A Countess Below Stairs by Eva IbbotsonMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Last night I was feeling cranky, so I decided to read something very, very fluffy. I first read this almost 30 years ago, along with some other Ibbotson novels. I was at a library conference a few years ago and got this new edition as an advance reader's copy. The publisher was doing something smart and taking it off the backlist and republishing it as a young adult novel.
It's a delightfully fluffy fairy take taking place in England just after World War I. Anna Grazinsky is a Russian emigre living in England after the Revolution. She was a child of immense privilege, but loving, sunny, unspoiled, etc. In England, she finds a job as a housemaid (hiding her aristocratic status, of course) at the country house of Rupert Frayne - an aviator in the War who has returned to take up the mantle and responsibilities of an earl due to the death of his older brother. Other characters include Rupert's fiancee and a host of very implausible but delightful characters. There is a nice background theme of music and the ballet.
The book is a fairy tale, and needs to be read as one (like most but not all of Ibbotson's works), but it's very comforting and romantic!
I noted my copy is an ARC and I have to hope that it was well-edited before true publication as I found a number of typos - it must have had to be re-typeset for some reason.
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