Marie Lu is one of those authors that I can't quite decide what I think of. She made a big splash in 2011 with Legend which is the beginning of trilogy. It's yet another entry in the long list of YA dystopian series that were published around that time. My perception of the series was probably negatively impacted by the glut of dystopian fiction however I was impressed by the structure she used for those novels. I found it interesting.
The Kingdom of Back I found in a used bookstore and picked up on a whim. It is completely unlike Legend. This is a cross between a fairytale and historical fiction. Apparently Lu played piano when she was younger. Like many youngsters who were devoted to classical music she started reading biographies of her heroes. She happened to read a bio about the Mozart siblings who did tell stories to each other about a fairy tale land called the Kingdom of Back.
Nannerl Mozart was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's older sister and every bit as much of a prodigy as her brother. However as a girl, she was never going to have a career as a musician as an adult. Even though she was known to compose, none of her compositions survived the passage of time.
In this novel, Lu has imagined a rich and complicated imaginative life for Nannerl. One in which she struggled with the idea of fading into obscurity. This struggle is told through an adventure in the fairy tale Kingdom of Back. Nannerl meets a mysterious princeling named Hyacinth who asks her help in regaining his kingdom. In return he will ensure that she is never forgotten.
From the beginning, it is unclear whether this fairy tale land is meant to be real or just a game she invented with her brother as she struggles with her probable future. It makes for some interesting reading and I'd like to track down the biography that Lu mentions in the author's note.
This isn't my favorite YA read of the year. However, it is a thoughtful and intriguing read that I would happily recommend to any teen with a love of history or classic music.
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