Artsy Traveler

Read novels set in Austria to get you excited about your trip or, even better, to read while you’re there. Numerous authors have been inspired to set novels in Austria, particularly novels inspired by Austria’s rich cultural heritage.

Each of the novels listed in this post relates in some way to the arts–from Klimt to Mozart to Beethoven. The rich cultural life of Vienna has inspired many authors (including me!). Many are set in the late 18th century when Mozart, Hadyn, and Beethoven walked the streets of Vienna, or at the end of the 19th century starring such luminaries as Klimt and Mahler.

Ecstasy by Mary Sharratt

Set in Vienna a century ago, this tale of Alma Mahler, wife of the composer Gustav Mahler and a composer herself, is part cautionary tale, part triumph of the feminist spirit.

Stolen Beauty by Laurie Lico Albanese

In the dazzling glitter of Vienna at the turn of the last century, Adele Bloch-Bauer—young, beautiful, brilliant, and Jewish—meets painter Gustav Klimt and begins a passionate affair.

Mozart’s Last Aria by Matt Rees

In 18th-century Vienna, Mozart’s estranged sister, Nannerl, stumbles into a world of ambition, conspiracy, and immortal music while trying to discover the truth about her brother’s death. 

A Woman of Note by Carol M. Cram

An intricately crafted and fascinating tale about a woman composer in 1830s Vienna struggling to find her soul’s song in a dissonant world.

A Minor Deception by Nupur Tustin

The great composer himself is cast as an amateur sleuth in 18th-century Vienna in this first in a series of Joseph Haydn mysteries. If you love this one, you’ll be glad to know there are two more!

Aria to Death by Nupur Tustin

In Book 2 of the Joseph Haydn mystery series, Kapellmeister Joseph Haydn receives a curious a message from Kaspar, an impoverished violinist with an ailing wife, asking Haydn to evaluate a collection of scores reputed to be the lost operas of Monteverdi. But before he can examine the works, Kaspar is murdered—beaten and left to die in front of a wine tavern.

Prussian Counterpoint by Nupur Tustin

In Book 3 of the Joseph Haydn mystery series, Hadyn receives an unexpected invitation from wily King Frederick. Worse still, the invitation appears to stir up suspicion in the highest quarters in Vienna—so much so that a mysterious cloaked lady visits Haydn’s Music Room and issues a thinly veiled threat.

The Woman in the Moonlight by Patricia Morrisroe

A stirring and romantic historical novel about 19th-century Vienna and the tragedy and dynamic passion that inspired Beethoven to write his beloved Moonlight Sonata.

An Equal Music by Vikram Seth

When an English quartet, the Maggiore, undertakes a challenging work of Beethoven’s, violinist Michael Holme is overwhelmed by memories of mastering the piece as a student in Vienna. That’s also where he met Julia McNicholl, a pianist whose beauty was as mesmerizing as her musical genius and whom Michael loved with an intensity he never found again.

Beethoven’s Tenth by Richard Kluger

When the assistant manager of a hardware store in rural New Jersey shows up at the offices of Cubbage & Wakeham, an elite New York auction house, with a worn musical manuscript he hopes to sell for a small (or perhaps hefty) fortune, he is greeted with subdued snickers—not surprisingly. The title page of the document reads, “William Tell: A Dramatic Symphony” and is signed “Ludwig van Beethoven.”

The Vienna Melody by Ernst Lothar

Christopher Alt, piano maker, is the best in Vienna, probably in all of Austria and possibly the world. His piano keys have given life to melodies by Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, and many others. On his deathbed, he leaves a will specifying that his descendants, if they are to get their inheritance, must live together in the family home. Over successive generations of the Alt family, history itself passes through the doors, down the halls, and into the private rooms of the Alts’ building.

Want more novels set in Austria? You’ll find many more on Art In Fiction, the website I created to showcase novels inspired by the arts.