Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9676 in Books
• Published on: 2006-08-04
• Binding: Paperback
• 432 pages

Synopsis
When eighteen-year-old Ellen accepts the post of housekeeper at Hallendorf School of Music, Drama and Dance, she wasn't expecting it to be quite so unusual. For deep in the beautiful Austrian countryside, she finds an eccentrically magical world occupied by wild children and even wilder teachers, experimental dancers and a tortoise on wheels. Ellen is particularly intrigued by the enigmatic, and very handsome, Marek, part-time gardener and fencing teacher. Life in Hallendorf seems idyllic, but outside Hitler's Reich is already casting its menacing shadow over Europe. Through her growing friendship with Marek, Ellen begins to encounter the dreadful reality of a world on the brink of war. And, by the time she has figured out Marek's true identity and his dangerous mission, she is completely in love with him - and equally sure that her love will never be requited.

Customer Reviews

moving
i realy liked this book, It is about Ellen who becomes a teacher at an 'alternative' school where all the teachers are strange and the pupils come from every background possible. ellen sets about improving everything and solving everyones problems, but then Hitler invades Austria and everything changes.
It's not as good as other Eva Ibbotson's books like Journey to the riversea but it is still very enjoyable.

A True Love Story!
Although I came by this book by chance, I loved it. Eva Ibbotson has yet again managed to capture my imagination with this heart-breaking love story which is written around the World War. It shows how one girl has the courage to always keep going, even when the world seems to be against her. As usual, Eva Ibbotson has created lovable chareters who are perfect for this story. I would reccomed this book to young adults-adults, who are looking for an easy read to curl up with. It is truly another classic from Eva Ibbotson and should not be missed.

Delightful - far beyond most romantic fiction
Ibbotson's real forte is her children's books, but this, like Company of Swans has the same touches of magic and humour. Ellen, the daughter of a formidable suffragette intellectual disappoints her family by being a genius at the domestic arts, which she learns from her other mother, an Austrian housekeeper. She puts these to excellent use when going to be houskeeper at a progressive boarding school in Austria, whose eccentricities are hilariously (and accurately, given that Ibbotson went to Dartington) described.
The one teacher who refuses to bathe in the nude, she is soon leading a quiet revolution among the pupils, who long for modesty and regularity. She also attracts Marek, the mysterious groundsman wqho turns out to be a composer bent on helping Jews out of Nazi Germany.
WHat makes Ibbotson outstanding is her belief in goodness, and particularly the power of goodness to triumph over meanness and evil. The closest to this kind of fiction is ELizabeth Goudge's. A tonic for the weary or despondent, it adds zest to life.