The Star of Kazan, by Eva Ibbotson

[olmue]

This midgrade novel is Eva Ibbotson's love song to her native city, and for anyone who's ever loved anything Germanic, this book is for you.

Even though she started life as a foundling, 12-year-old Annika has the best life ever. It's 1909, and she lives with Ellie, the cook for three sibling professors in Vienna; Sigrid, another servant; and of course the three professors, who have become sort of uncles and aunt to her. She is friends with everyone on the street, from the huge Bodek family (all boys; Stefan is her age) to the florist. She even lives within walking distance of the famous Vienna Riding School. Annika's world is one of rich sights, delicious food, and most of all, love and security. And then, everything changes when a gracious noblewoman woman shows up to claim Annika has her long lost daughter, and Annika leaves her beloved Vienna for a new life northern Germany.

But Großpriesnetz isn't quite what she expected (peasants do not live in cold houses; they have cook stoves to keep them warm, she realizes). She may be a noble now, but the food is meager, needed clothing comes seldom, and the house is bare and freezing. The von Tannenbergs have little left but their pride. Unfortunately, their trials don't make them into particularly nice people. If Annika is bent on seeing the best in her family, the reader has no illusions about what they are really like. And slowly, even Annika must admit that something is not right.

In some ways the book reminds me of A Little Princess, but there's a lot more to it. A mystery, gypsies, Lippizzaner horses, a cookbook, fabulous jewels, a dramatic rescue involving a harp case, and a love of Austria to make even someone who's never been there feel just a little bit homesick.

Comments

[elizabethcbunce.livejournal.com]

Clapclapclapclapclap!

Oh, didn't you LOVE this book?! (rhetorical, since I did read your post. ;)) I adored it--and it took me completely by surprise. I swear, the person who wrote THE SECRET OF PLATFORM 13 is some other Eva Ibbotson... and *this* is the real one. :D

In my blog, I called it "the best book I've read in 10 years:"
http://elizabethcbunce.livejournal.com/2006/02/28/

[olmue.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes! (Interesting that we both thought of Burnett...)

I read this when it first came out, and after visiting Vienna, checked it out from the library in German. I know it's a translation, but it translates so naturally and beautifully--I don't know what half of the German things in there are even called in English.

And yes, I remember being totally surprised that the same person wrote this and Platform 13. But to be honest, the first Ibbotson I read was Journey to the River Sea, which is also lovely, and has that strong sense of place. (I lived in Chile for a year and a half, so South America as a character was very compelling to me.) And I think it's interesting that I would prefer her realistic books to her fantasy, since usually I'm the other way around. I think it's the sense of place that does it.

Anyway, I've got to seriously consider which books I'm buying here and which ones I wait until I get back to the States (we have an ever-expanding shelf, mostly due to MY purchases), but this is one I plan to own. I'm just not sure which language I want it in.

[elizabethcbunce.livejournal.com]

You might be interested in A COMPANY OF SWANS, then--it also takes place along the Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/3xqwvq (I know it says it's not out until September 6, but I saw it this weekend at Barnes & Noble).

I'm *so* happy that Ibbotson's historicals are getting the attention they deserve!

[tapinger.livejournal.com]

I just read it tonight (I got it from the library after seeing you mention it here) and thought of The Little Princess too. They say that it takes three to know.

I did enjoy it; I thought some of the writing was a little pedantic (she defines some words right around where she uses them) but it would probably be perfect for a child. (There are so many words that I've looked up and been shocked that they didn't mean at all what I thought they should mean.) It also struck me as a good book to read out loud—the sentences look very manageable. Maybe I'll try it on my little sister...

[sarah-create.livejournal.com]

I soooo need to be in the states where there is a library. We have Journey to the River Sea by Ibbotson. It is a delight.

Well--you know who will be contacting for a list of all the books that I should read when I'm back in the states someday. (I really should make a list of all the books that I want to read, but it would probably make my computer run out of space.)

[olmue.livejournal.com]

Since browsing is a spotty activity at best, my list of to-be-read books is largely becoming a list of upcoming books by authors from Verla's. Which is good because I'll be in the States by then, but bad because I have to wait YEARS before they come out. Waa.