- Paperback: 410 pages
- Publisher: Puffin Books; Reprint edition (6 Sep 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0142409111
- ISBN-13: 978-0142409114
- Product Dimensions: 20.9 x 13.2 x 2.7 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,756,144 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Morning Gift
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Following A SONG FOR SUMMER and THE SECRET COUNTESS comes one of Eva Ibbotson’s most exquisite romances, now in audio
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Book Description
Ruth lives in the beautiful city of Vienna and is wildly in love with Heini Radik, a brilliant young pianist. But her world is about to change forever. When Hitler’s forces invade Ruth’s family flees to London, but she is unable to get a passport. Quin, a young professor and friend of the family, visits Ruth and in an effort to bring her back to London, he offers a marriage of convenience. As Ruth throws herself into her London life, Quin begins to fall desperately in love with her. Things are further complicated by the arrival of Heini . . .
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book stayed in my memory long after I had finished it. A poignant subject, beautifully written. It is definitely for older teenagers and adults though.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The morning gift is a present sent from groom to bride in a morganatic (ie unconsummated) marriage of convenience. This is what Ruth, the Jewish heroine, consents to in order to share Quin's British passport and be whisked away from Nazi Vienna to rejoin her family in London. Eccentric, strong-minded and academic like all her family, Ruth is in love with a gifted pianist, Heini, who is more concerned with his art. Quin, a brilliant Professor of paleontology, falls in love with Ruth but even when she becomes his student she fails to see this, leaving him prey to the appalling Verena, a rigidly conventional girl from the same upper class Northumbrian background as his own.
Readers who enjoy conventional romance will have no difficulty in deducing that everything turns out happily in the end, but with Ibbotson as with Austen what is so captivating is not her plotting but her wit, her gift for character and her insights. Emigre life in Belsize Park during the late 1930s is a brilliant comic subject, not least because so many of the Jews who fled Hitler were not brought up in the faith and met rabbis as bewildered as gentiles. The sadness of the survivors, who know all too well what is happening in Germany and Austria even if their hosts refuse to see it, creates a dark background against which the happiness of the good feels hard-won. Ruth is Ibbotson's most touching heroine (alongside that of A Song For Summer and COmpany of Swans) and she continues to appeal to teenagers even today. This novel is now as rare as hens' teeth, but it will be reprinted in 2008 if you can bear to wait that long.
Readers who enjoy conventional romance will have no difficulty in deducing that everything turns out happily in the end, but with Ibbotson as with Austen what is so captivating is not her plotting but her wit, her gift for character and her insights. Emigre life in Belsize Park during the late 1930s is a brilliant comic subject, not least because so many of the Jews who fled Hitler were not brought up in the faith and met rabbis as bewildered as gentiles. The sadness of the survivors, who know all too well what is happening in Germany and Austria even if their hosts refuse to see it, creates a dark background against which the happiness of the good feels hard-won. Ruth is Ibbotson's most touching heroine (alongside that of A Song For Summer and COmpany of Swans) and she continues to appeal to teenagers even today. This novel is now as rare as hens' teeth, but it will be reprinted in 2008 if you can bear to wait that long.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have read nearly all of Eva Ibbotsons books for teenagers, and i have to say this is one of my favorites. Though this book is one of the longest she has written, and the most sophisticated, the way she captures the characters feelings is pure genius. She has created such detailed, very clever characters, and the innocence and purity of the main character Ruth.
This book is not for a quiet read, something that you will pick up, and just read a few pages before putting it down and not reading it for a while, it is a long books, that has had a lot of research put into it, and needs alot of thinking about. However, it is well worth the read.
This book is not for a quiet read, something that you will pick up, and just read a few pages before putting it down and not reading it for a while, it is a long books, that has had a lot of research put into it, and needs alot of thinking about. However, it is well worth the read.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
A fantastic read
This is my favourite Eva Ibbotson book and Ruth is my favourite heroine EVER and I read a lot of romances. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Booklover
Absolutely Outstanding
Let's just clarify that I have never in my life been to Vienna, have only been to London once when I was eight, and I wouldn't know a famous painting if it hit me in the face. Read more
Published 16 months ago by M. Glenfield
Good Holiday Read
This book follows pattern of other Eva Ibbotsons books but it is still a good read. I like Eva's style so found this novel entertaining. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Twin1
The Morning Gift bi Eva Ibbotson
This is the second book I have read by this author. It is an easy book to read, an enchanting tale, and would recommend to anyone over 13 years old.
Published 20 months ago by Sarah J. Grace
The Morning Gift By Eva Ibbotson
Another beautiful story by this outstanding author. As always, the background is carefully covered and researched, and many a time the you feel the need to put the book down to... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Jess Matthews
My favourtie book
I read a LOT! Every evening before i go to sleep as i find it helps me to relax, although i read a lot I rarely find a book i truly love; this is a mighty exception... Read more
Published on 24 April 2010 by @amazon.
Morning Gift
This book was requested by my daughter, who has enjoyed this immensely. Although the reading age for this title is well below that of my daughter's. Read more
Published on 15 Feb 2010 by Mrs. K. C. Hinde
Lovely, but reminiscent of A Company of Swans
I just finished this book last night, and like Ibbotson's other books, it was just lovely: there is a sense of fairytale etherea in the peri-WW2 setting. Read more
Published on 16 Jan 2010 by Doha
It's enough to make you fall in love...
The Morning Gift is yet another loveable and heart-warming novel by Eve Ibbotson. This classic historical love story instantly brings a smile to your face and sets your mind... Read more
Published on 16 Nov 2009 by Miss Leola
Enchanting
I read Eva Ibbotson's "Adult" books years ago and don't know how I missed this one. Personally I would not call it YA but "adult suitable for younger and discerning readers. Read more
Published on 3 Sep 2009 by Susan Smith
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Children's Books > Fiction > Romance
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
