This book was a must read for me as I watch the Sound of Music once a year.

Reading Maria's back story and her love of music at an early age gave insight into this beloved and iconic character.

A beautiful historical fiction account of the story Von Trapp evolves over a dual timeline story. Michelle Moran is a master of the genre and always develops a heroine that is honest, strong, and complex. If you think you know The Sound of Music, you will want to read this beauty. Thanks to NetGalley for this gem!

It's always bittersweet when I come across a book that I know my mom would have wanted to read. Maria: A Novel of Maria Von Trapp by Michelle Moran is one of those books. While it is fiction, it tells the true story of the Von Trapp Family Singers famously (and incorrectly) portrayed in The Sound of Music.

Moran takes us back to 1959 when Rodgers & Hammerstein are almost finished and ready to premiere their new musical. Except, Maria Von Trapp has arrived and would like an audience with Hammerstein to convince him to make changes to the script. Hammerstein's assistant Fran is charged with meeting with Maria in Hammerstein's place and taking notes about what needs to be changed.

While this is mainly a story about the real Maria Von Trapp, it's also a story about Fran, an aspiring writer, and how she does her best to appease Maria, do her job well, and go after her own dreams.

I had no idea what the real story was about the Trapps. I didn't know it was based on a German film that itself was based on Maria's autobiography. I knew that the family bought and owned a lodge in Vermont. I've visited it!! But I didn't know the specifics of the real children or that Georg and Maria had children of their own or how they managed to escape from Nazi-occupied Austria.

If you're a Sound of Music fan, you'll enjoy learning more about the real story through this historical novel. Discussion questions in the back make this a great read for a book club. Or just discussing with your mom.

Maria: A Novel of Maria Von Trapp is published by Dell and will be available to purchase tomorrow, 7/30/24. I received a free e-ARC to review.

I love historical fiction and I really enjoyed Maria. It was a different version of the movie more like her book. I loved how Michelle Moren told Maria's story making the Captain her husband more likable. She was tough on the kids and really tried to make the family stay together. They really didn't get to live there own lives that was not depicted in the movie version. This would be a great book club choice.

I love the movie “The Sound of music” and I read one of the biographies a looong time ago. When I saw this book, I was very interested in reading it. It is written from two people’s perspective; one is Maria von Trapp and the other is Oscar Hammerstein’s secretary Fran. I did find it interesting to find out what Maria (supposedly) thought about the manuscript for the Sound of Music musical.
Part of the book is Maria telling Fran about her life, this was the best part of the book. I really enjoy finding out things I didn’t know about the famous family.
This book was well written and very well researched.

I love how the author writes about historical figures that you didn't know you wanted to know more about. It was so well written that I wanted more.

I have always been a fan of The Sound of Music and end up watching it every year when it comes on around Christmas. This was a fascinating look at the life of the von Trapps and the comparison between that and how they were portrayed in the movie. Moran’s characters leap off the page and feel like family (partially due to the movie as well) and it was nice to really get to know Maria von Trapp and the youngest children that were not in the movie. I would have liked more of the romance between Maria and Georg but it's all explained well in the end. Highly recommended for fans of WWII stories, the Sound of Music, and historical fiction as a whole.

I enjoyed this book. It's worth a read just to find out more about the true story of Maria von Trapp.

It’s historical fiction with dual POV one being Maria and the other being a secretary in Oscar Hammerstein’s office. The secretary is a little bit one dimensional – she’s more of a plot device used as a way for Maria to get her true story out. In the end, it doesn’t really matter because the true draw of the story to me was the Von Trapp family story.

I also really appreciated the Author’s Note and “What Ever Happened to...” segments at the end of the book.

4.5 rounded up

I love The Sound of Music, which is obviously why I felt compelled to read this book! It was a quick read and I was sucked into the story of Maria and her family - it took a lot longer for me to care about the 1950s time period with Fran meeting with Maria. I found Fran and Peter's sudden romance unnecessary and poorly developed, but in the end I was curious to learn more about Hammerstein. I didn't even know The Sound of Music was originally a Broadway show. I was a little disappointed to learn that Maria wasn't quite the lovely woman that she appeared to be in the movie (assuming this novel is more accurate). But overall I enjoyed learning more about the Von Trapps.

A beautifully done historical fiction piece on the real life of Maria von Trapp, dispelling some of the myths of her idyllic story of love and family while setting the real heartwarming details aright. Having grown up with the musical, I was enchanted once again by this formidable woman and the trials she overcame at home and against the evil Nazi regime. I highly recommend this to anyone who fell in love with the von Trapps and always wanted to know more.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy. These opinions are my own.

The Sound of Music is one of the most beloved musicals of all time, but how did the real people that it depicted feel about its portrayal and its success? *Maria* shows that it wasn’t all marionette shows and sneaking through the Abbey, but rather that the Von Trapp family faced very real disagreements and perils, many of which could hardly translate into musical fit for Rogers and Hammerstein. This dramatic retelling of the life Maria von Trapp and the origins of the musical that made her a household name will force you to pause the next time you hear Julie Andrews belting Do Re Mi or Christopher Plummer blowing a whistle.

As someone who has loved the South of Music for decades and can easily recite and sing along to every word, this book really was a reckoning to me. Truly, never did I consider this wasn’t the full and complete story. I loved learning more about the woman (and the family) behind the musical, which has lead me to do some more of my own research.

With that said, I found the chapters told from Fran (Hammerstein’s secretary)’s POV to be extremely distracting. I really did not care about her or her relationship woes? I understand why she was necessary to the story, but think more could have been done here to not disrupt the flow of Maria’s narrative.

3.5 stars

Many thanks to Michelle Moran, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Between Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music growing up, I lived in an all Julie Andrews world, all the time! This book was such a lovely transport back to that time. Not only retelling the story of the Von Trapp family in a new and interesting way but weaving in a delightful story about Hammerstein and the golden days of Broadway. I enjoyed this so much. I have never done a lot of research on the true story of the Von Trapps so was very interested to learn everything I did.

A must for any fan of the movie "The Sound of Music:". A historical fiction retelling of the making of the Broadway show of the same name, I enjoyed this delightful story. The real life von Trapp family's history is different than the show/movie and this book details some of those differences. A dual timeline of the 30s/40s and the time of the Broadway show's premiere works well. Now off to re-watch the movie...

A must-read for fans of The Sound of Music! the captivating novel brings Maria von Trapp to life in a refreshingly realistic way., moving beyond the saintly character portrayed in the musical and movie. The author masterfully weaves fact and fiction, creating a compelling narrative that draws you in.
Told from the perspective of Fran, Oscar Hammerstein's assistant, and Maria herself, the story jumps through time, offering a unique and engaging reading experience. I was delighted to see background characters fleshed out and Hammerstein's portrayal was particularly fascinating and touching.
As a fan of the musical and movie, I was pleasantly surprised by the depth and nuance of this novel. It's a fun and engaging read that I highly recommend to anyone who loves The Sound of Music. Thank you NetGalley and Random House Ballantine for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, Michelle Moran, and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for allowing me to read an advanced copy of Maria: A Novel of Maria von Trapp. I received an advanced reader copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Normally, my reviews make it in time before the publication date. This one got pushed towards the end of my TBR list on accident, so unfortunately it missed that date.

With that said, this book is so well done. I loved everything about it. It is written with a dual timeline that alternates between the months before The Sound of Music opened on Broadway and through Maria's perspective as the events were happening to her. There is joy, heartbreak, shock, and every emotion in between. We get to see a different side to Maria that is not present in the retelling of her life. The trauma she experienced as a child altered her parenting style in a different way that was shown in the musical/movie. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves The Sound of Music.

One of my favorite movies is “The Sound of Music.” I never imagined the story in any other way. This is a great historical fiction based on real life. Don’t skip the author’s notes! Read “Maria” if you loved “The Sound of Music”, it may make you love the original even more. Excellent writing and well researched.
This is my opinion with thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing, Ballantine for this ARC.

I am a huge fan of The Sound of Music, so when I found out that a story was being written about Maria von Trapp, I knew I wanted to read it.

The book tells the story of a girl, orphaned at a young age, and cared for by her aunt and uncle. But life wasn't easy living with them: she was physically and emotionally abused by her uncle. To escape them, she would run up to the hills to commune with nature. There she discovers the Nonnberg Abbey and decides to become a nun.

The story opened my eyes to the vast difference it was compared to the musical. Who really was the disciplinarian in the family? And was it truly a love story between Maria and Georg? And how the family escaped Austria in time before the war started.

The story also alternates between Maria telling her story and Fran, a secretary for famous lyricist Oscar Hammerstein, who is tapped to listen to Maria tell her side of the story.

If you are a fan of The Sound of Music, and enjoy historical fiction, then this is the book for you.

I received this complimentary digital copy from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

I am not sure if this would capture my attention were I not a fan of The Sound of Music but I really enjoyed this one. It was interesting to compare and contrast Maria's story with what is portrayed in the movie. I appreciated the added faith elements that Maria introduced to the Von Trapp family.
I was concerned it would make me think negatively about the movie knowing it is far from a true account but it didn't. The audiobook is well done!



Thanks to Netgalley for the chance to read this one in exchange for my honest thoughts.

MARIA by Michelle Moran is a wonderful way to find out a bit more about the real Von Trapp family in a fictionalized novel that brings out the complications of turning a real life into a musical.

I loved the movie, The Sound of Music. I also thought it was real. I knew, deep down, that there must have been fictionalized aspects, but the bones were true, right? Well, some were and some were not.

This is a novel that brings out how the truth varied with the Hollywood/Broadway versions & how it may have come about. I learned some really fascinating things about the title character. I feel a bit like learning Santa isn't real, or not what I thought. I do think that the truth is more important to know, however. I didn't realize how much stock I put into believing the film was true to life. Bless my heart.

If you are interested in a really riveting telling of this story, I highly recommend either print/digital or audio. I was able to listen thanks to @prhaudio and had the digital thanks to @netgalley & @randomhouse Ballantine, so I was set! I loved having the option to go back and forth. The audio with dual narrators brought Maria to life (no singing, sadly). Published on July 30th, this was a surprisingly compelling read that had me nostalgic and grateful for a clarifying truth.

“Maria: A novel of Maria Von Trapp”, by Michelle Moran, is not your Mama’s “The Sound of Music”. Instead, with vivid writing and great detail, this book gives readers insight into Maria’s history which isn’t even close to the famous play and movie. It also provides a glimpse into the making of the play and Maria’s feelings about her and her family’s portrayal on stage.

As a lifelong fan of The Sound of Music, this book worked for me in so many ways. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Maria’s life and the struggle she had with the Broadway (and later in screen) portrayal came to life as if one was watching it on stage or film. I would recommend it to anyone who has been captivated by The Sound of Music and wants to foray into the world of theatre production from the comfort of their home.