Agathe Von Trapp

Several Christmases ago I gave Meg a memoir that Agathe Von Trapp wrote in the early 2000s. She was the oldest of the Von Trapp siblings and her book shared memories of her life with the famous singing family. Once Meg was done with the book, I put it on my reading shelf.  I wasn’t sure how interested I was in it, but I didn’t want to get rid of it just yet. I normally don’t read two non-fiction books back-to-back, but I knew that her memoir would be a lot different than Mike Campbell’s autobiography, so I decided a few weeks ago to pick it up and at least giving it a try. It was also short and small, so I could easily take it along with me on my trip to the Midwest in July.

Last week, I finished the book and was absolutely surprised with how much I enjoyed it.  Although I liked the musical, Sound of Music, I didn’t quite share the love of it that Doug and Meg did. Because of that I never dreamed I would find the book fascinating, but I definitely did. Her memoir was a lot different than the movie. Even the names of the Von Trapp siblings were changed for the film. Agathe wrote about her time with her real mother and life during World War I that was not a focus in the movie. It was obvious from the memoir that the personalities of Maria and Colonel Von Trapp were swapped in the movie, but that probably made sense since Maria wrote the book that inspired the movie and wanted herself to be seen as the positive parent. I already knew that the family did not walk out of Austria as is portrayed in the last scene of the movie but didn't realize that the Von Trapp Family Singers were famous throughout the world. It was fun to learn about their travels, their summer singing camp and their family lodge in Vermont. Overall, I really enjoyed the book and recommend it to anyone who loved the movie.