Kingdom of Back

//~All men are villains’. He was afraid, I realized, and I wonder now if it was because his proclamation made him a villain too…///

Name: Kingdom of Back
Author: Marie Lu
Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Teens & YA, Fantasy, Magic, Music, Women
Rating:4.4/5

Review:
Kingdom of Back is a story of girl, who is scared to be forgotten. She makes a wish to be remembered, and her wish is heard. To be remembered in her own world, she creates another world, where there are two moons and the trees grow upside down.

Marianne “Nannerl” Mozart is the unknown sister of prodigy musician, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and this is her story. Nannerl is a child prodigy, born with a talent for music. Under the supervision and guide of her father, Leopold, she practices to play clavier every day. Her only wish is to be remembered for her music.

Nannerl is very close to her beloved brother, Woferl. They play together, they practice together. She teaches him how to play clavier. And at night, they let their imagination run wild and weaves story to tell each other. But as her younger brother shows talent for music. Her father draws his attention in teaching Woferl. She feels overshadowed by her brother, to be forgotten as an unknown sister of a child prodigy.

Hyacinth, a princeling from another world, visit her in her dreams and promises to help her wish come true, if only she agrees to help him reclaim his throne in the Kingdom of Back. Will Marianne’s wish come true or will she be forgotten along with countless talented women of past? Is Hyacinth really Marianne’s guardian or is he a devil hiding behind a mask?

The way the protagonist was portrayed throughout the story was so natural and relatable. Being second to her father’s priorities, broken dreams and expectations and her anger and frustrations, the author has totally slayed it, expressing Nannerl’s torn between her own dreams and passion and her father’s expectations and betrayal. This book reminds me of Virginia Woolf’s “Room of one’s own”, where she writes about the unknown sister of William Shakespeare, who was as talented as the Bard but she remained forgotten in the history because of her gender.

Marie Lu weaves a story from the life of a person who was forgotten by the people, who was left unmentioned in the history, while her brother remained immortal through his work. This book leaves us with a tinge of sadness and anger and with loads of questions which starts with ‘ifs’ and the answer to all those questions would have been yes. The writing style is appealing and relatable. This book is written for all those people, who are unable to pursue their passion because of their race, caste, religion, gender stereotypes, family’s expectations, bias, socioeconomic conditions, etc.