Stitches in Air: A Novel about Mozart's Mother

By Liane Ellison Norman

Book Overview

STITCHES IN AIR: A NOVEL ABOUT MOZART'S MOTHER is the compelling story of Anna Pertl Mozart, mother of the inspired and heralded 18th-century composer. A gifted musician in her own right, Anna's... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0970959001
• ISBN13: 9780970959003
• Release Date: September 2001
• Publisher: Smoke & Mirrors Press
• Length: 428 Pages

Customer Reviews

a beautifully written and imagined book

I just read this wonderful novel. It is the story of Mozart's mother. The author wanted to write a nonfiction book on this subject but could not find enough source material. So she took what she had and wrote a book assuming that Mozart's mother, Anna Pertl Mozart, was a gifted composer who studied at the Nonnberg convent before her marriage to Leopold. It is a beautifully written and imagined book. In the Afterward the author makes it very clear what information she did have and which ideas she invented. The title refers not only to the lace that she made but also to the fact that all her music and almost all her letters disappeared into the air. Mozart's sister and fellow composer, Nannerl, is a major figure in this family novel. The world's effect on all musicians of the day, especially the women, is dramatically brought to life.

long overdue!

Recognition of Mozart's mother is surely long overdue but it was worth waiting for this well researched, involving, and at times poetic fictional account of Anna Pertl Mozart. Not only did it make me want to read more about the Mozarts but also visit all the places in Salzburg that are associated with them. Ms. Norman is to be congratulated on illustrating so vividly why women composers (or women artists of any kind for that matter) have had to struggle so hard for recognition over the centuries. She has certainly succeeded in rescuing one ANON from obscurity.

A fascinating, entertaining, fully engaging read

Liane Ellison Norman's Stitches In Air is a compellingly written, superbly crafted historical novel about Anna Pertl Mozart, who was the mother of the legendary 18th-century composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. An evolving, personal tale of conflicting family dynamics and the struggle to balance responsibilities to kin with individual freedom, Stitches In Air is a fascinating, entertaining, fully engaging read, and a very highly recommended addition to community library collections.