Title: Magic Flutes
Author: Eva Ibbotson
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Easy reading, History, Romance
Pace: Medium
Format: Novel
Publisher: Picador
Year: 2009
5th sentence, 74th page: Charles was heir to a baronetcy and a famous estate in Wiltshire; she accepted him and had to endure the four years’ martyrdom that followed his injury in Flanders.

SPRING 1922

Tessa is a beautiful, tiny, dark-eyed princess who’s given up her duties to follow her heart, working backstage at the Viennese opera. No one there knows who she really is or that a fairy-tale castle is missing its princess – and Tessa is determined to keep it that way.

But secret lives can be complicated. When a wealthy handsome Englishman discovers this bewitching urchin backstage, Tessa’s two worlds collide – and in escaping her inheritance, she finds her destiny…

An Austrian princess, a millionaire and an opera, what better setting and couple for a romance? The fact that it is based in Venice in 1922 and features some of the most enchanting imagery I’ve read in a while? It’s just beautiful. This is such a heart-warmingly sweet story that I finished it inside a day. Actually, I refused to do any of the work that I have piling up simply because I wanted to bury myself in the beauty and the romance of this tale.

I like Tessa – she is constantly described as waif-like. And, initially, she is seen as being weak and quiet. A silent almost pushover like woman. Yet, as the story develops, her quiet demeanour reveals a backbone of steel. Even in love and lost to the world that she knows and loves, she is able to hold her head high. At least in public, the heartache of unrequited love and finding one’s soul mate is so beautifully tragic. And sweet. And kind. And just, in general, heart breakingly gooshy.

Actually, I struggle to find the words for this novel. It is filled with a great (if not predictable) love story. The stunningly described backdrop, the slow realisation that the two are in love and the constant challenges thrown in their way take you on an amazing journey. The fact that there is a historical setting and an understanding of the cultural and social outlay at the time. It just makes the story all the better, and far more enthralling to read.

Image source: Amazon

Title: A Company of Swans
Author: Eva Ibbotson
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Easy reading, History, Romance
Pace: Medium
Format: Novel
Publisher: Picador
Year: 1985
5th sentence, 74th page: Of late, too, there had been competition from other and younger dancers – from Pavlova, who had also come to Europe; from the divine Karsavina, Diaghilev’s darling, who with Nijinsky had taken the West by storm.

FOR HARRIET MORTON, BALLET IS THE ONLY ESCAPE FROM HER DREARY HOME AND STRICT FAMILY. THEN A RUSSIAN BALLET MASTER COMES SEARCHING FOR DANCERS…

Defying her father, Harriet runs away to join the ballet on a journey to the Amazon. In a grand opera house, deep in the heart of the wild jungle, she performs Swan Lake – and falls in love with a mysterious British exile. But Harriet’s father has tracked her down… and her new life is under threat.

This is the last Eva Ibbotson book on my shelf. The last one that I have read (this year). I’ve read them all at least three times. And it’s kind of a nice note to end her five adult books on. Harriet is probably the most urchin-like and innocent of the five heroines. And her journey to romance is both the sweetest and the most tragic.

Everyone feels a little supressed by the expectations of their parents. But, in Harriet’s case, this takes a downright nasty and dangerous turn. Not being able to live or believe in anything seems like the worst possible life to me. Having people that don’t agree with anything that you wish for… there is this beautiful strength and passion that is to be found in Harriet. There is a line in this story about when she decides to finally give up on loving others. She has accepted that she won’t ever be loved, but it is the loss of giving love that provides a breaking point. This resonates beautifully with me. After all, receiving love might be easy, but giving it is the true pleasure.

Rom is probably the darkest and most British of the Ibbotson suitors. Or at least, the most mysterious. I love how his acknowledgement of Harriet’s innocence and purity ensures her safety, even while he plans a greater future for them both. His counterpart (Harriet’s original suitor) is so at odds with Rom and seems to highlight all of the worst things about a well-educated man. It is something that provides no end of entertainment throughout, and makes it incredibly easy to read this book in one night…

Image source: Books’ Are a Girl’s Best Friend

Title: The Morning Gift
Author: Eva Ibbotson
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Easy reading, History, Romance
Pace: Medium
Format: Novel
Publisher: Picador
Year: 1993
5th sentence, 74th page: Once he had a lusty son or two, he’d forget all this nonsense about the Trust.

Ruth lives happily in the magnificent city of Vienna. Then the Nazis invade and her world is turned upside down.

Her parents flee to London, but Ruth is accidentally left behind. A family friend offers her an escape route: a marriage of convenience to be dissolved as soon as they reach England. But Ruth’s feelings for Quin soon take her by surprise, and her efforts to set him free do not quite go as she plans…

This is such a beautiful love story, set against an amazing backdrop of one of the most horrible moments in recent history – the beginning of WWII and the rein of Hitler. The juxtaposition between the romance and the horror works really nicely, and although it does give a face to what some Jewish people experienced in this time, it is mostly about the glory of falling in love. Not just that first, cute, puppy love, but that moment you realise you need to be with someone for every moment of the rest of your life – that you’ve found not only a friend and a lover, but a partner to your life.

I honestly think that this is my favourite Eva Ibbotson novel – it’s a little more mature than her other stories. After all, it deals with pregnancy and death and the horrors of WWII. But, it’s also my favourite story because I find Ruth the easiest to relate to – she’s a science student with a love of life. Yet, she’s still trying to find out who she is and what she’s going to become (a point that I’m currently at in my life). She’s also completely overwhelmed by her first experiences of the adult world (again, I’m still going through this). Yet, although she is a scientist, she is also a music lover.

The two aspects of Ruth that are constantly warring throughout this novel are also echoed in the two love interests. Heini is music personified (mostly because he is irreparably talented). On the other hand Quinton is science, he is rough, slightly uncultured and insanely intelligent. Personally, I like the intelligent guy – Heini is a little too self-centred in his pursuit of music and not exactly partner material. Although I love the outer contrast of the inner conflict that Ruth undergoes throughout this story. It’s also a mark of her ability to grow from a young, sheltered girl into a strong, educated woman… maybe one day I’ll undergo that transformation.

Image source: Amazon

Title: A Song for Summer
Author: Eva Ibbotson
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Easy reading, History, Romance
Pace: Fast
Format: Novel
Publisher: Picador
Year: 1997
5th sentence, 74th page: For a moment Marek let his mind dwell on Nausicaa, the golden girl at the heart of the Odyssey, who had left her maidens to bring help and succour to the weary Ulysses as he came from the sea.

Ellen never expected the Hallendorf school to be quite so unusual. Her life back in England with her suffragette mother and liberated aunts certainly couldn’t be called normal, but buried deep in the beautiful Austrian countryside, Ellen discovers an eccentric world occupied by wild children and even wilder teachers, experimental dancers and a tortoise on wheels. And then there is the particularly intriguing, enigmatic, and very handsome Marek, part-time gardener and fencing teacher. Ellen is instantly attracted to the mysterious gardener, but Hitler’s Reich is already threatening their peaceful world, and only when she discovers Marek’s true identity and his dangerous mission does Ellen realize the depth of her feelings for him – and the danger their newfound love faces in the shadow of war.

A good romance always includes a guy (or girl) that makes one humungous fuck up, and potentially ruins everybody’s lives. After all, boy meets girl, they fall in love, nothing happens isn’t exactly the greatest of stories. And, this is one of the best ways in which a man completely ruins everything, and yet, you are left gunning for the fantastic characters. And that’s just one part of the plot.

One of the aspects of this story that I love is the history of Ellen’s family and their acceptance for one another. Her mother and two aunts are feminists who burnt their bra and organise rally after rally for the rights of women. They fight tooth and nail to not have to be a housewife, so the fact that Ellen chooses this avenue for her own life is completely shocking to them. partnered with the fact that she is incredibly smart and university educated just seems to drive that knife deeper for her matriarchal family. But, when Ellen makes her desires clear, they accept it and continue to love her. It is little wonder that Ellen herself is filled with so much love and kindness throughout this entire story. After all, this is what family and caring about one another is truly about.

Set in Austria as WWII is breaking out, there is a sense of beauty, innocence and the looming tragedy of war. But, really, what I love the most is Ellen’s capacity to love. She loves the silly teachers at the school she moves to; the unruly children; and the unorthodox family from which she comes. But, it is the fact that she continues to love and accept after tragedy takes her future away. She continues to find a way to take care of her people and those who matter to her, even as her heart continues to shatter into a thousand pieces. And, through it all, she finds a way to have a life that, while it may for a while be devoid of exactly what she wanted, she creates something that matters. Although that sounds a little bereft, there is a happy ending that literally bought a tear to my eyes.

Image source: Amazon