Skip to main content

A Countess Below Stairs by Eva Ibbotson

What wordy, frothy fun Ibbotson's books are. Perfect going on a trip books. In fact, reading them makes me wish I was going somewhere, as her heroines always seem to be off somewhere new and exciting and exotic. But since I am not going anywhere (exotic or otherwise) in the near future, getting lost in them has proved a wonderful balm for my It's mid-March and Still Snowing blues.

Anna is a Russian countess whose family is forced to flee their wealth and their home after her father is killed in the Russian Revolution. Completely displaced, living in a flat in London with her former governess, she determines to support her ailing mother and younger brother by taking a job as a maid at the country estate of the Earl of Westerholme. Rupert, the young Earl, is recently home from the war, wounded and desperately trying to save the destitute estate he didn't want to inherit in the first place. You see, he promised his older brother just before he died that he would do anything in his power to keep the old place afloat. Ah, those pesky deathbed promises. They always come back to haunt you...

To avoid selling, Rupert proposes to a beautiful, very wealthy nurse he meets while recovering in hospital. Muriel is gorgeous, rich, and oh, just by the way, a passionate believer in eugenics--the philosophy of selective breeding in order to achieve a master race. That's right. The woman is Evil Incarnate and Poor Rupert doesn't know! As Muriel sinks her claws deeper and deeper into Westerholme, attempting to dispose of all of its lovely, offbeat, misfit inhabitants, Rupert and Anna strike up a friendship. Not fooled for a second by her maid disguise, Rupert is struck by how much Anna seems to love his home and family, how different it all looks when seen through her eyes. And, indeed, everyone from the other servants to the Earl's giant hound is enamored of Anna. But the path gets thornier and thornier as the wedding draws closer and pride and honor get in the way of everyone's happiness.

Ibbotson's books remind me of a cross between Anne of Green Gables and Jane Eyre, with a dash of Mary Stewart thrown in for good measure. A Countess Below Stairs has a wedding scene that had me laughing out loud. Best of all, though, it contains a truly wonderful rant delivered by the leading lady whilst standing in front of a formal dinner party, clutching a basket of rolls to her chest. Brilliant.

It also contains the best last line of Ibbotson's books yet.

Links
Books and Other Thoughts Review
Bookshelves of Doom Review
Bookwyrm Chrysalis Review
Labels:

Comments

  1. jaredelizabeth10:58 PM

    I just got chills reading the summary you gave....sounds too good to be true....Anne of Green Gables, Mary Stewart, and Jane Eyre....You just named three of my top ten of all time books/authors....must read!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Angiegirl12:02 AM

    Definitely give it a shot, Liz. Her books (and characters) are easy to love.

    ReplyDelete
  3. jaredelizabeth10:19 PM

    Yay, they have both of her books that you reviewed at the library! I just got the kids to sleep and I just spent an hour doing some major searching for books . I finally tracked down all of the books in the "President's Daughter" series. Between you, the library, some random book seller on the internet, and a new addition coming out in July that I just pre-ordered, I have all four books! By August I am set! I also have on hold Beastly and Song of the Sparrow at the library; plus my copies of the Lynn Kurland books arrived in the mail this week; and I got the 4th book in Mary Stewart's Merlin/Arthur Saga at the library......WHERE TO BEGIN......I guess I felt like I needed options for spring break next week!.....NOT ENOUGH TIME IN THE DAY! See you soon!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jill11:05 PM

    I loved this book and I enjoyed reading your review! Thanks for the link. I linked back to yours in my review, too (I wrote that one back before I started doing that). :-)

    Oh, and congratulations, by the way - I love the ultrasound picture!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Angiegirl10:51 PM

    Wow, Liz. That is a tough choice. I'm so glad you'll get to read the President's Daughter series straight through. Can't wait to hear about that. Hm, for now I'd say start the first Kurland. Either that or Song of the Sparrow. Man, I loved that book.

    Darla, you are welcome and thanks for linking to my review! Isn't Ibbotson great?

    ReplyDelete
  6. jaredelizabeth3:00 PM

    LOVED IT. I would have liked a little more contact between hero and heroine, but other than that, it was wonderful. You are right the characters are easy to love. I haven't laughed out loud while reading a book in a long time....some of the characters are hilarious! It isn't very often that I fall in love with so many characters in such a short time.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Angiegirl4:08 PM

    I'm so glad you liked it. I know what you mean, too. I rarely laugh out loud and when I do it's delightful. A Song for Summer is that way as well. So many wonderful, zany characters.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Raina2:57 PM

    I love Eva Ibbotson's books! They're a wonderful mix of charmingly funny and touching and they always hit the spot exactly right.

    Just bored at work and flipping through some of your old posts, I stumbled upon this one and I had to gush a little :)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

You Might Also Like

The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker by Leanna Renee Hieber

This book has made the rounds and no mistake. I started seeing early reviews awhile back and read a few delightful interviews with Leanna Renee Hieber and found myself intrigued to read her first novel-- The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker . I was, therefore, tickled to receive a copy for review from Ms. Hieber and quickly set about settling in. I knew it was a Gothic paranormal mystery of sorts, featuring (among other things) a group of loyal comrades, a private London academy, a bit of magic, an albino, and a swoon-worthy broody professor a la Richard Armitage in North & South . *moment of silence for the awesomeness of The Armitage* And that was the extent of my pre-reading knowledge. That and the fact that I loved the cover with its simple yet moody, midnight blue and its slightly off-kilter, scripty title. Miss Percy Parker is about to embark on an adventure, albeit a much larger one than she imagines. Leaving the convent--the only home she's ever known--a...
9 comments
Read more

Review | The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Vols. 1 & 2 by Beth Brower

I feel a bit giddy finally talking to you all about this series. If you'll remember, I fell madly in love with The Q  when it came out a few years ago. Now, Beth Brower is writing The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion — a series of novellas set in London in 1883. Each volume is an excerpt from the incorrigible Emma's journals, and the first two volumes are already available with the third on the way soon. I think they'd make rather perfect pandemic reading. Humorous and charming down to their bones, they're just what the doctor ordered to lift your spirits in this uncertain time that just proves to be too much some days. If you're experiencing one of those days, I suggest giving Volume 1   a go (it's only 99 cents on Kindle, $4.99 for a trade paperback copy). It will surprise exactly none of you that I own print and digital editions of both volumes.  Miss Emma M. Lion has waited long enough. Come hell or high water (and really, given her track record,  both a...
4 comments
Read more

Bibliocrack Review | You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian

If I'm being perfectly honest with myself, I've done a shamefully poor job of addressing my love for Cat Sebastian 's books around these parts. I've certainly noted each time her beautiful stories have appeared on my end-of-the-year best of lists, see:  The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes ,  basically every book in  The Cabots series , and of course  We Could Be So Good .  And the pull is, quite simply, this: nobody is as kind and gentle with their characters and with their hearts than Cat Sebastian. Nobody. I haven't always been one for the gentler stories, but I cannot overstate the absolute gift it is sinking into one of Sebastian's exquisitely crafted historicals knowing that I get to spend the next however many pages watching two idiots pine and deny that feelings exist and just  take care of each other  as they fall in love. I wouldn't trade that experience for the world. Not this one or any other.  Only two things in the world people count b...
2 comments
Read more