project, put on hold for over a decade as she wrote the books we’ve come to know her for. She prompts us to wonder how many other extremely talented people were silenced before we could experience their creations. As she writes in her Authors Note, 

What legacy could Nannerl have left if she’d been given the kind of attention and access that her brother enjoyed? What beautiful creations were lost to us forever because Nannerl was a woman? How many other countless talents have been silenced by history, whether for their gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, or socioeconomic circumstances?