When you think of a romance book, doesn’t the word ‘fiction’ pop in along with it? Romance + fiction just seems like the perfect duo. Maybe that’s because fiction is often a thinly or, at times, a heavily veiled disguise of non-fiction itself?
The book I’m reviewing today does not fall in either category. It is not a romance book, it is not a fiction book. Then why review it for my Valentine’s Day series? Because, this is one non-romance book that taught me so much more about love than any romance fiction book could ever teach me.
The book ‘Ecstasy’ by Mary Sharratt is a historical fiction book set on the life of Alma Maria Schindler, a brilliant Viennese-born composer.
The plot of the book, as seen on GoodReads:
In the glittering hotbed of Vienna at the turn of the 20th century, one woman’s life would define and defy an era.
Gustav Klimt gave Alma her first kiss. Gustav Mahler fell in love with her at first sight and proposed only a few weeks later. Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius abandoned all reason to pursue her. Poet and novelist Franz Werfel described her as “one of the very few magical women that exist.” But who was this woman who brought these most eminent of men to their knees? In Ecstasy, Mary Sharratt finally gives one of the most controversial and complex women of her time the center stage.
Coming of age in the midst of a creative and cultural whirlwind, young, beautiful Alma Schindler yearns to make her mark as a composer. A brand-new era of possibility for women is dawning and she is determined to make the most of it. But Alma loses her heart to the great composer Gustav Mahler, nearly twenty years her senior. He demands that she give up her music as a condition for their marriage. Torn by her love and in awe of his genius, how will she remain true to herself and her artistic passion?
Part cautionary tale, part triumph of the feminist spirit, Ecstasy reveals the true Alma Mahler: composer, author, daughter, sister, mother, wife, lover, and muse.
The book captures the essence of Alma Schindler, a larger-than-life woman whom we can only look up to in this day and age. The author of this book wove a brilliant story of love, passion, music and the society of Vienna only by referring to the Diaries of Alma Mahler-Werfel, and the collection of letters that Gustav Mahler wrote to his wife. And indeed, this book is filled with references to Gustav’s loving letters to his wife while he organised concerts and symphonies abroad, or while Alma recuperated at the sanatorium at different stages in her life.
Ecstasy is written in a third person POV, but at times it felt like I was sitting in Alma’s mind. I felt enraged when Alma felt enraged, loved when Alma felt loved and distraught when Alma felt distraught. The empathetic connection that the reader will have upon reading this book is a mesmerising affair.
The struggles of being a woman in the 19th/20th century are described in excruciating detail. Alma wished to pursue her dreams of being a composer of world-renowned symphonies, and laboured at the piano everyday to achieve her dreams. Her eyes lit up when she saw other girls her age achieve brilliant success in their own fields of art. She was a regular attendee at concerts at the Court Opera. The symphonies performed at those concerts took her to the highest level of nirvana possible.
Her whirlwind romance with Alex Zemlinsky was one part of the book I adored. I was torn apart when Alma had to make a choice between Zemlinsky and Mahler. Because the choice was not only restricted to the people involved. Alma also had to choose between: continuing her studies in the field of composing or giving it up; falling in love with a poor man or a rich man; going against her parents’ wishes or accepting them meekly; listening to her heart or listening to her heart, because she loved both of them so dearly.
A 5/5 star read indeed. And a brilliant book that every musician, composer and anyone who dabbles in the art of music can enjoy. It offers a perspective about how music and the experience of listening to music has evolved over the centuries. And yet, music as a medium of self-expression and innovation has remained constant over the centuries.
~Amateur-Book-Reviewer
Hola FabFollowers! This book review of Ecstasy by Mary Sharratt is the third post in my Valentine’s Day Book Review series. I aim to publish a review of a romance book that I’ve read and loved every day, till 14th of February. If you like today’s book review, do share it on your social media.
Note: I received an e-ARC of this book from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt via NetGalley. The book will be published on 10th April this year. Thank you so much HMH books for the review copy!
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