Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Enchanting, September 30, 2000
In 1912, Cambridge, Harriet Morton lives in an oppresive household with her dry, clutch-fist aunt and narrow-minded father. Like Anna (of A Countess Below Stairs by the same author), Harriet possesses the pure, luminescent quality that Ibbotson seems to favor in her leading females. Harriet's main joy in her life is her dancing lesson; she is offered a chance to become part of a troupe going to the Amazons. She meets at a neglected Yorkshire mansion an endearing, odd little boy named Henry that begs her to find The Boy; Henry is sure that The Boy is in the Amazons and that he will save the ruined household. Struck with this serendipitious sign, Harriet takes the chance to follow her dream to the far-away land. We meet the bumbling, insensitive suitor, and the tempermental, aging ballerina; we meet Harriet's roommate and friend, Marie-Claude, a beauty who wants to open an inn by the mountains. Sometimes, the secondary characters can "break-or-make" a story; in this case, they perform their roles to perfection.Like all good books, the plot seems fairly simple until you explain it. I can't go into detail of who The Boy is (surely you must have guessed anyway!) but I will leave in mystery WHO he has become and WHY he is where he is. It wouldn't be fair to compare this book to A Countess Below Stairs, which is what I incline to do. This one is longer, and sometimes does drag on; the agonizing love of Anna and Rupert is not repeated because A Company of Swans is lighter, and more suited to convention (which you will recognize if you've been a long-time romance reader). There is a villain, but unlike the bloodthirstiness in "modern" historicals (is that an oxymoron?) she does not receive her comeuppance as one is used to. But the threads of the story weave together to form an effortless plot and a sweet, charming tale. Rather Dickens-ish in its range of "coincidences" that bring Harriet, the heroine, and Rom Verney, the hero, together, A Company of Swans is nonetheless beautifully written and an engaging read.
|
|
|
18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Why Do The Best Books Go Out Of Print (OOP)?, November 17, 2000
This book is not hard to find used or at a public library. Otherwise, I would hate to get anyone's hopes up. There is nothing worse than saying, "I just read a fabulous book and you will never be able to find it yourself." This novel is set in Europe and South America in the early 20th century before WWI, a time period I would like to see used more frequently. The heroine, Harriet, meets a little boy at an English estate who tells her she must somehow travel to South America and find his lost uncle to redeem his faltering estate. Harriet enters a touring ballet company of "Swan Lake" as a dancer in the corps by running away from the stifling home of her father-professor in Cambridge, England. The troupe travels to South America to perform and there she meets the hero, Rom, the lost uncle. There are some amazing coincidences in this book that you might not accept in a lesser work. There are also some big misunderstandings between Harriet and Rom. However, this novel is so well written by its Viennese author that those plot devices cause no annoyance whatsoever. The author's writing style is quite distinct from an American's or a UK writer's style which I found a refreshing change since those two writing groups tend to dominate the market. There are also many humorous moments and characters that will have you LOL as you read. The prima ballerina and the insect professor, to name two, are absolutely hilarious. I am now trying to find this author's other novels, all of which seem to be out of print and I can only hope that I beat you other auction aficionados to the punch! Thanks to EP and LLF for recommending this over on an online message board. You couldn't have been more right about this novel.
|
|
|
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
It was wonderful. I am torn that I couldn't give it 5 stars., June 23, 2008
There were a few scenes that were wonderfully surprising and delighting. I found myself amazed and laughing out loud when I thought about those scenes later. However, I was disappointed to find the author used one of my pet peeves. The hero and heroine made erroneous assumptions about each other that would have been cleared up if only they had communicated in a normal manner. They loved each other and wanted to marry, but each one thought the other did not. Therefore, they separated. I hate this. I wanted to rate this 5 stars due to creativity and ideas I haven't seen elsewhere, but I'm giving it a 4, due to the reasons for the separation. I was also a bit sad at the end thinking about the evil done to Harriet by her father and aunt.
CAUTION SPOILERS: Following are brief references to two wonderful scenes. Page 203, after seeing Harriet dance, Alvarez decides to do something he previously was not going to do. Page 233, Harriet's unbelievable delight in describing herself as "ruined" after she sleeps with Rom.
Sexual language: none. Number of sex scenes: none. Setting: 1912 England and Amazon River in Brazil. Copyright: 1985. Genre: historical romance.
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
by Eva Ibbotson
by Eva Ibbotson
by Jade Parker
by Eva Ibbotson
by Shannon Hale
