Rating: 4.5 stars
Synopsis: St Petersburg, 1917. Anna's world is under threat. The eighteen-year-old countess has lived in luxury all her life, but revolution is coming - and her family must escape.
London, 1919. Now penniless, Anna is working as a servant for the aristocratic Westerholmes. But as she falls in love with the young earl, it becomes harder to keep her true identity a secret.
Review: First off, I want to take a moment to appreciate that cover. You can't see it on a computer screen but those gold dragonflies in the top left corner are so sparkly and glittery and the effect is beautiful. Honestly, buy it for the cover! Plus, the model is gorgeous as well and is a perfect Anna for me. Anyway...
This is a really light hearted and fast paced read. I love Eva Ibbotson's writing style and how she effortlessly creates these stunning plot lines in places that I both know and don't know. Anna is a Russian countess so there's little bits of Russian mingled in throughout the book and it's very detailed on it's history. A lot of authors would struggle with this - incorporating history and so many characters (because there are a lot) into one story is intimidating but Eva really makes it work. This is a story that doesn't really require a lot of thinking on your part, which makes a nice change from the overwhelming number of books that now incorporate mysteries or murders or something that means you have to stay awake in order to follow along. This book is definitely perfect for a lazy summer read - the most taxing thing is keeping track of who's who and it gets easier after a few chapters.
Anna is a really strong female protagonist for me. She is willing to do anything to keep her family safe and secure, even if it means degrading herself by working as a maid in someone else's house. This is how her family view her decision to work for Rupert but Anna loves it. She's an inquisitive child growing up and that innocence in the world never leaves her, even after having to flee from her home in Russia and losing her father. There are lots of humorous moments that involve Anna, specifically her use of 'Selina Strickland's Domestic Compendium.' As a countess, Anna obviously knows very little about life as a maid and so, to help her in her new life, she uses this book - all two thousand and three pages of it - in order to help her. Unfortunately, it's very old fashioned even in 1919 and this leads to lots of comedic moments in which Anna drives the other servants mad asking for things which she doesn't actually need.
Muriel is actually a really good antagonist. She's two faced and sly and is willing to do whatever it takes to take over Mersham. As the book progresses and you find out more about Muriel, you really begin to dislike Muriel and her underhand methods and you really feel for Rupert who tries so hard to make his fiance happy but never quite manages it. When he buys her the most expensive horse for example, despite not being able to afford it, and she turns it down straight away just makes you feel so sorry for Rupert and leaves you screaming at him that she's no good for him and he should leave now while he still can. Of course he doesn't, and so the drama continues, and Muriel systematically makes enemies of every single person in the neighbourhood in some way, either by insulting their religion or by choosing to have her wedding dress made in a posh boutique rather than the local dressmaker. This book just proves that you don't need to have a murder or a big mystery to solve to have a good antagonist.
I love Rupert. He's so kind and he really does love his family and wants to do right by them. He's a war hero and was a scholar before that and, despite not wanting to take over Mersham, he honours his promise to his older brother George and does it anyway, marrying Muriel after she promises to help him do that. You get the feeling that he's never really had a girlfriend - especially when you see Muriel's behaviour - and that just makes you feel even worse for him. I could write a whole post just on the characters who are so well rounded and believable but I won't, even though there are plenty of them to write about!
The romance. Ah, finally a good romance. Good romances seem to be few and far between recently but this book does it perfectly. It's not an insta-connection per se but there is definitely an attraction between Rupert and Anna that just gets stronger as the book goes along. You know they're going to get together eventually, but that doesn't make it any less interesting to see how they develop and how they overcome the barrier of them being earl and maid. Or countess - whatever. It's just a really sweet relationship which leaves you yelling at both of them to just get together already - forget the Wicked Witch of the West and your duties - kiss already! Or, at least I was. (I get very emotionally attached to characters, can you tell?)
The plot itself isn't anything special but it doesn't need to be. It doesn't matter that it's quite predictable because it's not meant to be something you have to solve. You're meant to just sit back and relax and enjoy the book and I think that Eva has really pulled off something that is quite tricky to do. Normally, having a predictable plot is a bad thing but sometimes, if it's the right genre and the characters are good, it can be just what you need.
This book is the perfect lazy summer read, and if you haven't read anything from Eva Ibbotson, brace yourself to fall in love with her work just like I have.
Image from http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Secret-Countess-Eva-Ibbotson/dp/0230014860 - no Copyright intended
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