Morning Gift [Paperback]

Ruth Berger lives in Austria during the onset of Nazi-takeover. Because she is Jewish, thought not orthodox, she and her family decide to flee to England. Ruth goes ahead of her family, but is unable to leave Austria, unbeknownst to her family who have successfully arrived in England.

Alone and bewildered, separated from family and fiance, Ruth meets her father's friend and colleague, Quin Sommerville, a British paleontologist. He feels sorry for Ruth, and suggests a civil wedding as the solution to their problems. By marrying Quin, Ruth will become an English citizen, and so be able to leave Austria. They agree that the marriage will be annulled as soon as they reach England. There are no feelings between them: just pity on Quin's part and dependency on Ruth's part. Of course. The annulment is not as easily gained as Quin had planned, and there is an added difficulty in the appearance of Ruth's fiance and Quin's would-be-soul-mate.

Ruth is a sweet character, but a little too consciously naive. I was able to overlook it because her faults reminded me that she is human, like everyone else. The front cover is a bit incongruous, because Ruth's musical talent (if it can be called such) is not a big part of the story.

Ms. Ibbotson's writing is excellent. She writes with humor and a great deal of intelligence. She is capable of writing of music, literature, history, paleontology and whatever else comes up. Not only does she speak of such things, she proves that she actually knows what she is talking about! There are musical and literature references throughout, but any ignorance the reader might have on those subjects will not affect the comprehension of the story. This is a lovely romance, and I highly recommend it.

I was not very impressed with the publishers. As with the other recent re-prints of Eva Ibbotson's books by Speak (A Song for Summer, The Countess Below Stairs, A Company of Swans), there are numerous typos that I hardly think were Ms. Ibbotson's. Not to mention erroneous summaries on the back covers (especially in the case of A Song for Summer).
However, this did not detract from my enjoyment of The Morning Gift, or any of the other aforementioned books.

Lastly, amazon states that the age group is 9-12. Not so. This is intended for adult readers, though perfectly acceptable for young adult as well. There is enough sexual content (though very little and mostly implied or behind closed doors) to make it unsuitable for ages 9-12.

Ruth Berger, happy and contented only child of a professor and his wife. Jewish and living in Austria prior to World War II. The extended family meet, briefly Quinn Somerville, a brilliant Archaeologist from Britain who comes and stays for a short time. Just prior to the outbreak of the war he returns at the Professors request to receive an honorary degree from the university. However the Nazi's have taken over and the professor and his wife have fled - forced to abandon virtually everything they own.

The don't realise they have also left behind Ruth, their teenage daughter who was supposed to leave on a student visa only was stopped at the border. Quinn discovers Ruth and realises he can't simply abandon her in the city where violence against Jews is rising. However there is no way to get her out except by marriage. Which they do - a marriage of convenience which he assures her will be anulled as soon as they arrive in Britain. After all, she has her own true love, a young concert pianist, and he has his work.

However annulling the marriage is not that easy - if it is annulled before she is confirmed as a resident she could be deported. And they must not ever see each other either, or that could complicate the divorce. All this must be secret from his family too. Ruth would be only to happy to do this - except due to circumstances she has been accepted to attend the university Quinn teaches at - and she is in his classes, after all fossils are her interest too.

The university is being run by an unpleasant man and his family - including an ambitious wife and her bright daughter. Their dislike of Ruth is obvious - not only as a competitor in intelligence to their daughter, but because she is Jewish.

No matter what Quinn or Ruth do they cannot seem to rid themselves of each other, and it is a wonderful moment when Ruth goes to talk to the detested Freudian psychologist downstairs.

This was a great read. As with all Eva Ibbotson books it is full of twists and turns where intertwined characters are drawn into the plot, not simply as plot devices but characters in their own right = with their own stories to tell - Quinn's Aunt, the Basher (who was quinn's father) and the various Vienese refugees.

Eva Ibbotson seems to specialise in their stories of European displacement to London, but she does it especially well.

The only part I found difficult was the 'Morning Gift' misunderstanding. It wasn't convincing as to why Ruth rejected Quinn, and the plot device of having her run off and then find the Aunt felt forced. However those peices aside didn't affect for me the story as a whole

Ibbotson invests her tales with detail, fey charm and immense good humour. They are thoroughly enjoyable.

This is in the top five most beauitful books I have ever read. I was so incredibly happy with the world after I read this. There's also a passage in here about young men and war that I read it over and over until I ended up copying it and placing it on my desk. Eva Ibbotson is AMAZING and don't worry when you are approaching the end: there is ALWAYS a happy ending with Ibbotson.

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