Today, I’ll be writing about a story that we all know – though quite a few people I’ve spoken to didn’t realise it was ever a book. As the title of this post has already given away, this is the book that led to the smash-hit musical The Sound of Music – and my 1970 edition shares that title, though it was originally published as The Story of the Trapp Family Singers.
So, yes, Maria von Trapp was a real person – and a surprising amount of the film appears to be based on truth. Or, at least, the truth as Maria sets it out in her autobiography. She was an irrepressible novitiate nun who wasn’t very at adhering to rules; she became governess to the children of a widower (though not as many children as in the film – at least until they started having their own); she married him. And that is about the first 80 pages of the book!
When the biography was adapted for screen, it’s perhaps not a shock that they focused on the romantic element of the story. Though, in truth, it isn’t especially romantic on the page. Maria has fallen for the children in her care (one of whom, confusingly, is also called Maria), but seeks God’s and the other nuns’ wisdom on whether or not she should accept his proposal. And that’s setting aside the amusing moment at which she accidentally accepted it, via a garbled message from one of his children. Marrying would, after all, mean giving up what she believed to be her vocation – but she is later persuaded that marriage and (step)motherhood could be her vocation instead. You can see why this scene wasn’t included as a dizzying moment of Hollywoodesque love:
“What does God want of me now, Reverend Mother?”
“He wants you to serve Him well where He needs you most, and serve Him whole-heartedly and cheerfully.”
Slowly I wound my way home. The children must be in bed by now, I thought, when I opened the big house door as quietly as possible to slip in unnoticed. But there stood the Captain.
“Well, and…” was all he said.
Timidly I went over; and all of a sudden there came all the tears I hadn’t found before.
“Th-they s-s-said I have to m-m-m-marry you-u!”
Thankfully, this rather dutiful acceptance turns into real love before very long. The quote also demonstrates something that isn’t particularly prevalent in the film: Maria’s faith. Again, it shouldn’t be a surprise that a woman who was considering becoming a nun would also talk a lot about God and about how her relationship with Him determines much of her life. I appreciated that element of the biography, which felt natural and authentic at all times.
The Sound of Music is also very funny at times. Maria has an eye for absurdity, and the book is packed with anecdotes to make you smile – from the mistakes she made when learning English in America, to horrendous performances, to the usual sort of self-deprecating accounts of misunderstandings that make this sort of book so fun.
So, what happens after the plot of the film is finished? They do, indeed, leave to evade the growing influence of the Nazis – but not so dramatically or dangerously as it is depicted in the film. In a rather more sedate way, they get the paperwork they need and get on a boat to America. There are issues along the way (on one entrance to the country, Maria says she wants to stay forever – which sees her briefly imprisoned for attempting to overstay her visa) but their new country is broadly welcoming. It is also where the bulk of Maria’s story takes place. As the original title – The Story of the Trapp Family Singers – suggests, the book documents the idea of forming a singing group and their gradual evolution into a nationwide success. Much of what she writes about is the pieces they perform and how they go over, and if you have more musical knowledge than I do, then you’ll probably get more out of those.
It’s hard to believe that a family could become this successful just off the back of touring theatres – rather than releasing music, or appearing on radio or TV. It was wryly amusing to read Maria’s rather prescient take on the modern age of entertainment:
Our age has become so mechanical that this has also affected our recreation. People have got used to sitting down and watching a movie, a ball game, a television set. It may be good once in a while, but it certainly is not good all the time. Our own faculties, our imagination, our memory, the ability to do thigns with our mind and our hands – they need to be exercised. If we become too passive, we get dissatisfied.
The more things change, the more they stay the same!
Along the way, Maria shares about her own health issues – including losing several babies to miscarriages, which she attributes to a kidney complaint. We see the growing impact of an inevitable war. And we indubitably grow to love Maria. She becomes older, wiser and a little more earnest than her film counterpart – while the Captain is noticeably gentler. But fans of the movie won’t be disappointed by the reality that you find on the page. And if you’ve never seen the film, then you’ll also enjoy this unexpected, heartwarming, very honest tale of a very unusual family.