The Musician's Daughter--A Fun YA Read in 18th Century Vienna

Susanne Dunlap's "The Musician's Daughter" tells the story of 15 year old Theresa, who--after the mysterious murder of her father--finds herself removed from the everyday routines of a young lady and thrust into a world of court politics, music and political intrigue. As she helps to solve the mystery of her father's murder, Theresa finds her true loves in life, music, family, and a young musician/wronged nobleman named Zoltan. The stakes are high as Theresa risks everything to help solve her father's murder and the reader is left wondering whether it will all be worthwhile in the end. I chose to read Dunlap's novel before I realized it was considered young adult fiction--I thought the plot sounded interesting and I was impressed with Dunlap's background as a historian, so I thought the novel would be good. In my opinion, this book did not read like YA fiction--the language is mature and the historical context is rich--even if it does have a teen appropriate storyline. I thoroughly enjoyed this book--it was probably the best YA fiction i've read in years. The pacing is good, the narrative kept me interested and the characters are well developed. I would recommend this book to mature teenage readers looking for good historical fiction, or even adult readers that are interested in the time period.