A Countess Below Stairs | Eva Ibbotson | Fanatastic retelling of Anastasia

A Countess Below Stairs | Eva Ibbotson | Forbidden romance

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A Countess Below S...

	A Countess Below Stairs Eva Ibbotson Puffin, 2007 - 400 pages average customer review:based on 35 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

After the russian revolution turns her world topsy-turvy, Anna, a young russian countess, has no choice but to flee to england. penniless, Anna hides her aristocratic background and takes a job as servant in the household of the esteemed westerholme family, armed only with an outdated housekeeping manual and sheer determination. Desperate to keep her past a secret, Anna is nearly overwhelmed by her new duties?not to mention her instant attraction to rupert, the handsome earl of westerholme. to make matters worse, rupert appears to be falling for her as well. As their attraction grows stronger, Anna finds it more and more difficult to keep her most dearly held secrets from unraveling. And then there?s the small matter of rupert?s beautiful and nasty fiancée. . . .

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Fanatastic retelling of Anastasia

Anna is a Russian countess, but after the war, she and her family are left impoverished. She goes to work for an English Earl who she falls in love with. There is a very horrible fiance that Rupert is about to marry. She's really HORRIBLE. I loved this book. It was very beautiful. It had an old-fashioned style to it which the author pulled off wonderfully. This book felt "old." The descriptions and turns of phrases were priceless. It was a very romantic and very moving book, set up according to the normal fairy tale standards. I would love it if they made a movie out of this book.

Very romantic and very satisfying ending.

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Forbidden romance

This book is a truly intriguing and delightful historical fiction book. It all started with an interesting character named Anna who was a countess in Russia. During the Russian revolution Anna and her family left the country. Instead of moping around while the family hid in England, Anna says one of the craziest things. Anna had wanted to move in to an English household to be a maid. Anna's nanny had told her that this was insane but Anna did not listen and Anna moved to Western Holm. While in the English house hold Anna had hidden her secrete but falls deeply in love with the Earl of Western Holm. As he had invited gusts and Anna had run into the Earl, Anna's feelings for the Earl deepened. Since they where two different social classes they could never be together. The intensity of Anna's love grew and then intensified. This truly made an interesting book with the challenges of love and social classes. The challenges, the drama and the distance that a person will go for the sake of true love makes this book truly well written, making it truly one of the best teen youth books I have ever read.

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A Parody of Great Classics

Its been hard to find a teenage romantic fiction that is so delightful. The book is very well written. Ibbotsen is extremely clever. She creates complex and varied characters. Her story telling is filled with historical and cultural references without becoming a lecture. There were times where I couldn't stop laughing and other times when I stopped, reread the sentence, and acknowledged how witty it was written. I especially liked her caricature of the dashing Russian prince who has been relentlessly pursued by women since he was six. There are prima donnas, babies who cut their teeth on heavy gold crowns, a snobbish dog, pseudo-science, spirits, dignified butlers, gold diggers, and a club of Russian royalty scheming on how to regain their fortune. This book is incredibly entertaining, and I recommend it to anyone who likes a book in the style of the grand old classics with an extra dose of humor and wit.

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Just wonderful!

What a beautiful book. Rich in historical context and vibrant, three-dimentional characters, this book is a treasure appropriate for any agegroup!

Loved it!