I wavered back and forth while reading this as to if I should give it three or four stars. So, 3 1/2, but I'll side with four and list my reasons and hesitations.Overall, I did like this book. For me, I really loved the beginning, and felt there was so much laid down in the first few chapters that I thought the story and characters were going to be really dynamic and realized. Then, about a quarter of the way through I began to realize that I was going to be wrong, and I started to loose some interest. Then, for the final quarter of the book I started to get more involved and was curious to see how things were going to turn out.Our protagonist, Anna, is a fantastic girl - spunky, sweet, caring and wise, and I think she almost always acted as I would have hoped. Countess Anna's family looses their home and money (and even some family members) in the war and must move to England and begin work as a maid. However, despite the title, this book is really very little about Anna - more it's an ensemble book. It reminded me, in a way, of an Austen-esque book, where it's not *just* about Elizabeth or Emma, but a whole world of people and all their personal plots — except there was no Elizabeth or Emma, everyone here felt like a secondary character, including Anna. Ibbotson did flow well from viewpoint to viewpoint, though sometime I found it a little rambling in the middle. The main problem was that I never felt any one character was developed *enough* and our other protagonist, Rupert, who I had such high hopes for in the beginning, fell flat to me, came up short numerous times, and paled in comparison to his good friend Tom.This is the third Ibbotson book I've read (the other two being The Great Ghost Rescue and Island of the Aunts, both of which are for a younger audience than this title), and, as my sister to perfectly pointed out, I always have the same issue with Ibbotson: I love her writing style, I love her overall plots, and there are some things and viewpoints that I think Ibbotson does wonderfully! However, there are always things that never sit right with me, and I don't know if it's because Ibbotson hasn't fully explained something, or if she sort of "cheats" to get around a difficult plot point, or what, but sometimes I just can't agree with the decisions our "heros" make, and it rather distresses me. If I ignore these things, then the books are really enjoyable, but at the heart of it I just can't let it go.One of the things that really bothered me about this book was something that took very few pages and little plot, but I feel the need to mention it nonetheless. One of the elderly characters in the book takes a few "liberties" with the lady maids of the house - giving them a kiss or a squeeze as they walk past. Later we find out the reason for this is because the old man never felt comfortable in his own class, and the only women he felt happy around were the maids. Now, I don't mind if Ibbotson wanted to explain all this, I think that's fine. But what irked me was the way she "excused" his behavior, basically turning him into a kind and misunderstood old man. Maybe he was kind in other areas, but this really didn't sit right with me.There were other small things along the way, certain ways Rupert acted that turned me off to him — things that should have been romantic that ended up being domineering. I'm not sure how I felt about the resolution, either. I was happy with the resolution, that's true, but I wasn't a fan of how it got there. It seemed, to me, to sort of undermine what had proceeded it.So, why the four stars?? Well, because, I *was* interested to see how it all ended. I *did* look forward to reading it. And there were parts that I really liked a lot. Overall its a pretty "clean" book, which I like to see for YA, and there were some character traits that I was happy to support (the way Anna handles her changing life and situations, for example, I really liked and found quite admirable - the approach to Ollie, a girl with a limp but a glowing personality, was fantastic..). So, yes, I'd recommend this, but just with a few cautions.****Oops - two Ibbotson books in a row... well, thankfully this seems pretty different from "The Great Ghost Rescue!"
I love Eva Ibbotson, and I nearly always think her characters are delightful and her stories lovely. That was true for this book as well. I frequently recommend her books to my enthusiastic readers and to parents reading aloud with their elementary-aged children. She's my favorite of all the authors I've discovered in the last few years. But I couldn't help my stomach churning at the unnecessarily nasty descriptions of the unpleasant family, the Herrings... these descriptions depended almost completely on their fatness as a symbol of their stupidity, squalor, and generally disgusting natures. I mean, jeez, Ms. Ibbotson. Here's an example from the first time we meet them: Melvyn sighed and looked at his obese and pallid offspring, sitting on either side of the sticky kitchen table reading comics. Donald was methodically sucking a long black stick of licorice into his mouth. Dennis was licking at a dribbling bar of toffee. Like certain caterpillars whose short lives are dedicated to simply achieving the maximum possible increase in size, the twins seem to have done nothing but eat and burst out of their clothes since they were born. Watching them, Melvyn had to abandon another of his half-formed schemes -- that of smuggling them to Mersham in a cello case in the guard's van. Even a doublebass case would not take mor than half of either of his sons..." That's fully a quarter of their first entrance in the book, as they're minor characters. The next time they intrude on the book, for two pages many chapters later, we get: Melvyn rose and opened the door of the adjoining room. Owing to an unfortunate spot of bother with the sheriffs, the twins were sleeping in a mattress on the floor. Dennis was lying on his back; his full-lipped mouth hung open and, as he breathed, the mucus in his nose bubbled softly like soup. Beside him lay Donald, apparently overcome by sleep in the act of eating a dripping sandwich, the dismembered remains of which lay smeared across his face. Melvyn stood looking down at the swollen cheeks, the pendulous chins and bulging arms of his offspring and his fatherhood, never a sturdy plant, withered and died. "Meat," he said wearily to himself. "That's all they are. Just blobs of meat." And in fact, that's what the author has made them to be, for these are the only descriptions of their characters that we get. They're thoroughly, effectively, dehumanized; and they're children! We haven't seen them doing anything cruel, even anything stupid, and yet we know that these twins are both revolting and to blame for their miserable state. Their fatness isn't just a trait: it's a moral failing, a character flaw, and symbolic of their general nastiness and lack of worth compared to other children in the book. I thought these descriptions were simply hateful and cruel. I mean, my goodness, how many fat readers of all ages do you know? I'm one, and so are some of my diverse group of dedicated readers at my school. How much do they deserve to come across this on top of all the other body-hating junk that gets thrown at them, from school "pinch tests" to Seventeen magazine? And how valuable is it for other kids to hear one more throwaway remark that fat kids are lazy, smelly, and eat all the time? In other generations, my students might have had to read the above sort of paragraph with "savage" characters of color whose race stood in for character flaws. The difference is that those casually racist descriptions are now generally recognized, if not debated and discussed, by teachers, librarians, and readers. Does that mean that we keep copies of those books out of kids' hands? Of course not. But we do give kids the tools to look critically at those descriptions and recognize them as dated and ignorant, and the culture has changed to the extent that they can spot them independently. Unfortunately, the fat-hating powers of our cultures are still going strong on the widely held belief that fat is unpleasant at best and a moral flaw at worst... and I haven't found many texts that counteract this kind of ignorance. I just wish an author I respect hadn't perpetuated it so unnecessarily.
Do You like book A Countess Below Stairs (2007)?
What wordy, frothy fun Ibbotson's books are. Perfect going on a trip books. In fact, reading them makes me wish I was going somewhere, as her heroines always seem to be off somewhere new and exciting and exotic. But since I am not going anywhere (exotic or otherwise) in the near future, getting lost in them has proved a wonderful balm for my It's mid-March and Still Snowing blues.Anna is a Russian countess whose family is forced to flee their wealth and their home after her father is killed in the Russian Revolution. Completely displaced, living in a flat in London with her former governess, she determines to support her ailing mother and younger brother by taking a job as a maid at the country estate of the Earl of Westerholme. Rupert, the young Earl, is recently home from the war, wounded and desperately trying to save the destitute estate he didn't want to inherit in the first place. You see, he promised his older brother just before he died that he would do anything in his power to keep the old place afloat. Ah, those pesky deathbed promises. They always come back to haunt you...To avoid selling, Rupert proposes to a beautiful, very wealthy nurse he meets while recovering in hospital. Muriel is gorgeous, rich, and oh, just by the way, a passionate believer in eugenics--the philosophy of selective breeding in order to achieve a master race. That's right. The woman is Evil Incarnate and Poor Rupert doesn't know! As Muriel sinks her claws deeper and deeper into Westerholme, attempting to dispose of all of its lovely, offbeat, misfit inhabitants, Rupert and Anna strike up a friendship. Not fooled for a second by her maid disguise, Rupert is struck by how much Anna seems to love his home and family, how different it all looks when seen through her eyes. And, indeed, everyone from the other servants to the Earl's giant hound is enamored of Anna. But the path gets thornier and thornier as the wedding draws closer and pride and honor get in the way of everyone's happiness.Ibbotson's books remind me of a cross between Anne of Green Gables and Jane Eyre, with a dash of Mary Stewart thrown in for good measure. A Countess Below Stairs has a wedding scene that had me laughing out loud. Best of all, though, it contains a truly wonderful rant delivered by the leading lady whilst standing in front of a formal dinner party, clutching a basket of rolls to her chest. Brilliant.It also contains the best last line of Ibbotson's books yet.
—Angie
Nothing is more depressing then the dreaded "Reader Slump" that not even your favorite authors can pull you out of. That was me, just floating along after reading back to back amazing books, everything just sorta fell flat for me. That is by chance I stumbled on A Countess Below Stairs by Eva Ibbotson. Taking place in a period I'm not very fond of (early 1900's) I was a tad leery of taking a chance. I'm so thankful that I did. Ibbotson writes magic in her pages. True whimsical, nostalgic magic in each word and description from the riches of palaces to the humble kitchens. There was true magic in each page and characters. Young Countess Anna has lost alot in her young life, from her beloved father, her home, but she hasn't lost her faith in her family and love. Anna is the tree that may bend but doesn't break as she take a job working as a maid in a old home. She has her own troubles to work with but it's her gentle strength and huge amount of kindness that keeps her shining like a bright star. It's this kindness that helps the new Earl of Westerholme, Rupert as he return from war, suddenly engaged to a hidden shrew. Rupert feels are truly conflict as he starts to discover what his fiancée is all about and not being able to be with the Anna. Now there is some misunderstandings, and unneeded (IMO) tension but this time it didn't bother me one bit. What did bother me was the thinking of some people at the time that turned my stomach. Was it historical accurate? Yes, sadly. But how can we not learn if not from the past and the wrongs done by and to others. History isn't there for us to become bored with in the classroom or take bits and pieces from, but to show us the bad so we can change it for good. Ibbostson wonderful storytelling broke this reader's slump and yet brought a touch of magic that I won't soon forget.
—Rane
Anna, a Russian countess of considerable wealth before the Russian Revolution, must flee with her family to England in the aftermath of the war. Penniless, she takes a job as a servant at Mersham, an English manor house reeling from England's own war and the economic ruin it brought. When the young heir to Mersham returns from the war it it is not the son everyone expected to inherit the title--for the dashing eldest brother was killed in the war and it falls to the more introspective Rupert to restore Mersham to its former glory. He has chosen a bride from the girls who helped nurse him in hospital, and Muriel's beauty and wealth will help make Mersham splendid. Yet, perhaps she is not quite so pleasant as she seemed when he was delirious with war-wounds. Meanwhile, Anna takes to her new role with pluck and grace, and quickly wins over Mersham's residents, both upstairs and down; and, perhaps, is winning Rupert's heart despite himself!I knew after the second chapter that I would thoroughly enjoy reading this book. And I did! I've been a fan of Ibbotson's MG work (i.e., The Great Ghost Rescue) and while the humorously spooky/gross things in those books are not present here, Ibbotson's wit is still delightfully evident in the variety of characters and social observations in "Countess" though the style overall is much more gentle, descriptive and "romantic" than her MG work.That said, the romance here wasn't quite as developed as I would have hoped and there were a few plot points that annoyed me. The outcome is fairly predictable, too. Even so, the pleasant writing style, gentle humor, and Anna's character won me over so that I completely enjoyed reading this book!
—Kathryn
