An intimate look into the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart told from the point of view of his wife Konstanza (Stanzi). Before reading this book I knew next to nothing about his life, reading this has opened my eyes and had me digging up more info about the life of not just Wolfgang but his wife also. I have even started listening to his music. It is very evident that the author has done a vast amount of research into the life of Mozart. Why was his grave never marked? Good question and one we most likely will never know the answer to. Juliet Waldron has written a very believable story in a format that flowed smoothly and kept my attention right to the end.Konstanza bared her soul in telling this story, we meet her as a young girl and watched her grow into a young woman enduring so much in her marriage to Mozart. Through multiple pregnancies, debt, adultery and grief this book kept me entertained and it was rather informative too. I liked that it did not end with Mozart's death but continued with Stanzi life. Criticized for much of her life, this book humanized Konstanza and portrayed her as a women with hopes and dreams for a future just like most young women. But being married to a man with serious issues (drinking and womanizing to name a few), her life was not easy. I am thankful to have been part of this tour and discovering another new-to-me author.This book will appeal to those that like not just historical fiction but classical music as well. I come to Mozart's Wife after having first read its companion novel, My Mozart, which I enjoyed very much. But this was even better. Right from the start, I was gripped by this tale what it might have been like to be courted by and married to a musical genius like Mozart. Nowhere near as idyllic a love story as some folks might imagine.The greatest strength of this novel is the main character, who is not Mozart, but Constanze, his wife. Whether you like her or dislike her, in this novel she is not to be ignored. Stanzi's voice seems real and authentic (and quite different from the voice of Mozart's young lover in My Mozart, the story of a woman who only saw the part, not the whole).I felt as if I were being taken into the heart of an 18th century marriage, which is not, after all, very different from a 21st century marriage--passion and foolishness, hope, delight and adoration followed by the almost inevitable disillusionment as the real world batters at the gates of romance. The Mozart of this novel is sensitive, kindhearted, sensual, and so eager to please that he can't say no, especially to a pretty or a talented woman. And yet he is so lovable and irresistible to his wife that she forgives him time and again, not only for his infidelities, but also for his complete idiocy with regard to their finances. But the anger slowly builds inside her until she, too, is willing to dabble in a discreet but forbidden romance.Although I probably wouldn't have made the same choices as Stanzi does in this story, I can empathize with her, and even root for her when she does her best to put the broken pieces of her life back together. I can't even imagine how terrible it must have been to keep getting pregnant and keep losing one beloved child after another to death. Yet this was what most women endured before reliable birth control measures were invented. Anyone who romanticizes what it was like to live in the past will surely be brought up short when reading this account of what marriage and motherhood were really like for women in this era. And if you love Mozart and his music, there is a great deal to appreciate here, too, even though his music is not the primary focus of this book.Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys lively, well-researched historical novels.
What do You think about Mozart's Wife (2011)?
Not a bad book, even though some parts of it are historically inaccurate.
—chubata
