Maria: A Novel of Maria von Trapp by Michelle Moran US pub date - 7/30/24
When I was a kid I took singing lessons for about a year and I still to this day, 40 years later, remember the words to My Favorite Things, Edelweiss, and Do-Re-Mi.
Those long ago lessons guaranteed that I’ve never once watched The Sound of Music. And, growing up right outside of Manhattan I saw a lot of Broadway musicals during class trips in the 80’s. Musicals don’t really do it for me. Thus, I’ve also never had any desire to.
Now, in spite of myself, after receiving an invite to read this I found myself very interested after reading the synopsis. So here we are - I read this story without any expectations, although it did put those long despised songs back in my thoughts and I found this kept me reading regularly (in spite of some heavy topics) and I finished it within a few days.
Ms Moran did a terrific job of portraying Maria as a complex woman, although the other characters aren’t afforded the same level of detail.
Reading this wasn’t the easiest - many of the subject matters are fairly terrible but provided me, as a reader, with a closer view of the trauma of survival and how life situations can change people. The story gave me much to ponder… I still don’t know that I’ll ever watch the movie though.
Reading this also reminded me of how much I enjoy Ms Morgan’s writing and Maria has my recommendation 🙂
Thank you to Dell and NetGalley for the DRC