Customer Reviews

Morning Gift

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

This is in the top five most beauitful books I have ever read. I was so incredibly happy with the world after I read this. There's also a passage in here about young men and war that I read it over and over until I ended up copying it and placing it on my desk. Eva Ibbotson is AMAZING and don't worry when you are approaching the end: there is ALWAYS a happy ending with Ibbotson.

Ruth Berger, happy and contented only child of a professor and his wife. Jewish and living in Austria prior to World War II. The extended family meet, briefly Quinn Somerville, a brilliant Archaeologist from Britain who comes and stays for a short time. Just prior to the outbreak of the war he returns at the Professors request to receive an honorary degree from the university. However the Nazi's have taken over and the professor and his wife have fled - forced to abandon virtually everything they own.

The don't realise they have also left behind Ruth, their teenage daughter who was supposed to leave on a student visa only was stopped at the border. Quinn discovers Ruth and realises he can't simply abandon her in the city where violence against Jews is rising. However there is no way to get her out except by marriage. Which they do - a marriage of convenience which he assures her will be anulled as soon as they arrive in Britain. After all, she has her own true love, a young concert pianist, and he has his work.

However annulling the marriage is not that easy - if it is annulled before she is confirmed as a resident she could be deported. And they must not ever see each other either, or that could complicate the divorce. All this must be secret from his family too. Ruth would be only to happy to do this - except due to circumstances she has been accepted to attend the university Quinn teaches at - and she is in his classes, after all fossils are her interest too.

The university is being run by an unpleasant man and his family - including an ambitious wife and her bright daughter. Their dislike of Ruth is obvious - not only as a competitor in intelligence to their daughter, but because she is Jewish.

No matter what Quinn or Ruth do they cannot seem to rid themselves of each other, and it is a wonderful moment when Ruth goes to talk to the detested Freudian psychologist downstairs.

This was a great read. As with all Eva Ibbotson books it is full of twists and turns where intertwined characters are drawn into the plot, not simply as plot devices but characters in their own right = with their own stories to tell - Quinn's Aunt, the Basher (who was quinn's father) and the various Vienese refugees.

Eva Ibbotson seems to specialise in their stories of European displacement to London, but she does it especially well.

The only part I found difficult was the 'Morning Gift' misunderstanding. It wasn't convincing as to why Ruth rejected Quinn, and the plot device of having her run off and then find the Aunt felt forced. However those peices aside didn't affect for me the story as a whole

Ibbotson invests her tales with detail, fey charm and immense good humour. They are thoroughly enjoyable.

I thought this was a great, lovable book. I didn't want it to end. Quin and Ruth were great characters. And the secondary characters were endearing. The only problem I had was how every character automatically fell in love with Ruth.

I loved this book!! So cute and romantic. If you are looking for one of those feel good romances, this is it.

In Vienna, Austria in the 1920s, Karl Berger, professor and Zoology, and his wife Leonie are raising their daughter Ruthie to be intelligent and curious about everything. When Leonie's step-sister's son Heine, the piano virtuoso comes to live with them, young Ruth falls madly in love and Heine decides that Ruth is his starling, like the starling Mozart kept in a cage to sing for him.

Quinton Sommerville, a young paleontology/zoology student comes to visit and is captivated by Ruth's recitation of an English poem. After Quin leaves, however, he returns to his work and forgets about the little girl but not about his kind host. Years later, when Quin is offered an honorary degree back in Vienna, he accepts because of the kindness of Professor Berger. However, the Nazis have taken over peaceful Vienna and the Bergers have been forced to leave Austria. Ruth was supposed to join her family in England, but was left behind. Wanting to help, Quin offers Ruth his protection. He finds it more difficult to get Ruth out of Austria than he realized and decides to offer Ruth a morgantic marriage based on the concept of the morning gift. After the wedding night, the husband absolves the bride of all marriage rights and her children will not inherit. Ruth reluctantly agrees, knowing it is the only way to get out of Austria. She believes they will be able to get an annulment or divorce easily, Heine will join the family in England, become a celebrity and she will marry him and live happily ever after. However, things don't go as smoothly as hoped and circumstances bring Ruth and Quin back together, this time, as student and teacher at Thameside University. Ruth quickly becomes a top pupil and a favorite with the other students and professors, all except the daughter of the Vice Chancellor whose goals include being the top student and marrying the wealthy Quin. Quin has no intentions of marrying anyone or producing an heir for his ancestral home. He's happy with his work and his experienced lovers, or so he thinks.

The ending is a little surprising but not all together unpredictable. World events take a backseat to the romance in this novel, unlike some of her others, which is nice.

I really liked the romance until 3/4 of the way through when the story gets rather melodramatic. I also didn't like the ending very much and would have done it differently.

This is basically an update of a typical 19th century romance. At first I was bothered by the double standards but soon ignored them as I got caught up in the romance. In order to love this novel, you have to overlook some really stupid behavior on the part of the characters and the beautiful, good, doe-eyed heroines Ibbotson likes to write about. I was able to do that and was so absorbed in the story I couldn't put the book down. This is a good read for adults and older teens who like sweet romances.

For those who say this book has too much description, you're right. For a book marketed for young adults, it does have too much description, in my opinion. However, the writing style is not young adult (though I am sure there are some YA readers who will get through this book just fine).

Ruth and Quin are interesting, unique characters. The way the plot unravels is the most realistic out of all the YA Ibbotson books. There are many other reviews with a plot summary, so I won't bother. But, what I will say is that this book is definitely worth the read.

I read Eva Ibbotson's "Adult" books years ago and don't know how I missed this one. Personally I would not call it YA but "adult suitable for younger and discerning readers". The author has a charming style and all of her stories have that "mittel European" feel to them which is so different to much romantic fiction.

In this particular story of a marriage of convenience entered into to provide an escape from Nazi-occupied Vienna, we are treated to romance that takes a year or more to develop. During that year we learn so much about the refugee community that grew in London and the wider UK as more and more Jews and others fled the persecutions of Hitler. There is tragedy and comedy in this book as we watch Ruth Berger grow up and spread her wings in a foreign land. She is surrounded by love and good wishes but, as a young woman coming of age, she is uncertain, unclear and unconvinced about many things in her life and it is a delight to watch her mature and find her true path. Quin Sommerville is a delight of a hero - an academic from a very rich and structured background with a bit of a sad family history. You can visualise him as part Indiana Jones, part war hero, part simple man who gradually falls in love despite himself.

I was very surprised by the negative reviews here. The author has a delightful style with her own background always apparent just below the surface of her books. The wide cast of characters and secondary stories made the novel truly three dimensional and deeply satisfying. A lovely romantic story most appropriate to read on the eve of the 70th anniversary of Britain going to war against Hitler. I do recommend this to lovers of well-written, emotionally involving stories.

The writing style is definitley different from most authors I read. I liked that about this book. Ruth is very easily to fall in love with and her passion for life really makes you remember not to take life for granted. Quin is a great strong character as well and so romantic :o)

I give this a 4.5/5.0
The big issue I had with the book [partly because I was impatient] was the blurbs about random people or events when something just started to get good. It sorta pulled me out of the book and frustrated me because I really wanted to know what was going to happen with Ruth and Quin. But I really did like the book alot and I suggest that if you like a romantic sweet story and a strong [but sometimes a little quick to act] heroine then this book is for you!

Ruth Berger is a bright student who lives with her family in Vienna in 1938. When her father, who is half Jewish, is dismissed from his prestigious job as a well known professor because of his Jewish blood, the Berger family knows it's time to leave Vienna. They form a plan, and move out quickly, but it went wrong, and Ruth was left behind. Hiding in Nazi-occupied Vienna is extremely difficult and risky, and she's lucky when Quin Somerville, a young colleague of her father's, offers his help. They form a marriage of convenience and escape to London. But once there, it will be harder to dissolve their marriage than Quin thought. Now Ruth is enrolled in the university he teaches at...can they possibly keep their marriage a secret? Or their growing attraction?

All of Eva Ibbotson's books are wonderfully charming, and The Morning Gift is no exception. Ibbotson has such a polished and sophisticated style, punctuated with smart snatches of humor and irony, which makes this book a delight to read. All of her characters are carefully portrayed with just the right amount of background details and traits so that they seem more realistic and three dimensional, even the lowliest one. Ibbotson's novel is also brimming with references to paleontology and other sciences, music, and literature that go hand in hand with the very academic characters and setting, but aren't over the top, nor do they require that the reader need any prior knowledge of such things to enjoy the book. The Morning Gift is a believable, well researched book that chronicles the wretchedness of the displacement of millions of people before and during World War II, and also offers a bit of hope and romance, along with one of Ibbotson's trademark nerve-racking endings, complete with miscommunication and misunderstandings, that ultimately result in a happy ending. The Morning Gift is highly recommended.