Review Detail

Reader reviewed by Sara

Ellen Carr is raised to be an intellectual - but what she really wants to do is cook beautiful food. So Ellen is thrilled to leae behind the grey drizzle of London and start her fist job - as a housekeeper at the Hallendorf School of Music, Drama and Dance. Deep in the idyllic Austrian countryside she finds an eccentrically magical world occupied by the wild children, experimental dancers, a tortoise on wheels and a mysterious young gardener named Marek. But outside this paradise, Hitler's Reich is casting its menacing shadow over Europe...

I loved this book completely. It was probably my favorite by Ibbotson, but I may take that back tomorrow. Either way, it was amazing like the rest of her books. History and fiction are deftly intertwined in this story. The characters are all loveable and interesting - each are unforgettable. READ THIS BOOK!