Not Quite as Sung: The Story Behind the Sound of Music

Not Quite as Sung: The Story Behind the Sound of Music

by | Apr 23, 2025 | Book review, Historical novels, World War II

Greetings, Reader Friend!

 

If you’re of a certain age and grew up in the U.S., you doubtless remember the movie, The Sound of Music.

It’s an old story, so why did Maria: A Historical Novel of Maria von Trapp, about the movie’s main character, become a bestseller when it came out in 2024?

Maria: A Novel of Maria von Trapp, by Michelle Moran, cover image

Although it isn’t an exposé, Maria offers readers a more complex, fact-based view of the von Trapp family members than the movie portrayed.

Author Michelle Moran reveals each character’s motivations, while avoiding one-dimensional portrayals as heroes or villains.

For instance, Maria wanted the best for her family, and she possessed great talent and motivation, but these traits sometimes negatively impacted her family.

Major Characters:

Maria—protagonist who tells her life story over the course of the novel

Fran Connelly—Oscar Hammerstein’s secretary; he sends her to learn Maria’s life story and persuade her not to protest the musical’s divergences from the events of her life

Peter—friend and co-worker of Fran

Oscar Hammerstein—lyricist who picks up Maria’s story and (with Richard Rodgers) recreates it as a Broadway musical

Captain Georg von Trapp—widowed father of seven children when Maria meets him

Lorli (Eleonore)—Maria and Georg’s youngest daughter, she’s Maria’s companion in her declining years

Father Franz Wasner—chaplain and researcher of Gregorian chants, conducts the family choir

Lotte Lehmann—famous operatic soprano who stays with the von Trapps and encourages them to tour

Baroness Matilda—housedame; supervisor of the von Trapp house

Princess Yvonne—engaged to the captain before he met Maria

 

Strengths:

  • The author cleverly wove Maria’s story with the production of Rogers and Hammerstein’s Sound of Music, and the lives of those associated with the story.
  • This novel reveals complexities unknown to the public:
  • Hammerstein sacrifices a faithful portrayal of Maria’s life story to create a musical that would succeed in the post-World War II era
  • In addition, Hammerstein fictionalizes his depictions of other members of the von Trapp family to tell a more winsome story

Weakness:

The points of views alternate between Maria and Fran, and at times, readers may find this disorienting.

 

Content review:

The threat of Nazi violence hangs over the story, but nothing occurs on stage.

My recommendation:

Readers like me will enjoy this fascinating novel. Maria expands on the story of The Sound of Music and improves it by setting the record straight in an entertaining way.

Reader, can you recommend a novel or work of non-fiction about the von Trapp family?

Frozen in Time: The Glassmaker of Renaissance Murano

Frozen in Time: The Glassmaker of Renaissance Murano

by | Mar 24, 2025 | Book review, Historical novels, Italy, Renaissance, Venice

Books, like people, sometimes demand our attention. As soon as I discovered Tracy Chevalier’s 2024 novel, The Glassmaker,  I knew I wanted to read it.

Why?

  • It offers a rich portrayal of life in Renaissance Venice and the neighboring island Murano
  • Its focus on a female glassmaker is unique, grabbing my attention
  • An even more unusual element—the treatment of time— added complexity and sparked my curiosity
The Glassmaker, by Tracy Chevalier, cover image

Before the novel’s action begins, the author presents an unusual explanation of time. She explains that “Venice and its neighboring islands have always felt frozen in time” to her.

Creators (such as Murano’s glassmakers) often enter into a “flow state,” so absorbed in their work that time passes without their noticing.

So, I shouldn’t have been surprised when this story progressed in an unexpected way.

What persuaded me to continue reading The Glassmaker, given its quirky rendering of time?

  • The twists and turns in the story of how a woman transcends the cultural norm of glassmaking as a male profession, braving her family’s opposition, yet maintaining her family loyalty
  • Tracy Chevalier’s reputation as a novelist, (especially from her best-selling The Girl with a Pearl Earring, which came out in 1999) 

Major Characters:

Orsola Rosso—protagonist, the impulsive and intelligent daughter of a glassmaking family in Murano

Marco Rosso—Orsola’s oldest brother, always at odds with her; a skilled but lazy glassmaker who likes to try new things with glass; as first-born son, he’s destined to one day take over the family business

Laura Rosso (Madre)—mother of Orsola and her siblings; a dominant woman who exerted her strong will on her family for generations

Lorenzo Rosso (Padre) —father of Orsola and her siblings, maestro of the Rosso glassmaking workshop

Gottfried Klingenberg—German merchant who spent his career in Venice; middleman for Rosso glass sales  

Jonas—Klingenberg’s assistant/secretary who aided Orsola’s family

Klara Klingenberg—Gottfried’s daughter; she and Orsola develop an unlikely friendship

Maria Barovier—glassmaker from a rival family on Murano; she pioneers rosetta beads and surprisingly encourages Orsola to create glass beads

Elena Barovier—Maria’s cousin; at Maria’s urging, she teaches Orsola how to make beads

Antonio—Orsola’s love interest, a Venetian fisherman who becomes a skilled glassmaker

Stefano—Orsola’s husband, a glassmaker from a rival workshop

Domenego—enslaved gondolier working for the Klingenberg family; his unique perspective enriches the story

 

Strengths:

  • Detailed, authentic descriptions of the glassmaking industry and life in that time and place
  • The “frozen in time” element allows readers to follow the changes Venice, Murano, and glassmakers experience as history marches through the centuries

 

Weaknesses:

  • The “frozen in time” element may confuse readers and pull them out of the story
  • The large number of Rosso family members can complicate readers’ recollection of where each person belongs on the family tree

 

Content review:

This novel contains a limited amount of violence and some physical intimacy; mostly off-stage

 

My Recommendation:

If you love fiction set in the Italian Renaissance, particularly in the Veneto region, as much as I do, and you’re comfortable with the “frozen in time” aspect of the story, you, too, will enjoy The Glassmaker.

 

Reader, can you recommend other historical novels focused on the glass-making island of Murano?

If you celebrate Passover or Easter, may this be a joyous season for you!

 

Arrivederci/ until next time,

Colleen

clrpeterson.com

The Family Behind the Infamy: The Booth Legacy

The Family Behind the Infamy: The Booth Legacy

by | Feb 24, 2025 | Abraham Lincoln, Book review, Historical novels, U.S. Civil War, U.S. History

Since this is the birth month of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, two venerated U.S. presidents, we focus on a related novel: Booth, a novel about the family of John Wilkes Booth, whose successful plot cut short Lincoln’s life and impact on history.

Author Karen Joy Fowler explores the Booth family’s role in John Wilkes’ life, as well as each family member’s response to his assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

 In this lengthy historical novel, Fowler takes pains to avoid glorifying John Wilkes Booth.

 Did she succeed? Each reader must decide.

Boothe, by Karen Joy Fowler, cover image

Booth reads like a biography of this famous theatrical family, filled with intriguing anecdotes, as it thoroughly documents the life of each family member. The author categorized this book as historical fiction, perhaps because of numerous gaps in documentation through the many years the novel spans.

This novel also tells the story of how John Wilkes became a Southern sympathizer and turned to violence after the South lost the Civil War.

Characters:

Junius Brutus Booth—famous 19th-century actor and controlling father figure (in spite of his many stage-related absences from his family)

Mary Ann (Mother) Booth—British-born partner of Junius Brutus, mother of many children; she largely raised them as a single mother (because of Junius’ peripatetic acting career), yet without independence due to the strict rules of Junius

Rosalie Booth—oldest Booth daughter, helps her mother with younger children, then helps her ageing mother; she’s a keen observer of each family member and the family’s history

Asia Booth—youngest Booth daughter, with her beauty, dramatic temper, and outgoing personality, she’s the polar opposite of Rosalie

Edwin Booth—the second-oldest surviving Booth brother; an actor like his father, he struggles to live his life free from his father’s domination

June Booth—oldest Booth son; as his father’s namesake, he’s destined for a career as an actor

Joe Booth—youngest Booth child, in John’s shadow; he doesn’t pursue an acting career

John Wilkes Booth—the ‘golden boy’ of the family as the affectionate, handsome youngest child (until Joe’s birth)

Abraham Lincoln—depicted in a humanized way at key moments in U.S. and Booth family history 

Strengths:

  • The author’s depiction of John Wilkes’ life helps explain his descent into mental illness, and also other family members’ oddities and perhaps mental illness
  • Author’s use of Shakespeare quotes in the Booth family’s conversations shows her agility;
  • Portrayals of the lives of several family members extend focus beyond John Wilkes

Weakness:

The novel’s length makes for a long read. Some readers will enjoy the detailed portraits of the entire Booth family and their world, while the story will go on too long for others.

Content review:

The story includes sexual intimacy (although not graphic) and the violence that’s realistic for a story of this family and era.

My recommendation:

Booth required patience to plow through, but I found it rewarding and informative. For readers interested in learning more about how an infamous deed might affect the family members of the perpetrator, as well as about the family life that preceded the assassination, I recommend this novel’s thought-provoking take on both.

Reader, can you suggest a favorite book about Lincoln or Booth?

The Sunflower House: Uncovering the Legacy of Lebensborn

The Sunflower House: Uncovering the Legacy of Lebensborn

by | Jan 24, 2025 | Book review, Germany, Holocaust, Jewish History, World War II

World War II novels are a dime a dozen; why read another?

I ask myself this question whenever I see a new one set in this era.

So why did I choose The Sunflower House to read and review?

The Sunflower House, by Adriana Allegri, cover image

Simply put, this novel focuses on an aspect of this era that I knew little about—the Nazis’ Lebensborn program, which aimed to breed perfect Aryan children to fulfill Hitler’s dream.

As much as I learned about this program from The Sunflower House, the plot twists kept me interested and worried, and its characters were equally compelling, revealing:

  • Their moral conflicts and relationships with their neighbors of different ethnicities and faiths
  • How patriotic Germans responded to the inhumane orders their government and its representatives commanded
  • How few people rose up to oppose the Nazi terrors

Main Characters:

Allina – the protagonist in the World War II era; she’s a young German Jewish/Christian woman whose life suddenly changed with the Hitler’s rise to power, and his plans for Germany and the Jews

Dieter – Allina’s heroic uncle who raised her; he explains her family’s background before he dies

Karl – German Army officer who befriends Allina after seeing her weep and sing a Christmas carol to a baby at Hochland Home, a Lebensborn home

Katrine – Allina’s daughter; she’s the modern-day protagonist

Gruppenführer Gud – German Army officer who places Allina in Hochland Home

Schwester Marguerite Ziegler – head nurse at Hochland Home; a complex character

Rilla – Allina’s close friend at Hochland Home; enemy of Berta

Berta – a young mother at Hochland Home whose jealousy of Allina endangers Allina

 

Strengths:

Exciting, tension-filled story with multi-faceted characters

Weakness:

Readers who wish to know precisely what happened in the Lebensborn program may be disappointed, as the author had to use literary license to fill in gaps in the historical record.

Content review:

Given the focus of this novel and its setting in the heart of Nazi Germany, it’s not surprising that sexual violence and immorality appear in its pages.

My Recommendation:

I found The Sunflower House thought-provoking and entertaining. It will appeal to readers who enjoy the challenge of a novel set in a time where even heroic characters must make heart-wrenching choices.

 

Reader, can you recommend a novel or non-fiction book about Lebensborn?

Season’s Greetings and Christmas Bells!

Season’s Greetings and Christmas Bells!

by | Dec 24, 2024 | Book review, Christmas, Historical novels, U.S. Civil War

Greetings of the season, Reading Friend!

Happy holidays to you, however you celebrate!

In today’s post, I focus on Christmas Bells, a novel sparked by a 19th-century poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Christmas Bells, by Jennifer Chiaverini, cover image

How could a poem written over 160 years ago lead to a time slip historical novel, set both in the era of the U.S. Civil War and the war in Afghanistan in the early decades of the 2000s?

Author Jennifer Chiaverini inserts the words of the poem at various points in the novel, and she cleverly alternates between the Longfellow family’s encounter with the Civil War, which sticks close to history, and a parallel fictional story set in the early 2000s.

Characters:

The author puts readers under the characters’ skins, so readers feel what they’re going through and root for them

Major Characters in the Civil War-era story:

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow—protagonist, poet and abolitionist, father of a large family

Fanny Longfellow—Henry’s second wife, from a wealthy family

Charley Longfellow—oldest son of Henry and Fanny; he has a passion to fight for the Union Army

Main characters in the story set in the 2000s:

Sophia—young, idealistic music teach and choir director

Lucas—graduate student and choir accompanist

Father Ryan—sympathetic Catholic priest

Sister Winifred—aging nun whose humble manner belies her spiritual wisdom

Laurie—wife of soldier in Afghanistan, mother of Alex and Charlotte

Alex and Charlotte—kids who cope, each in their own way, with their father’s absence

Strengths:
• I enjoyed reading about the idealism and principled lives of Henry W. Longfellow and several other major characters
• Nice balance between tragic events and hopeful plot arcs

Weakness:
Some plot elements in the fact-based plot were hard to believe, even though they were evidently true.

Content review:
Descriptions of illness, injuries, and war-related violence make this novel better suited for mature readers.

My recommendation:
Readers who enjoy novels with a positive perspective will find Christmas Bells a welcome relief in the current era.

Thank you for reading and supporting my writing in 2024!

A Book Club for Dark Days

A Book Club for Dark Days

by | Nov 24, 2024 | Book review, England, Historical novels, World War II

Especially in this season, I’m thankful for you, reader, and I hope you’ll have a few moments to reflect on who and what you’re thankful for.

This month, I’m pleased to offer both a book review and an interview with the author! I hope you enjoy them!

Air Raid Book Club, by Annie Lyons, cover image

My Review:

In this moment, The Air Raid Book Club might be just the right read for you, as it was for me. Although the story is set in England during the dark days of the Blitz in World War II, many of this novel’s characters reveal a refreshing humanity and care for each other that often seems missing in the world today.

Many twists and turns, with both sparkling and grievous moments, immerse readers in the story of Gertie, an ordinary woman who owns a bookstore in Beechwood, a non-descript section of southeast London. She ponders, what can she can do to counter fear and despair? These are her eventual responses:
• She starts a book club, bringing people together to discuss books, forge ideas, and inspire history
• She takes in Hedy, a Jewish teen refugee from Germany

In spite of Gertie’s good intentions, Hedy doesn’t bond well with her host. One of this novel’s strong points is the clear portrayal of how their relationship, and those of other characters, evolve through the story.

Major Characters:

Gertie—protagonist, a humble heroine who brings people together
Harry—Gertie’s sweet husband
Charles—friend of Gertie’s husband, a supportive friend to Gertie after her husband’s death
Hedy—German teen whom Gertie takes in from the Kindertransport, saving her from the Nazis
Margery Fortescue—wealthy widow with a strong personality

 

Strengths:
Clear, heart-warming portrayal of how characters’ relationships evolve through the story
Satisfying ending
Variety of characters, each with a distinct personality and viewpoint
Author’s skill in weaving literature and bookshops into the story

Weakness:
Although this novel includes plenty of action to propel the story forward, it also includes passages containing characters’ reflections, so it probably won’t be a good fit for readers who prefer action adventure thriller stories

Content review:
Includes violence and death connected with World War II and the Blitz

My recommendation:
If you enjoy a historically accurate story that’s warm-hearted and life-affirming, while not shying from the tragic details of the Blitz in WWII, I would recommend The Air Raid Book Club.

Author Interview with Annie Lyons:

Annie Lyons, author photo

What triggered your decision to create this story?

There were many sources of inspiration for this book, one of them being Eudora Honeysett, the main character from my previous novel. I had so enjoyed writing the flashback scenes in that book, transporting the reader back to the Second World War and other moments in history, that I decided I wanted to write my first full historical fiction novel. It was 2021, in the middle of the pandemic and I had noticed how communities were supporting one another during these difficult times. It made me think about similarities with how communities rallied during the Second World War and the seed of an idea was planted. Added to this, I’ve always wanted to write a novel set in a bookshop about the power of books and reading and how important they can be in dark times. Gertie began to emerge as I found myself struggling to read or engage with stories for a while and I imagined a character who was ready to give up on her bookshop and move away. Hedy’s character came about after I read and listened to accounts of Jewish children who fled Nazi Germany before the start of the Second World War. It was their spirit of optimism and hope which inspired me to write this story as Hedy and Gertie’s bond grows through a love of books and reading.

It’s obvious that you do careful research in the development of your scenes and characters. What sources helped you fill in the details and context for this novel?

Research was tricky as I was writing this book during lockdown so the internet became my best friend! The Imperial War Museum online was a huge source of information. It’s a fantastic resource. Online, I listened to accounts of Kindertransport children, now adults, who came to live in the UK. Their stories and spirit were a big source of inspiration. I also love the BBC’s archived resource, The People’s War. It’s a treasure trove of personal stories which are often heartbreaking, often funny but all completely wonderful. I read a great deal too. Millions Like Us by Virginia Nicholson was a book which started as a springboard for the whole idea as it deals with the role of women during the war. I also had to understand bookselling from the start of the twentieth century and found a wonderful book called ‘The Truth About Bookselling’ by Thomas Joy.

What was the biggest surprise in researching this story?

How the role of women changed forever as a result of the Second World War. They literally went from sitting in the passenger seat to driving the truck!

What’s the ratio of fact to fiction in this story?

The bones of the story are all factual. I followed the course of the Second World War and its events as closely as I could. The fictionalized parts are the town of Beechwood itself and Bingham Books. As I was writing this novel during lockdown and couldn’t visit bookshops, it was a treat to be able to create one from my imagination!

What were the most challenging aspects of writing this novel?

Deciding which historical details to include and which to leave out! I love history and am particularly fascinated by the Second World War so I’d often get lost down research rabbit holes and probably have enough material for at least another five books!

What did you enjoy about writing this novel?

I loved so much of it. Losing myself in the past was particularly wonderful. I’d also always wanted to write a book set in a bookshop so this was a dream come true and choosing the books for Gertie and Hedy’s book club (and the quotations which start each chapter) really appealed to my booklover’s heart.

Beyond entertainment, what would you want a reader to walk away with after reading The Air Raid Book Club?

To remember this part of history and the profound effect it had on the world and to be proud of the role that women played during that time.

Thank you, Annie, for your informative interview!