Mozart's Blood

From Marley, a musician and writer, has produced a stunning drama inspired by the life of Teresa Saporiti, the first Donna Anna. Teresa, an aspiring singer, was turned into a vampire by a Czech aristocrat. As bad as the need for blood are the memories of the victims, which remain with the taker. Teresa has learned to deal with them, but Mozart, whom the baroness bit at the same time, never did and died painfully because he could not bring himself to satisfy the unnatural thirst. In San Francisco in 1906, Teresa meets Ugo, a Silician werewolf with a very curious past of his own. They become partners, guarding each other's backs. In twenty-first-century Milan, an egoistic baritone thinks he has figured out Teresa's secret and abducts Ugo to obtain the blood that holds Mozart's memories. The story covers four centuries, but the shifts between the past and the present are seamlessly handled, and the development of Teresa and Ugo over those centuries is impressive. An engrossing piece, from overture to final chord. --Frieda Murray Review Booklist Advanced Review Marley, a musician and writer, has produced a stunning drama inspired by the life of Teresa Saporiti, the first Donna Anna. Teresa, an aspiring singer, was turned into a vampire by a Czech aristocrat. As bad as the need for blood are the memories of the victims, which remain with the taker. Teresa has learned to deal with them, but Mozart, whom the baroness bit at the same time, never did and died painfully because he could not bring himself to satisfy the unnatural thirst. In San Francisco in 1906, Teresa meets Ugo, a Silician werewolf with a very curious past of his own. They become partners, guarding each other's backs. In twenty-first-century Milan, an egoistic baritone thinks he has figured out Teresa's secret and abducts Ugo to obtain the blood that holds Mozart's memories. The story covers four centuries, but the shifts between the past and the present are seamlessly handled, and the development of Teresa and Ugo over those centuries is impressive. An engrossing piece, from overture to final chord. — Frieda Murray Award winning author Louise Marley's compelling, intricately layered story of a beautiful soprano who shares an everlasting bond with the world's most notorious musical genius... Mozart's BloodOctavia Voss is an ethereal singer whose poise and talent belie her young age. In truth, she is a centuries-old vampire who once'shared the tooth'with Mozart himself. To protect her secret, Octavia's even more ancient friend Ugo stalks the streets to find the elixir that feeds his muse's soul. With Mozart's musical prowess coursing through her veins, the ageless Octavia reinvents herself with each new generation. But just as she prepares to take the stage at La Scala, Ugo inexplicably disappears, leaving Octavia alone--and dangerously unprotected... Octavia vows to find Ugo, but his fate is in the hands of forces much darker than she could ever imagine. And when she learns the truth behind his disappearance, Octavia realizes too late that the life hanging most in the balance is her own...'Riveting, original...filled with the emotional power and intricate twists and turns of a Mozart opera.'--Tracy Grant, author of Beneath a Silent Moon As a young soprano in the eighteenth century, Octavia Voss was bitten by a vampire patroness during a sexual tryst with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and was imbued with the essence of his astonishing musical gifts. Since then, Octavia has enjoyed several careers as a celebrated soprano, taking on new identities to disguise her ageless beauty, and acquiring an assistant and companion in Ugo, a mysterious man who possesses a secret of his own. Together they travel the world for her performances at all the great opera houses. But during a run at La Scala, Octavia draws the attention of a secret vampire hunter who will do anything to make her talents his own. A vampiric soprano whose blood has mingled with Mozart's has picked up his musical talents and lives out several musical careers, traveling around the world with her mysterious assistant, Ugo, and performing concerts at the top opera houses, until a relentless vampire hunter aims to silence her--forever. Original.