The Woman in the Moonlight
This is a fictional biography of Countess Giulietta (Julie) Guicciardi, to whom Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata was dedicated in 1802. Little is known about Julie; the author’s note says that no memoirs or diaries exist, only a few letters, and very few images. Julie was Beethoven’s pupil, briefly, but Morrisroe’s novel gives them a long-term if intermittent relationship. Julie allows Beethoven to take her virginity, and he proposes, but Beethoven’s patron Prince Lichnowsky tells Julie he will cut off Beethoven’s stipend if he marries her. So Julie refuses Beethoven without telling him the real reason, that she won’t be the cause of losing the income that enables his art.
Julie marries Count von Gallenberg, whom she later discovers prefers men. They move to Naples, and she becomes mistress to diplomat Friedrich von der Schulenburg. Her path continues to cross Beethoven’s at various points in his career. He still resents her rejection and is harsh at times towards her, yet occasionally tender. Try as she might, Julie can’t sever her bond with Beethoven.
2020 is the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth, so it’s fitting this novel is published now. Morrisroe should be commended for bringing a shadowy figure in Beethoven’s world to life. A classical music fan will be interested in reading about life in Vienna and other European cities at the dawn of the Romantic period. However, I had difficulty getting emotionally involved in the story. Julie drifts from one relationship to another; she simple accepts situations like her gay husband and Beethoven’s harshness, which should provide grounds for conflict, but there isn’t much of that to drive the story. I did like the touching ending, which I can’t spoil by describing here. Morrisroe provides a lengthy bibliography for readers who finish the story wanting to know more about Beethoven’s world.
