Does my pleasure in reading A Countess Below Stairs by Eva Ibbotson come from the story itself or from the warmth I feel towards that which I know so well? Having read four of Ibbotson’s other adult novels so recently I thought this might suffer by comparison, particularly as it was her first book for adults, but it really doesn’t. It’s just as entrancing as all her other works and easily ranks as my second favourite of Ibbotson’s novels, after The Morning Gift.
All Ibbotson plots are rather silly but this one is sillier than most. Countess Anna Grazinsky fled her native Russia with her mother, brother, and English governess in 1919, her father having been killed in the war and the family’s assets seized by the Bolsheviks. Now, penniless in London, the practical Anna seeks out a position as a housemaid at Mersham, the seat of the Earl of Westerholme. Armed with The Domestic Servant’s Compendium by the redoubtable Selena Strickland, Anna takes to her new work with determination, earning her place among the other servants at Mersham, even if they suspect that the new housemaid would be more naturally suited to life above stairs. But then Rupert, the young Earl, returns with his fiancée and it does not take long for him to discover his odd new servant who curtsies like a ballerina and is fluent in three languages. Things, as always, spiral from there.
I love Anna. Yes, she has the Disney Princess-esque traits that Ibbotson imbues all her characters with (beauty, goodness, effortless charm, and most likely the ability to call small animals to dress her in the mornings) but so strong are these characteristics that I am powerless to resist them. And because she’s Russian she is much more fun than any of Ibbotson’s other heroines. Slavs do things with such style, even fictional ones. While all of Ibbotson’s characters are generally gifted with sharp tongues (thereby redeeming them from their otherwise unrelenting perfection) Anna’s is also coupled with the extreme confidence of one who has had a position of authority and who has been obeyed all her life.
Rupert might tie (or perhaps best) Quin Somerville as Ibbotson’s best-written hero. He’s modest and quiet, loyal and intelligent, and scientifically-minded (why must she taunt me this way?). Unfortunately, he’s stupidly noble when it comes to refusing to jilt the odious (but hilarious) Muriel. The relationship between Rupert and Anna also feels closer and more real than those found in any of her other books. There is genuine warmth between them that grows not just from their mutual attraction but through conversation and interaction.
But it’s the secondary characters who steal the show. This is usually the case with any Ibbotson novel but here they are truly magnificent. The various poverty-stricken Russian émigrés are delightful but Ibbotson is unusually brilliant with her upper-class characters as well. The Rabinovitches, who play such a small role, are intensely memorable though they of course pale in comparison with the Honourable Olive Bryne. The butler Proom is most deserving of all the praise heaped upon him when he emerges as the hero of the most pivotal hour of the novel but the true genius went into the creation of Rupert’s fiancé Muriel and her hero, Dr. Lightbody. Muriel is fabulously narcissistic, obsessed with her appearance and her status. The perfect compliment to these obsessions is the study of eugenics, of how to make her family just as perfect as she, which is how she became associated with the charlatan Lightbody. He’s amazing. As his wife is dying in hospital, he asks a nurse if she thinks his wife might be able to handle a bit of sewing since he needs a costume for a ball at Mersham. As for his title, it is an honorary one that he generously bestowed on himself.
For many years this has been the only Ibbotson novel that I’ve owned (this should change soon, provided a certain package ever arrives – it’s been two and half weeks already). I’ve read it so many times that I’ve lost count but yet I never grow tired of the story, the characters, or the genuine contentment I feel when that last page is turned and the tale ended in a more than satisfactory manner.
Why did no one tell me that Ibbotson wrote for adults? (OK, so i should have gone and found out for myself!) I love her children’s books but the thought that there is a whole new set of books to discover is mouthwatering. Thank you.
So glad to have made the introduction! I never read her children’s books but came to these adult novels (recently rebranded as YA) as a teen and have loved them ever since.
Oooh I am almost jealous that you are about to start at the beginning 🙂 Almost, but not quite… I have loved her for thirteen years. How could she die?!!
I have almost checked this out of the library so many time (interestingly enough, here in the UK it’s stocked in the YA section). I’ll definitely get a hold of it next time. It sounds like something I’d love.
The books were originally published as adult novels but since being reissued have been branded as YA. Ibbotson didn’t approve of the change so neither can I! There’s no reason why fun, light stories shouldn’t appeal to all ages.
This sounds like my cup of tea. I haven’t heard of Ibbotson but this sounds great.
They are very amusing, entertaining reads. I hope you’re able to track some of them down!
I’m definitely going to hunt up some adult Ibbotson titles once I get through my self-imposed buying ban in a few months. My library has none of them, and so far, I haven’t seen any in our local Half-Price books. But, I’m looking foward to them! 🙂
Silly library! At least you know there will be plenty of time for anticipation to grow!
Back to say, bookcloseouts.com has several of these titles for under $5. WHY did I go tempt myself!?! 🙂 Anyway, thought I’d share that with other interested parties. They are Canadian based, so shipping takes a little longer into the US. (Can’t speak to overseas shipping, and I’m actually not sure which part of Canada they ship from to know about shipping time there.)
Excellent news! I’m not familiar with bookcloseouts.com but how to argue with that price? I also know that Amazon has a number of $0.01 copies available (especially nice if, like me, you’re picky about which edition you get – I only like the old ones).
Is there any difference between the original adult versions and the newly rebranded young adult novels? I’ve read every Eva Ibbotson novel in the young adult section that I could find, and I’m not quite ready to try her children’s books. I absolutely love the way she writes, and I’m so sad that there won’t be any completely new treasures to get my hands on. I think that she’s probably my favorite author ever.
Hi Aly, no, I don’t think there is a difference between the texts of the original books and the rebranded YA ones.
Aack! I just returned this to the library unread! How annoying. And I have so much on my TBR pile. . . oh well, must add it to the list. I loved Ibbotson’s juvenile fiction so I should read some of the adult books as well. This is listed as YA in my library too.
What timing! At least your library does have a copy so you know you can read it whenever you please. As I said to Ana above, when the books were first published they were intended for an adult audience but in reprints have been rebranded as YA. Depending on when libraries acquired copies they may be found either in the adult or YA sections.
Right, I shall order this from the library soonest. I’m SURE I haven’t read this one.
But then, I had no idea I had read A Song for Summer until I came across this wonderful line near the end:
“And then, because they were both Englishwomen and their hearts were somewhat broken, they turned back into the room and put on the kettle and made themselves a cup of tea.”
And then I KNEW, though I still had no feel of having read it before.
Susan in TX: I try to avoid Bookcloseouts.com, because my bookshelves simply can’t cope. (They’re in St. Catharines, Ont, by the way. Fortunately far enough from Toronto that I can’t easily drive down the highway whenever they have a big clearout involving buying books by the boxload.)
That is a wonderful line from A Song for Summer! I hope you’re able to obtain it quickly from the library and that you enjoy it – please let me know how you get on!
I did not know that Eva Ibbotson wrote all these adult novels. I shall be checking this out – it sounds very L M Montgomery, escapist, borderline trashy wonderful!
It’s a little sharper than most of my beloved L.M. Montgomery’s works and certainly not as wholesome. Escapist is the perfect description; after all, who doesn’t love a fairy tale?
How is it that I’ve never heard of this author at all? She sounds like someone I would love! I must find something by her asap!
I have no idea how I came across her in the first place, most likely through one of my school librarians, but she certainly does seem to have been forgotten except by people who remember her children’s books. Clearly, I am embarked on a one woman mission to popularize her, at least among like-minded book bloggers! I hope you’re able to find some of her titles and that you enjoy them!
My daughter loves her books, have never read her myself, I will remedy that soon. Thank you.
Your daughter clearly has excellent taste! I hope you like the books as much as she and I do.
I don’t think I’d want small animals to dress me in the morning. Especially on a cold morning. I feel like you’d be spending a lot of time shivering while the birds got your shirt together and draped it on you. :p
I think I’d at least like to try it. Though you never know what diseases such creatures might be carrying…
I’ve got this book on my TBR list, your review makes me want to pick it up right now.
How exciting to hear from someone who is already familiar with this title! I hope it works its way to the top of your TBR list quickly and that you enjoy reading it!
Eva Ibbotson is wonderful. Her books live next to LMM’s “The Blue Castle” on my shelves.
I’d recommend Madensky Square for days when you want a kind, silly novel.
Glad to have found another fan! I also love Madensky Square and reread and reviewed it for the blog late last year.
Claire, this is the strangest thing. I have been reading Eva Ibbotson as though she were my secret treasure for years, all of my adult life really, re-reading and re-reading because there were no new love stories forthcoming. Quite similar pathway to Georgette Heyer (my other love, though less personal), in that both women were writing romance as easy as breathing, but their true love was for something else – Heyer’s for historical factual wartime fiction, and Ibbotson for children and nature.
But then, aren’t all women juggling at least two pathways at the same time?
Ibbotson was cross with her husband when he died, and I am cross with her 🙂
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[…] Russia so I turned to that most comforting of authors, Eva Ibbotson, and her first adult novel, A Countess Below Stairs. Its fairy-tale like beginning was the perfect […]