This novel was one I couldn't put down. I'm a fan of Moran's other work, but this was the first one I read that was set in (relatively) modern history. It does a good job making the familiar interesting; I was trying to anticipate where Maria's real life would be different than the well-known musical and movie. There were a few little Easter eggs for Broadway aficionados along the way too!

Maria, A Novel of Maria Von Traps by Michelle Moran. For fans of the Sound of Music!

I rate this 3.5 stars (rounded up to 4).

I love the Sound of Music and wanted to read something different than my usual genres, and the movie only shares a sliver of who Maria is. I loved learning more about the von Trapp Family and Maria’s life. Maria had a difficult childhood that had her grasping for control as she got older. Opposite of the film Maria was the more rigid and harsher disciplinary than compared to Georg who was the more cheery loving one. Their love also started one sided, Maria loved the kids first then later fell in love with Georg after they were married.

We follow Fran who is an employee of Oscar Hammerstein, the writer of the Broadway musical. Fran is handling the complaints from Maria about the musical as it is being produced. And through this encounter we learn the true story of Maria and her family.

Thank you, NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

When I saw this book, I knew I had to read it. The Sound of Music is my favorite movie hands down, and I loved reading about the behind the scenes of the beginning of the play and background in to Maria's life. I had read one of Maria's autobiographies, but it has been many years. I knew she was more harsh than the movie makes her out to be, but the book put a whole different spin on it, by shining a light on how she grew up. It made her seem more human and helped me to understand more of where she was coming from. I loved getting to know which parts of the play/movie were made up and which were true. I also loved learning about Hammerstein, and how he really cared about Maria's concerns. If you are a fan of the play or movie, this is a must read!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

What drew me in was the perspective of Maria Von Trapp and the play. The idea that Maria Von Trapp was not happy with the musical play by Rodgers and Hammerstein and wanted to get the other point of view. Really interested me having only seen the movie it made me want to read more.

It goes back to Maria Von Trapp before she was a Von Trapp and her upbringing as a child, her love for music that was brought on by her father going to be a teacher and her fascination with Nuns.

The Other Point of View is Fran Hammerstein's assistant and the finessing of the musical where Maria wants to tell her story and doesn't want a recreation of the German film. Fran listens to the story which then goes back to the rest of the life up until the play so you play around with a form of a dual timeline Frans life and Maria in her various forms the ones we know well from the sound of Music Movie and the ones we don't which are more personal.

You also learn more about the famous Hammerstein which I really appreciated I also appreciated the in depth of research that went on afterward. Of course the writing style is amazing, clear and great and every voice is clear. You know who is talking and where.

I highly recommend this book so much when it's out I would love to buy it! This Arc was given to me by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about the Von Trapps from reading this book. I was surprised to see how different their lives were compared to the movie and play. I also enjoyed the parts of the book related to Oscar Hammerstein and the making of the Broadway play.
The author cleverly told the story in an appealing way, and I flew through the book. Fans of The Sound of Music will appreciate this book. I highly recommend this book.

This book was so heartwarming and beautifully written. The Sound of Music is a favorite of mine, so a book based on the life of Maria Von Trapp was a must read for me.

The story is told from dual time lines a follows Maria's life from Austria and the struggles she must have faced during the war, her love of music, her becoming a step mother to so many children, and their escape to America.

The book is thought provoking and revealing. So much was left unsaid and glossed over. In the movie.

Five stars. Highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Dell for this amazing book.

I grew up loving The Sound of Music movie, so I was very excited to have a book on this topic! I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the true history of the von Trapp family, as well as getting a behind the-scenes look into the world of producing a musical in the 1950s. I greatly admire Oscar Hammerstein, so a glimpse into his life was a treat! This book was such a fresh, honest depiction of both timelines. Highly recommend, especially if you're a fan of The Sound of Music.

Growing up, sound of music was one of my favorites. Being able to read about the real maria was awesome. I got to learn more about who she was. I think that this is a must read, especially if sound of music was a favorite

Something I have always loved about Michelle Moran's writing is that I will learn something while also being entertained. That remains true after reading Maria. I was thrilled to see she's be writing about the Von Trapp family, being a huge Sound of Music lover, as well as having worked with one of the Von Trapp grandchildren. This story was wonderful, moving between Maria's story and the people involved in creating the musical. While I know the interactions were fabricated, the stories themselves, coming from trusted sources, were often fact, and I loved to know more about the family. I enjoyed the whole journey very much.

Michelle Moran adds new lyrics to a well loved song.

Fans of The Sound of Music will love this book but also the side story of behind the scenes making of a Broadway hit.

If you loved The Sound of Music like I did as a child, this book is definitely for you. This book was a perfect blend of a partial retelling of the story of the Sound of Music mixed with interesting new perspective on the matriarch Maria and the rest of the Von Trapp Family. I was very nostalgic but also incredibly reflective as I moved through the story because there was so much more depth to the Von Trapp Family and their circumstances than the movie portrayed. Character development is probably the best part of this story, as I really felt connected to the characters and also felt like I came to understand them so much more. This was definitely a great read and I would highly recommend this book.

Than you NetGalley for the ARC.

I loved The Sound of Music as a child. I managed to break the VHS from watching it so much! Even with as much as I watched the movie, I didn’t know much about the real Maria Von Trapp. The dual timeline was an excellent way for me to learn about the real Maria, in contrast with the one I know from my childhood. This book is great for both historical fiction lovers and fans of the movie. It’s well researched and will keep you engaged.
Thank you Random House Publishing-Ballantine for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book is a beautiful tribute to the Von Trapp Family.

All lovers of musicals will delight in this backstage pass to the writing of The Sound of Music.

This only downside, if you are very familiar with the movie and stage show, you probably know most of this already. I wish the author had included more of the B storyline (Fran, Hammerstein, the writing of the musical, talking to Maria).

I appreciated all the facts that set the record straight and the research that has gone into this book. A great read for musical lovers, just wanted more of those backstage details!

I could not put this book down! Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. Initially I was not sure if I would enjoy this because like most people my only perception of Maria and her family was thanks to the movie and seeing her in a different light at first was a little harsh but I quickly changed my mind and absolutely loved this book!!! I already have been recommending it to friends!

Maria by Michelle Moran is a novel about Maria von Trapp and the musical that was created as a result of her life. Maria had a terrible childhood and as soon as she became of age she entered an abbey as a Catholic novice, with every intention of becoming a nun and devoting her life to God. She was assigned to spend 9 months at Baron von Trapp’s villa teaching his youngest children, of which there was 7. We learn of her time spent as part of this Austrian family, and also how she wound up becoming part of it. However the story is also about the developing of the musical that became part of Broadway for so long, “The Sound of Music”. We especially learned how her live differed from the script that was written for the musical, as well as for the German movie that came out before.

Maria arrives in NY in 1959, wanting to confront Hammerstein regarding the differences between her life and how she is being portrait in the play. Fran, Hammerstein’s assistant, was instructed to meet with Maria and bring him back notes on the contradictions. They become friendly and from there we learn the full story of her life from becoming Baroness von Trapp, creating the singing family, escaping the Nazi, and winding up in the US.

The story had me hooked from page 1. It was enjoyable to read and well written. I loved the duel timelines. It was a page turner and kept me wanting more. I always loved the musical and the songs that went along with it but I was also intrigued to learn that her life was so different than the story. I highly recommend Maria to anyone interested in historical fiction and enjoying Broadway.

Thank you Net Galley for giving me the opportunity to read this advanced copy.

I received a free e-arc of this book through Netgalley. I have always liked The Sound of Music so this behind the scenes look at where Maria came from before she became a von Trapp was very interesting. I enjoyed reading about the differences between their real lives and what was portrayed in the movie. I also learned more about Oscar Hammerstein's personal life as he worked on the play of the von Trapps. Not a boring moment to be found in the book if you are a fan.

Thoroughly enjoyed learning about the backstory of the Trapp family and the Broadway play. This was well researched and shed a lot of light on the portrayal of the family and gave a lot of insight into Austria in the years leading up to WWII.

For those who love the Sound of Music, I highly recommend this book.

I've seen the movie the Sound of Music many times, and listened to the music. This was a great story with more details about the real Von Trapp family and also Hammerstein. The book is a dual timeline, with one storyline being in the late 1950s, in the weeks leading up to the opening of the Sound of Music broadway play, the real Maria Von Trapp is trying to get the offices of Hammerstein to change the play since it is different from what really happens. The 2nd timeline is told in a way that Maria is telling the real story of her family.

I learned a lot about the story behind the movie. The book was well written and I really enjoyed it.

I received an advance copy of this book through Netgalley.

So....I'm going to admit that I didn't actually know The Sound of Music was based on anything let alone real people, until reading this book.... lol

I didn't grow up having a deep love for the film or the musical but as a theater kid, I was familiar with the story and the songs. Thus, I went into this book a bit in the dark and curious, and wow, was I really sucked into the story.

I get the irony of a fictionalized retelling as a frame story about a real person who is upset about a fictionalized retelling of their own story, but Moran really did her homework and did it justice, which also compelled me to further read about who Maria was, and what was fact or fiction.

Her work painted a richer, darker, and more complex picture and also served as an interesting commentary on who determines what stories get told, how they are told, how much truth there may or may not be to them, and how each story and each person's version of what the truth may be is so situational to the time, place, and socio-political power of the person telling it. To me, that seemed to be an underlying theme of how Maria viewed her upbringing, her place in the world, her family, and what she saw for them and herself, as juxtaposed by her children's truths or the various versions of Maria's story framed by filmmakers and writers in a post-WWII world.

Moran also did a good job of exploring the way that Maria's childhood experiences might have created this need in her to not be left behind, to always struggle with abandonment issues and the abuse she suffered, her zealousness for God transferred to touring, and how, when left untreated, trauma and other possible related mental health issues become generational trauma passed on to her children.

One thing I didn't see coming was unexpectedly loving the side character of Hammerstein - I would have loved to spend more time in the present to build a better connection to Fran and that world but it felt that the switching back and forth was unnatural.

It made Fran's story feel undeveloped and disconnected from the larger picture. Jack's digs, while shitty, didn't give us time to see his transition in her eyes from kind boyfriend to jealous manchild. And the abrupt breakup and switching of boyfriends wasn't as meaningful, or natural - no build-up to Peter being the obvious choice who saw her as an equal.

The parts with Maria were just so compelling when compared to Fran's perspective. More character development, backstory, and perhaps emphasizing the parallels or lessons that Fran pulled from Maria's story that eventually led to her transformation would have made it feel more satisfying and more invested equally in Fran's story.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and found it to be compelling and hard to put down. It had me going down research rabbit holes on the family and listening to the original Broadway recording of the show to envision the Edelweiss scene. This is one I'll definitely recommend to fans of musical/movie and historical fiction readers.

Thank you to Megan Whalen/Random House Publishing Group - Ballentine and NetGalley for the gifted eArc!

Often my favorite aspect of any historical novel is the Author’s Notes at the end. It divides actual fact from imagination. I am disappointed when I get to the end of a story and discover no notes included. My favorite historical movies are the ones where they actually interview the person the story is about.
So Maria was an absolute treasure of a novel because it was filled with revelations about the actual Maria written about in the film, The Sound of Music. I loved the movie, but finding out which parts were pure imagination brought the actual story alive.
Maria was a multi-faceted character. But the book gave me a new appreciation for her husband. I loved at the end the Author’s notes, and a page of what happened to each child in the Von Trapp family singers.
I think this novel was a 5 star winner. In fact I was so fascinated that I went to Amazon and ordered the movie. I usually say the book was better, but I need to re-watch the movie with the clearer insight the book gave me to appreciate both. It also gave me a strong desire to go climb a mountain somewhere.
Release date is July 30th.
Thanks to #Net Galley, the author- #Michelle Moran, #Dell Publishing.