The Morning Gift by Eva Ibbotson
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Book Summary Author: Eva Ibbotson Edition: Paperback Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published) Published: 2007-09-06 ISBN: 0142409111 Number of pages: 416 Reading Level: Young Adult Publisher: Puffin |
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Book Reviews of the The Morning Gift
Customer Review: A beautifully told story
Summary: 5 Stars
Ruth Berger lives in Austria during the onset of Nazi-takeover. Because she is Jewish, thought not orthodox, she and her family decide to flee to England. Ruth goes ahead of her family, but is unable to leave Austria, unbeknownst to her family who have successfully arrived in England.
Alone and bewildered, separated from family and fiance, Ruth meets her father's friend and colleague, Quin Sommerville, a British paleontologist. He feels sorry for Ruth, and suggests a civil wedding as the solution to their problems. By marrying Quin, Ruth will become an English citizen, and so be able to leave Austria. They agree that the marriage will be annulled as soon as they reach England. There are no feelings between them: just pity on Quin's part and dependency on Ruth's part. Of course. The annulment is not as easily gained as Quin had planned, and there is an added difficulty in the appearance of Ruth's fiance and Quin's would-be-soul-mate.
Ruth is a sweet character, but a little too consciously naive. I was able to overlook it because her faults reminded me that she is human, like everyone else. The front cover is a bit incongruous, because Ruth's musical talent (if it can be called such) is not a big part of the story.
Ms. Ibbotson's writing is excellent. She writes with humor and a great deal of intelligence. She is capable of writing of music, literature, history, paleontology and whatever else comes up. Not only does she speak of such things, she proves that she actually knows what she is talking about! There are musical and literature references throughout, but any ignorance the reader might have on those subjects will not affect the comprehension of the story. This is a lovely romance, and I highly recommend it.
I was not very impressed with the publishers. As with the other recent re-prints of Eva Ibbotson's books by Speak (A Song for Summer, The Countess Below Stairs, A Company of Swans), there are numerous typos that I hardly think were Ms. Ibbotson's. Not to mention erroneous summaries on the back covers (especially in the case of A Song for Summer).
However, this did not detract from my enjoyment of The Morning Gift, or any of the other aforementioned books.
Lastly, amazon states that the age group is 9-12. Not so. This is intended for adult readers, though perfectly acceptable for young adult as well. There is enough sexual content (though very little and mostly implied or behind closed doors) to make it unsuitable for ages 9-12.