Book Review: A Countess Below Stairs by Eva Ibbotson

A Countess Below Stairsis a sweeping story of Anna, a rich Russian countess, whose family must flee to England during the revolution. There, after losing all their riches, they must work as servants to earn money. Anna takes a temporary position as a maid for the Earl of Westerholme, but she doesn't expect to fall in love with him, nor he with her. Especially when his not-so-friendly fiance shows up.

Things I Liked:
I thought that the writing, some of the time, was very good. I loved the historical atmosphere, the descriptions of setting, especially the Russain culture in England. I pretty much enjoyed the simple, straight forward, and practically perfect story. I do love a good happy ending, most of the time. Here were a few of my favorite quotes:

"It was the last of these [governesses], a gaunt and angular spinster with whose nose one could have cut cheese, that Anna inexplicably chose to worship, enduring at the hands of the Englishwoman not only cold baths and scrubbings with Pears soap and the wrenching open of sealed bedroom windows, but that ultimate martyrdom, the afternoon walk." p.3

"With her stick-like arms, jerky movements and the tendency to whiskers which has been the Nettleford scourge for generations, she relentlessly reminded the onlookers that pink is not only the color of budding roses, but of boiling prawns." p.152

Things I Didn't Like:
The language, while sometimes very beautiful, became too convoluted. Her descriptive passages went on and on for pages. It was like she was trying too hard to make lovely turns of phrase and throw in lots of descriptors. I also thought the book was longer than necessary and the plot quite predictable, but it is enjoyable if you are looking for something fluffy and happy. One final thing that bothered me was wondering what exactly made the Anna and Rupert fall in love? At the first, not much really happens between them.

Read-alikes:
I enjoyed The Star of Kazanby Ibbotson, despite its also fairly predictable plot
The Season by Sarah MacLean
a bit like the Luxe series by Anna Godberson (which is definitely more risque)

BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: none

mrg-factor: none

v-factor: none

Overall rating: ***

So I'm not having much luck with historical fiction recently. Please share your favorites with me and hopefully I can pull myself out of the historical fiction slump!

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