Other than some of his music, I knew essentially nothing about Mozart and even less about the rest of his family. I was pleasantly surprised to see how Moser made Mozart, his parents, and his sister, Nannerl, come alive. Nannerl was a musician nearly equally as talented as Wolfgang and the two of them traveled extensively with their parents as young children, performing from their home in Austria as far away as London for royalty and commoners alike.

As Nannerl grows older, however, her father focuses more and more on her brother’s talent and largely discounts hers. He gives her no time to attempt composing and begins taking Wolfgang out for performances on his own without her. Nannerl struggles to reconcile her talent with the role assigned to her as a woman by society.

I really, really enjoyed “Mozart’s Sister.” I liked and believed Nannerl and was fascinated by the subject, place, and time period I knew little about. As much as I enjoyed “Washington’s Lady,” I think that “Mozart’s Sister” is an even better work. ( )

Depressing, Not her best work. ( )

Very little if anything has every been written about Wolfgang Mozart's sister Nannerl. Ms. Moser does an excellent job of giving us a small glimspe into this young womans life.

She is a accomplished performer in her own right but because of her being female she finds she must take a back seat to her brother Wolfgang. She tries desperately for years to prove she is as good as her brother but everyone including her parents seem more interested in him.
She feels guilt for her jealousy of her brothers fame and tries her hardest to overcome it. She basically is the pillar of this family when things fall apart after Mozart goes off on his own. In later years while trying to visit his grave she feels remorse for becoming so enstranged to her brother.
Great read and would highly recommend it. ( )

Although I enjoyed this fictional tale of Nannerl Mozart, I must agree with the previous reviewer that Moser tends to make Nannerl a little 'too modern' (i.e., 21st century). Who knows what Nannerl was really like - the letters between the Mozart family members didn't give us all the details. Moser's done a respectable job crafting a story from those letters and filling in the blanks as needed. While the story of her brother is well-known, this was a pleasant story of a girl/woman who was talented in her own right, but due to the constraints of society at that time was unable to follow the musician's path. ( )

Wolfgang was not the only musical prodigy in the Mozart family. His older sister Nannerl traveled and performed with him for years, but was held back because she was female. Her "place" was to be a wife and mother. This fictionalize account of her life was written drawing on letters written by the Mozart family over the years. While I really enjoyed the book, I felt at time that the author projected just a little too much 21st century female sensitivity into Nannerl's attitude. ( )