A fictionalized account of the life of Anna Schindler, who would be the muse of Gustav Klimt and other historical figures of the Art Nouveau Movement, and her relationship with Gustav Mahler, whom she would eventually marry. Longing to be a composer and artist in her own right, Anna is torn between her marriage and being true to herself. Fascinating look at turn of the last century Vienna, and a must for anyone enamoured of Art Nouveau.

I was drawn to this book because of the Klimt connection. Alma Schindler was talented, inspiring, awesome, beautiful, coveted, mysterious, determined, driven, and ahead of her time. She knew what she wanted and was determined to achieve her aims. She was mystifying and drew many under her spell. Having been controlled and restricted for so long she was determined that she would not be held back in life or in love, purely because of her status as a woman. And she succeeded. She lead a remarkable like as Mary Sharratt explored so vividly here in Ecstacy. She lead the way for many like her to follow in her footsteps and thrive. He life, successes, struggles and compromises were explored here in detail in this well written text. It was very enlightening and enjoyable.

I was first introduced to the story of Alma Schindler in the 2001 film Bride of the Wind starring Jonathan Pryce as Mahler and Australian actress Sarah Wynter. Frankly the movie was not very good. The film takes its title from the painting by Oskar Kokoschka which he dedicated to Alma. Alma is a cipher in this film; she wanders wanly through with men throwing themselves at her and then going crazy with jealously as she tosses them aside. The movie can’t decide whether she’s a femme fatale or a woman with thoughts, feelings, or ambitions of her own. For years, I thought that this was an accurate depiction of Alma Schindler Mahler Gropius Werfel. Thankfully, Mary Sharratt has written Ecstasy: A Novel which does a great deal to rescue Alma’s reputation as some kind of Helen of Troy leading men to their doom.

The novel doesn’t seek to tell a cradle to grave story of Alma’s life. It concentrates on the years 1899 when Alma is 19 years old and ends with Mahler’s death in 1911. This is Alma is on the brink of womanhood. She’s impulsive and naïve but filled with ambition, she wants to be a great composer like her idol Wagner. Unfortunately for Alma, her mother doesn’t share the same ambition for her; a marriage to a respectable man with a good income is more what she wants for Alma. And unfortunately, there were very few role models for Alma to follow. Her mother warns her about becoming one of ‘Third Sex’ women who are unmarriageable because they’ve gone to University or stepped outside societal norms. Alma is bowled over by the attentions of the painter Gustav Klimt who awakens her burgeoning sexuality only to have her hopes dashed by her mother who opens her eyes to what Klimt is really like. Alma is full of passion but she has no idea where to direct it. Her dreams of composing are thwarted not only by her mother but also by her teacher.

She falls in love with another young composer who she wants to marry, until she is swept away by meeting Gustav Mahler. But marrying Mahler means giving up her dreams to support Mahler. At first she is happy to help the great man achieve, but she soon realizes what a devil’s bargain she has made. Mahler is selfish, capricious, demanding but also tender and loving at times. Alma's job was to arrange the world so that nothing interfered with Mahler's creative life. Mary Sharratt has painted a very realistic picture of the toll this "job" takes on Alma. At times, the book is frustrating just as Alma is frustrated in her attempts to have any semblance of a life that doesn’t revolve around her husband. She’s part housewife, nursemaid, hostess, stenographer, lover, mother and muse. The novel accurately depicts how women’s lives in this era were controlled and crushed by men. Throughout the book Alma is torn between the what society wants and expects of women, and her own desires and ambitions. Throughout her journey Alma meets women who she longs to emulate but it's almost as if she's afraid to take the risk to be those women.

The novel has a tendency to get a bit repetitive at times, Alma yearns for a creative outlet, she suffers from depression, Mahler composes and conducts, careens from triumph to tragedy. Some of the transitions between scenes are a bit abrupt but that just may be the way that the ARC I received was formatted. Alma and Mahler suffer a great loss but instead of it bringing them together, it pulls them apart. One of the best scenes comes late in the book when her mother admits that she made a mistake keeping Alma from attending a music conservatory as well as a scene where Alma and her mother have a frank conversation about marriage and the toll that it takes on women, particularly those married to a genius. Alma pours so much of herself into Mahler and his work, that when she finally sits down at the piano later in the book to compose, she finds that she has nothing to say. Ecstasy lets Alma step out of the shadows of Mahler and into a spotlight of her own.

Anyone who is interested in Fin-de-siècle Vienna, the world of Klimt, and Schnitzler should pick up a copy of this novel. It gives a vibrant portrait of the bohemian, artistic world and the sacrifices that artists have to make to get ahead (Mahler converted from Judaism to Catholicism). The novel also offers a glimpse of what life was like in New York in the early 20th century, a snapshot of the Metropolitan Opera and the nascent New York Philharmonic. Ecstasy is a thoroughly enjoyable, impeccably researched book.

Ecstasy by Mary Sharratt is a magically compelling story of Alma Schindler and coming of age. Great historical fiction!

Alma Schindler led an interesting life surrounded by talented people like Gustav Klimt and Gustav Mahler, whom she married, and was extremely talented herself with regard to composing music. Unfortunately, it was during a time when women composers weren’t taken seriously or given the chance to explore their talents. And, it didn’t help that her husband was an egomaniac who wanted all the attention for himself. She was forced to sit on the back burner for the most part.

Mary Sharratt is a brilliant author who has a knack for bringing places to life like few authors can. The art and music scene in 1900’s Vienna is vivid on the pages and pulls the reader in, leaving us begging to go back in time and experience it for ourselves. I didn’t love this book as much as The Dark Lady’s Mask. While the writing and story were enthralling at times, I couldn’t get over the repetitiveness of Alma’s moaning and her fights with Mahler about him taking her work seriously. Mahler’s death brings the book to an abrupt end and I wish I could have heard more of her story, as she lived many years after he was gone. The cover of the book is GORGEOUS and all in all, I’m glad I read it.

I received an e-copy of this book from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt via Netgalley. All views are my own.

3.5/5

This book sounds exactly like something I look for in historical fiction novels; a story about a lesser known (or unknown) woman in the life of a very famous man. Admittedly, I’m not a huge fan of Mahler’s music, but some of the other blurbs I read about this book mentioned one of my favorite artists, Gustav Klimt. Since I didn’t know anything about Alma, the idea of reading about someone who was being hyped as one of his muses, was intriguing. What I found with this book, however, wasn’t exactly that, but it did tick many of my boxes.

What I did get here was a luscious portrait of a very conflicted woman; a woman who might have become world famous, had she been born during another era. This goes directly to the title of this review, since Sharratt portrays Alma as a woman who struggles with two sides of her personality. One being the virginal, self-sacrificing beauty and the other the passionate, selfish vixen. Sharratt even uses this same analogy when giving Alma voice to her inner troubles, as she depicts Alma as a woman desperately in love with her husband, who is at the same time distraught by the suppression of her own creativity. What makes this even more poignant is how Sharratt shows how any one of the other men in Alma’s life who were more than willing to marry her, might have allowed her to continue to compose after their marriage. That type of male dominance over wives that was the norm at the time in Europe, was already beginning to wane, but sadly not soon enough for Alma.

While the major focus of this novel is Alma, no small amount is devoted to Mahler as well. Of course, it would have been impossible to write about Alma and ignore her husband’s world-renowned fame or his equally public infamy. What I didn’t know about Mahler was his amazing skills as a conductor, which it seems was as enormous as his ego as well as his ability to terrorize his orchestras and artists. The latter, while probably partially fictionalized by Sharratt, makes perfect sense considering his treatment of his wife, who he obviously adored, but frequently misunderstood. This also fits perfectly with his wanting Alma to give up composing as a condition for her marrying him. That, combined with Alma’s adoration for Mahler, set up the very realistic conflict that Sharratt placed at the heart of this fictional story, allowing for the deluge of emotional tsunamis that fill practically every page.

All of this left me somewhat exhausted by the end of this book, which made me wonder if Sharratt didn’t go a touch overboard with including so much of this mutually obsession-filled marriage in such careful detail. In addition, after reading her afterward that included further factual details about Alma’s life after the death of Mahler, I realized I would have preferred less aspects of the story about their life together so that we could have learned more about what happened to her later in her life. This was the same problem I had with the novel I, Eliza Hamilton. Yes, it is great to have such a comprehensive story about that part of Alma’s life, but he died in 1911 and she lived until 1964! Ignoring a full 54 years, many of which sound tumultuous, affords us a very narrow view of who Alma really was, even if these were her formative years.

I should mention that I received a copy of Sharratt’s 2016 novel “The Dark Lady’s Mask,” which impressed me regarding her writing ability, but I unfortunately could not finish reading it, mostly because of the literary licenses she took regarding Shakespeare, which were either far-fetched theories or pieces of essential information that were easily proven very wrong indeed. Sharratt seems to stray less from the facts here, which is enhanced by her inviting writing style that blends perfectly with the era. However, I cannot ignore my feeling that I only got half of the story I was hoping to read, nor the fact that Klimt was included in the hype for this book (and the obvious inspiration for the beautiful book cover) but ended up as barely a blip on this novel’s radar. For this all, I think I’ll still recommend this book, but I can’t give it more than three and a half stars out of five.

I received this book from Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours.

Alma Mahler was a very interesting woman. She was ambitious in a time and place that did not reward that in upper class white women. She wanted to be a composer but was told that she couldn’t if she wanted to marry the man she wanted.

This book does a good job of highlighting the mental cost of requiring a woman to be a wife and mother if that is not their desire. Her depression and their martial troubles in the face of his refusal to see her as a creative human being was well written.

I wish this book had pulled me deeper into the story emotionally. Great historical fiction should immerse you in the time and place. It should take a little effort to get your focus out of that world when you put the book aside. This reading experience felt very surface level which is a shame. Early 20th century Vienna and the artistic world there could be a very lush setting for a novel.

I enjoyed learning about this woman that I had not previous been aware of.

Ecstasy tells the story of Gustav Mahler’s wife, Alma. Even though Alma is slowly receiving her due as a composer, she is mostly known for her marriages and romances with famous men such as Gustav Klimt, Alexander Zemlinsky, Walter Gropius, Franz Werfel and Oskar Kokoschka. In this novel, Alma Mahler is a socialite who yearns to be a composer. She is courted by many men. Eventually, she falls in love with and marries Gustav Mahler. However, Gustav Mahler demands her to give up her dream of becoming a composer. Alma is torn between duty to her husband and her own ambition.

Alma Mahler was a hard character to connect to. While the novel tried to state that Alma was passionate in her music, it seemed that music was not her priority as were the many romances that she experienced before she married Gustav Mahler. She was very flighty, immature, and selfish. She seemed interested more in jumping from one man to another so quickly before you could snap your fingers than she was about her career and dreams. Therefore, I did not buy the author’s statement about her being a dedicated artist.

The novel did get more interesting, and I found Alma more relatable by the time she married Gustav Mahler. Gustav Mahler tells her that she can only marry her on the condition that she gives up pursuing her dreams as a musician and composer. This is because there could only be one composer in the family. Because Alma loves him, she agrees, contemplating a peaceful and happy life with Gustav. In this marriage, Alma really tries to become her own woman. She tries to be a loving and devoted wife to Gustav while having the desire to fulfill her own dreams. The marriage between Gustav and Alma was very toxic. Gustav did not seem to love Alma. He was very controlling, narcissistic, and cold. I could understand and empathize with Alma why she cheated on him during her marriage. Thus, Alma was a very vulnerable character who strived to find personal happiness.

Overall, this novel did not do justice to Alma as portraying her as a female composer in a man’s world. Rather, it pays more attention to Alma’s love life than her accomplishments. I thought that most of the characters were flat and lacking in depth. There were also many scenes that made for uncomfortable reading. Despite these flaws, the novel was very well-written and heavily researched. This novel is perfect for fans of Rodin’s Lover, Ophelia’s Muse, and Madame Picasso. Still, I’ll be on a lookout for a novel in which Alma truly shines and her talent is finally given her due.

Near the turn of the 19th century, Alma Schindler yearns to make her mark as a composer. Female composers are unknown at the time, though new possibilities for women are opening up. She marries Gustav Mahler, who insists she give up her music as a condition of their marriage.

I liked the writing voice on this one right away. Alma had such enthusiasm that I wanted to see her achieve her dream from the start. The story takes us through her life as a young girl, her first love and her relationship with her various family members, but especially with her music.

It's not all upbeat though. Alma sacrifices a lot for her marriage and it's inevitable that she will question her decisions as time goes on. Mahler himself is a challenge to deal with and it was an era when women were expected to suppress their own needs and be supportive of a husband. Alma is a naturally passionate and creative person and this state of affairs can only clash with her natural inclinations.

I enjoyed reading this, despite the unhappy parts. The narrative kept my attention, even if at times I wanted to shake Alma and tell her she was making some bad decisions.

The historical note at the end was as interesting as the story itself. Alma was a woman ahead of her time, though her unfaithfulness in her marriages would bring a lot of criticism. She weathered some difficult times and gave her love to some of the top composers of her time. Some of her own compositions can be found on YouTube and I couldn't resist having a listen after reading this story. I found her 5 Lieder for voice and piano pretty amazing and can only imagine that if her music had been supported earlier in her life that she might have been recognised in history as one of the great composers herself, rather than just a shadow of her husband's accomplishments.

Mary Sharratt is a vivid writer with an eye for both detail and atmosphere and a knack for re-framing familiar historical events in new light. She highlights and humanizes women from history; those who are often ignored, stifled, or vilified and those that are rarely given a voice in the official narrative. With Ecstasy, Sharratt illuminates the life of the talented and tempestuous Alma Schindler, a formidable musician in her own right as well as a muse and inspiration to many well-known male musicians and artists in turn-of-the-century Vienna.

A strong personality with a noticeable talent for both composing and performing, Alma's presence is unique and memorable. She's faced by constraints of her time and society, as well as in her eventual husband's expectations but her talent and wit shine through. And even through facing her personal demons, Alma remains uniquely herself. Her point-of-view is refreshingly relate-able without being anachronistic for the times in which she lived. Sharratt does an admirable job of adapting Alma's voice and feelings and her narration feels natural.

Creation, especially of the musical variety, are main themes for both Ecstasy and for Alma herself in all stages of her story. Her life revolved around art for its entirety with a famous painter for a father and Sharratt makes music omnipresent here in her fictional life. Alma's need to create more than just human life, to be defined as more than only a wife or a mother -- to make her own art known -- is a core element to who she is and how she develops as a single woman and later as the 'proper' wife to an Opera Director. Her life and goals may shift and ebb, but her love of music is a constant, believable, and unchanging facet of her characterization.

An authentic and vivid recreation of a fascinating and flawed woman, Ecstasy is a look at mental health and love, music and motherhood. Mary Sharratt ably renders a nuanced version of a complicated woman and adapts her unconventional life with ease. Her version of the acclaimed and beloved fixture of culture and society in Europe and in America is engaging, forthright, and unique. Ecstasy is a window to a vibrant Viennese society and a memorable main character.

Mary Sharratt’s “Ecstasy” is the story of Alma Schindler Mahler a young and beautiful young woman pursued by the leading artists and composers of her time. She falls in love with Gustav Mahler, twenty years older than she is. He demands she give up her dream of becoming a composer because, he says, there can only be one composer in the family.

The book focuses mostly on the marriage between Alma and Gustav where she becomes a somewhat dutiful wife. It’s too bad the author didn’t go into Alma’s life after Mahler’s death when she ignores societal constraints and comes into her own—a much more interesting period of Alma’s life.

Unfortunately, in this outing, Sharratt makes several missteps by using idioms more suitable today’s world than Alma’s. She also has her characters talking about things that no “decent” man or woman would, i.e., her step-father talks about his financial situation and his wife’s pregnancy with Alma’s piano teacher.

One thing Sharratt did not do that so many historical fiction writers do is a brain dump where the writer tells the reader every little thing she’s discovered about her subject matter—relevant or not.

Normally, Mary Sharratt's stories draw me in, but not with this one. While I could follow the references to German particulars and get past them, the additional detail of the classical music side of the story brought along a little too much for this to be a relaxing read for me. If you're seriously into classical music, you will no doubt love reading this. The writing is excellent, and will be why I will certainly read another of Mary Sharratt's books.

Alma is beautiful, passionate and independent-minded. She is fond of poetry, drama and literature, and a talented pianist. She also shows a talent for composition and harbours an ambition to be recognised as a composer of her own music. However, she is prevented from following her dreams by the constraints of society and the expectations placed on her of marriage and motherhood. It’s a time when women’s talents and achievements are downplayed or, worse, characterised as ‘unfeminine’.

Alma’s admiration for composers and artists of the day is reciprocated by, amongst others, Klimt and Zemlinsky. They are attracted by her beauty and her lively conversation. Neither of these are suitable marriage prospects, however, and by the time she is twenty-one, Alma feels in ‘stasis’, unfulfilled and overwhelmed by an awakening sexuality that she is unable to express. Her only solace is in music.

Enter Gustav Mahler, the renowned conductor and composer who is as entranced by Alma as she is with his musical talent. However, when his offer of marriage comes it is accompanied by a condition that will mean Alma sacrificing her own ambitions for her husband’s work and career. Despite the age difference, warnings from those close to her and her own misgivings about the bargain she is making, Alma accepts his offer of marriage. Heartbreaking tragedy, illness and separation from friends and family will make Alma’s and Gustav’s marriage at times a tempestuous affair. As Alma’s mother notes: “Love and marriage. It’s so much more complicated than people realize.”

I really enjoyed Ecstasy, not least because, in one of those moments of serendipity, I attended a concert of Mahler’s Second Symphony a few nights before starting the book. Described in the programme as ‘monumental’, it’s certainly epic. With the biggest orchestra I’ve ever seen (including some offstage), a symphony chorus and two soloists, the composer throws in pretty much everything but the kitchen sink. However, we didn’t have the five minute pause between the first and second movements that Mahler insisted on for its first performance and which Alma witnesses in the book.

There’s something I find fascinating about reading – albeit fictionalised accounts – of the lives of women who married famous men because, in almost all cases, it strikes me they were often just as accomplished, if not more, than the men they married. Yet, like, Alma, they were expected to channel their talents into supporting their husbands, being the perfect hostess and doting mother. Reading Ecstasy made we wonder if great talent, like that of Gustav Mahler, can ever excuse selfishness and the often casual disregard for those around them.

This is a book rich in historical detail and I loved the way the author evoked the sights and atmosphere of turn of the century Vienna (a city I have visited and really loved) and its musicians, artists and poets. I also found engaging Alma’s wonder at the sophistication of New York when she and Gustav travel there to pursue his career. As the author notes in her afterword, Alma led a full life even after the events covered in the novel. I can only agree with Mary Sharratt when she writes: ‘The deeper I delved into Alma’s story, the more complex and compelling her character revealed itself to be.’

I received a review copy courtesy of publishers, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours in return for an honest and unbiased review.

At the turn of the twentieth-century, one woman will defy all odds and define The Arts as no one before her has. Alma, a nineteen year old, living in Vienna, with dreams of becoming a composer. Unheard of during this particular time period, especially for a woman, she turns herself inside out in order to make her mark on the world. The torment, the challenges, the euphoria, sadness and romance; all a part of her as she fights to hold onto her family, her loves, herself.
This historical fiction is a story of the bittersweet that will captivate as it immerses you in as to how this woman fights for her true existence and the life she wants, but more importantly, the life she needs.
Very well written and a true learning experience as to some of the most treasured symphony halls and revered classical music written in history. I found it intriguing to research the referenced composers themselves and the music also referenced within the book, all which can be found online. For me, it made for more an interesting experience as to the depth of these characters, most of which are historical to the classical music and art worlds.
The fascinating world of Alma Mahler will not disappoint. Thank you NetGalley for this opportunity of this story as an
(eARC) in exchange for an honest review.

Novels & Latte Book Blog
Novels & Latte Book Club

What an absorbing historical fiction novel about a titillating woman who was ahead of her time. At the tender age of 22, Alma Maria married Gustav Mahler. He was a celebrated conductor of many famous symphonies and a legendary composer. He was also a typical man of the era who had his own thoughts on how a wife should behave and support her husband. This is the story of her married life with this demanding man and her struggles to squash her creative talent to conform to his ideals. This struggle brings her to the brink of insanity only to emerge as a celebrated, famous composer.

Alma Mahler is a very complicated individual and the author does a wonderful job of bringing her larger-than-life emotions and proclivities to life. Ms. Sharratt thoroughly develops Alma’s character, with all its flaws. She does not sugar coat her controversial life to make Alma more likable. The story is told in the third person which allows you to view the plot as a bystander and judge her actions for yourself.

I really enjoyed this book. I knew nothing about either of the Mahlers and it brought them to life for me. Their married life was filled with amazing highs and plummeting lows. The author doesn’t allow you to get bogged down in the mundane aspects of everyday living so the whole novel is page turning. The story does deal with adult situations, so I would recommend this for the mature reader.

I saw the movie Mahler by Ken Russell a couple of years ago. Well, it's so many years ago that I don't really remember much about it. But, it was my first introduction to Gustav Mahler and his wife Alma. So, when I saw that there would be a book about Alma Mahler was I instantly interested. I was thrilled when I got a copy of this book to read.

Just think of what Alma Schindler could have achieved if she was born decades later when a woman could be much more than a wife and a mother. She dreamed of becoming a composer, but her mother and stepfather (mostly stepfather) didn't think higher education would be something for her since she was a woman and wasting money on an education for her was nothing he wanted since his opinion was that her role in life getting married and have children. Alma, however, wanted to compose, to be something. Then, Gustav Mahler enters her life, and she falls in love with him. However, he demands that she gives up her music to dedicate her life to their marriage and his needs. And, she does that. She suffocates the part of herself that loves music, but how can she be complete when part of her, the creative part of her has to be subdued? When her life is only to be a wife and mother? It doesn't, and it's just tragic that when they finally find themselves true to each other, Gustav and Alma is time running out for them...

This book would have been at least twice as thick (or more) if Mary Sharratt has written about Almas whole life, not just her marriage to Mahler. And, I would have read it. I loved the book from the very start. I loved getting to know Alma Mahler, this extraordinary woman that had such a fantastic life. I loved how Alma finally has come out of the shadows of the famous men she was married to. To show the world that she was a great composer as well.

Mary Sharratt’s Ecstasy is a compelling novel that immediately entrances the reader into the life of Alma Schindler. Alma is a talented fledgling composer in Vienna in the early 1900’s. Her parents wish to marry her off to a man that meets their standards while Alma searches for a passionate love in the music world. She meets Gustav Mahler, a well-known composer and they have a whirlwind romance. However, he requires that she give up all aspirations of becoming a published composer. The book details Alma’s continuous struggles with love, ambition, and life’s heartbreaks. I struggle to offer a comparison to this book as it was a one of a kind jewel!

Oh, to sense the heights. To be a mountain. To be great and expansive, bursting with potentiality.

I signed up for the blog tour of Ecstasy because the synopsis sounded incredible and right up my alley. In the last year I've become really intrigued with books set in the early 20th century, especially if the setting is in Vienna and if the story revolves around a real woman in history like Alma. She definitely wasn't a perfect character. She had her flaws and problems but even so I hadn't expected to fall in love with this brilliant book the way I did. I even read until 2:00 pm to finish the story just because I didn't want to put the book down and stop reading.

The story is about Alma Schindler (later Alma Mahler), who more than anything wants to be a sucessful composer. When she meets the nearly twenty years older and accomplished composer Gustav Mahler, they fall for each other. But for their marriage his condition is that she gives up her music so that there's more room for his own, essentially. This causes Alma to be utterly torn between her passion for composing and her love for Gustav.

I can't quite put my finger on what exactly made this book so good. Vienna at the turn of the 20th century, the complex character of Alma, the artistic men she came in contact with and who all seemed to be enchanted by her, the bittersweet element of the story, the writing... I just loved it all.

It also doesn't happen often but I ended this book with tears in my eyes. This just shows how totally taken I was with it. I'm so glad the author put the spotlight on Alma Mahler the way she did in this amazing story. I want more people to also read this book and hopefully also fall in love with it the way I did.

Ecstasy by Mary Sharratt was one amazing and beautifully written story. I honestly fell in love with it from the very first page and continued being completely hooked throughout the whole novel. It was just phenomenal!

A marvelous book about the life of Alma Mahler, pianist and composer extrodinaire. The author has really done her research well. A must read for anyone who loves Historical Fiction. This is the kind of book I love to savor and read slowly. It's also a book that I'll most likely read again. More than five stars!
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley. Thank you so much, Netgalley!
All opinions are my own.

The name Alma Mahler quite literally meant nothing to me before I read this book. I hate to plead ignorance but with Gustav Klimt mentioned, I confess that had me fascinated but the synopsis gained my attention too. At the turn of the century, women were expected to be wives and mothers. Simply put, they weren’t meant to be fascinating figures in the very male-dominated world. Alma was not content with this, wanting to become a composer. She wasn’t going to be a dull housewife and she didn’t want to give up her work for any man.

She was extraordinary for her time frame.

Headstrong and bullheaded, a reader of Nietzsche and a devotee of being a “new woman”, Alma has the odds stacked against her. She is limited by her sex and everyone seems to remark upon her talents but think them wasted because “she’s just a girl.” Aren’t those the most infuriating words?!

I found reading about those who loved her interesting and I found the condition upon her marriage to be slightly devastating. I would not have been able to do it. That would be like my future husband telling me I could no longer read my books. Him or the books? Bye boy. But, Alma seemed to love Mahler enough to make the sacrifice.

Reading and learning about Alma was a fun and educational experience for me. I loved the peek into her life and learning about her. I loved reading of her determination to succeed in a world seemed hellbent on quashing her talent as one would a cigarette beneath their shoe. She was certainly a fascinating woman and I was entirely emersed the entire time. I do appreciate that there was no apology made for Alma and who she was. She really was ahead of her time.


From beginning to end, I was spellbound by Ms. Sharatt’s in-depth descriptions of things and the rich way she blended Alma’s world to come to life. I always very happy with this book an I recommend it to anyone who likes to read about figures they may not know and just to anyone who loves art and music and history because they all are weaved together splendidly.