Summary

The Introduction opens with Nannerl Mozart, the older sister of famed Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, pledging to tell the reader about her brother, known to friends and family as Woferl. She is clearly devoted to Woferl and reveals both physical and emotional truths about him. She says everyone has heard of Woferl and his music, but no one realizes they have also heard Nannerl's music. She compares herself to her brother, saying he was the stardust and she was “the steady wick, the one who burns low and quiet” (Page X). She ends by identifying herself as “the other Mozart.”

The author identifies the next section of the novel as taking place in Salzburg, Austria, in 1759. The first chapter is titled “Mozart by the Ocean.” Nannerl is practicing at the clavier when her father, Leopold Mozart, arrives with...