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The Reluctant Heiress (1982)

by Eva Ibbotson(Favorite Author)

3.88 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0142412775 (ISBN13: 9780142412770)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Speak

review 1: This is a historical fiction book that is largely a romance, but there is a good plot line besides just that. Tessa is an Austrian princess, but she is a strong republican and all she really wants to do in her life is work in the theater and help to make operas. The book is set in 1920's Austria, which makes it interesting in the historical context as well as having an enjoyable storyline. Eva Ibbotson's writing really draws you in, making it difficult to put the book down.I really enjoyed Tessa's character. I thought she was a very interesting and intriguing character, what with the fact that she is royalty, and yet all she wants to do is to be an unpaid assistant in a little theater that is constantly on the brink of ruin. When all her family's wealth is gone, and they f... moreinally have to sell their castle, she doesn't mind, because she never liked it anyway. She says she never wants to fall in love or marry, which makes for a good story as we watch her realize she has fallen in love and she tries to deny that fact. Tessa firmly believes that everyone is equal, and despite growing up a princess, she is not in the least spoiled and has never believed she is better than others. All of this makes Tessa a very likable character.I really enjoyed this book, and would give it a nine out of ten. I picked it up and thought is sounded interesting, and it exceeded all my expectations. I found all the historical parts very interesting, and I liked that Eva Ibbotson used a lot of more advanced vocabulary, so I learned quite a few words while reading. I liked all of the characters and loved the story. I couldn't stop reading it. I can't wait to read some of Eva Ibbotson's other books.
review 2: When I reviewed A Countless Below Stairs last week, I felt as though I couldn't single out one of Eva Ibbotson's books for a 5-star rating because I love them all and don't have a favorite. Since then, a couple of friends have read my review and expressed interest, and I found myself backtracking from Countess and recommending The Reluctant Heiress (in some editions alternatively titled Magic Flutes) because they would probably like it even more. Apparently I have a favorite.It will be difficult for me to praise this book in concepts or language radically different from those I already employed for Ibbotson and Countess, because the books are so clearly kindred. There is the same artfully drawn, loving reverence for Austria and above all for its music. There is a similar warm, tolerant humor about all the confused European and Eastern European aristocrats whose world has changed around them as their lives of clueless privilege have dissolved and they are now losing their palatial homes to American industrialists and society at large is easily finding them so irrelevant. Ibbotson unquestionably presents the softest possible side to what was, for many, a harsh and cruel revelation: in her books, those who cannot or will not adapt are taken care of and indulged to whatever extent possible by the members of their family who are willing or able to put aside pride and find a place in their new world. The industrialist who buys the palace in The Reluctant Heiress, for example, is kind and respectful toward the two aging, unmarried women who have lived their all their lives. (Because he's perfect, of course.)While part of this story is an absolutely perfect girl falling in love with an absolutely perfect man, which seems to be the exclusive providence of fairy tales and simplistic romance novels, The Reluctant Heiress defies categorization as solely or primarily one of these genres. I can see how it draws comparison to Austen and Heyer, because there is something similar in the pacing, the level of detail about the society surrounding the leads, the gentle judgments of the foibles of many characters, and the innocent veneer softening what was surely the author's broader knowledge of how much suffering was taking place in various strata of society.But even given all of these potential categorizations as fairy tale or romance (neither of which is inherently belittling in my mind), I assert that Ibbotson requires a designation all her own. I can think of no other fairy tale or romance or comedy-of-manners author whose writing depends so completely on the reader's shared appreciation for the nature of art -- particularly music. Tessa and Guy might be the leads in a Heyer romance, were it not for the fact that the subject over which they connect is discussed with such knowledge and nuance, and presupposes that one may evaluate the soul of another based on the music they love, how they respond to it, and how they speak of it.This book is so much more a romance between Tessa and music than it is between Tessa and Guy. He's the right man for her because he understands her love of music and shares it as thoroughly as another human being could. But if you were to count the pages in the book it's probably about a 10:1 ratio how much time Tessa spends with music and how much she spends with Guy. In addition to the passages about music at its most sublime and transcendent (which had me in tears twice), there's also a fantastically clever and funny subplot about a Modern (or is it postmodern?) opera Tessa gets hoodwinked into financing, and every single offhand mention Ibbotson makes about the orchestra, the composer, the costumes, the diva, the choreography, and the set is a hilarious satire of the worst of what's happened in music since the end of the Romantic era. Ibbotson worships at the altar of beauty far too much to resist lambasting those who put even more time, money and effort into creating something ugly than into creating something beautiful. I love her for that... and for how artfully she does it.So. Read this book it you are willing to go on the journey and love it as something that is as profound and vulnerable a portrait of a soul as I have ever read. Just leave it alone if you are only going to be able to see it as a pale imitation of Heyer or a fluffy little fairy tale and give it 3 or 4 stars because it's "nice." Ms Ibbotson has given you so much more than that, and my sincerest wish for her is that her work be read by those of like mind and spirit who adore her in proportion to her heart as a human being and her merit as a writer. less

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