The Morning Gift

Written by Eva Ibbotson

Narrated by Kate Lock

Ruth lives in Vienna and is wildly in love with Heini Radik, a brilliant young pianist. When Hitler's forces invade Ruth's family flees to London, but she cannot get a passport. Quin, a young professor and friend of the family, visits Ruth and offers a marriage of convenience. On their return to London, Quin begins to fall desperately in love with her. But then Heini turns up…

• Language: English
• Publisher: W. F. Howes Ltd
• Release date: Mar 7, 2013
• ISBN: 9781471228230

Eva Ibbotson

Eva Ibbotson was born in Vienna in 1925 and moved to England with her father when the Nazis came into power. Ibbotson wrote more than twenty books for children and young adults, many of which garnered nominations for major awards for children's literature in the UK, including the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize and the Whitbread Prize. Eva's critically acclaimed Journey to the River Sea won the Smarties Gold Medal in 2001. Set in the Amazon, it was written in honour of her deceased husband Alan, a former naturalist. Imaginative and humorous, Eva's books often convey her love of nature, in particular the Austrian countryside, which is evident in works such as The Star Of Kazan and A Song For Summer. Eva passed away at her home in Newcastle on October 20th 2010. Her final book, One Dog and His Boy, was published in May 2011.

Reviews for The Morning Gift

[Alena Dufkova · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Kate Lock needs to stop turning characters into squeaky children with thick German accents and heavy lisping. She ruins the book.

[foggidawn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When Quin Somerville discovers Ruth Berger, daughter of an old friend, stranded in Vienna days after the Anschluss, there's only one way he can find to get her out: as his wife. He promises to start working toward a divorce or annulment immediately, so Ruth can go ahead with her plan to marry Heini, her childhood sweetheart. However, circumstances conspire to throw them together, and eventually, they begin to wonder if the marriage needs to be dissolved, after all...This book is a mixed bag, for me. The characters are on point, especially the refugee community in London where Ruth's family ends up. They're all adorable. And Ruth's university friends are likewise charming. The romance kind of stutters along, and then the last eighth of the book is melodrama that could easily have been avoided if the characters had talked to each other instead of jumping to conclusions. As in most of these romances, Ibbotson pairs an ingenue with an experienced older man, which can start to feel a little icky, especially in this case, where he knew her briefly as a child. I actually like this book a little better than A Company of Swans, but it's not among my favorites. Read it for the characterization, and for Ibbotson's writing, which continues to delight.

[jennybeast · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I've been reading a lot of good books lately, but Eva Ibbotson's great gift is that you can completely lose yourself in her stories. This one -- such delight! Such despair (there for a bit, anyway). And such funny lines unexpectedly sprinkled throughout.

[krau0098 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Many years ago I read Ibbotson’s book A Company of Swans and absolutely adored it. I immediately went out and bought both A Countess Below Stairs and The Morning Gift. I did not enjoy The Morning Gift nearly as much as A Company of Swans. The story just starts out too slowly and wanders too much.Ruth lives in Vienna and worships the wonderful pianist Heini who she assists in all things and is destined to marry. Then everything changes when Hilter invades Austria and Ruth and her family are forced to flee. Ruth is supposed to be on her way to University in England and meet her parents there. However things get all botched up and Ruth ends up trapped in Vienna. While there she meets the Quin Sommerset a young professor whom was a family friend when Ruth was younger. Quin has British citizenship and suggests that he and Ruth get married as a way to get her out of Austria and to London where it is safe. Then when they arrive in London they will annul the marriage. However things get complicated when the marriage is more difficult to annul than expected, Ruth ends up with Quin as her professor, and Heini arrives expecting to marry Ruth. The first 150 or so pages of this book were very difficult to get through. A ton of characters and places and names are thrown at the reader and they are only looslely connected. A lot of this could have been left out of the story and it would have been a much better book.As the book continues it focuses more on the main character, Ruth, the story gets much more engaging. Ruth is a magical character, she sees so much joy in everything and is just so full of life. I loved reading about her. I also loved how she was determined to make it through University and make it through the Natural Sciences. This book is a book full of wonderful people and especially strong woman characters; it was a joy to read about these people. I also really loved the history throughout and learning about Hitler’s invasion affected even non-occupied countries like Britain.I think the relationship between Quin and Ruth could have been much more well done. The two skate around each other forever, barely even speaking, then suddenly BAM! they are hopelessly in love. It was a bit awkward and unbelievable.Overall this was an okay book. The first half was awful and slow and ponderous to get through; I also stopped reading it. The second half was much more engaging and interesting and I enjoyed it a lot. I loved the history throughout the book, the kindness of the characters, and Ibbotson’s beautiful (if sometimes a bit too rambling) writing style. I wish the story had been better paced and that the relationship between Quin and Ruth had been better developed. Honestly I wouldn’t really recommend this book unless you are a diehard Ibbotson fan; go read A Company of Swans instead...that was a much better historical fiction than this book.

[kanwal_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A wonderfully written lovestory in the midst of the desaster of WW II. It is amazing how the author shaped the characters so vividly and included famous figures, e.g. Freud, Mozart, Goethe, and a lot more. This is not just a lovestory.

[rosemarybrown_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Many of the details of refugee life in London were based directly on Ibbotson's youth. It's an enchanting, warm, fairy tale grounded in reality. One of my favorite books of all time. A big heaping of comfort and joy.

[liabee · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The story of Quentin and Ruth is bound up in the mess and fear of Vienna's fall to the Nazis, and carries us to England and the real deepening of their relationship. Their were several oddities that pushed credulity, mainly in the plot twists that hinged on unlikely misunderstandings and out of character decisions.

[yourresidentvillain · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Having read a couple of Eva Ibbotson's historical fiction books, I can see a pattern in the storyline that involves some sort of secret, a very interesting and charming heroine, an equally interesting gentleman, a nasty rival woman, and a kind of misunderstanding near the end that speeds things up and keeps the reader speeding through each page. But still, this pattern doesn't seem to affect the quality and satisfaction the book gives. I loved every moment I spent living inside the story and with the people in it.

[amusingmother · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Excellent writing style. Descriptions include multitude of senses, rarely telling the reader the surroundings but rather trusting the reader to arrive at the destination on her own. The story itself is very good, although not excellent. I would have enjoyed greater character development. I will definitely read more of her books. Recommended to me by someone at my daughter's jr. high book fair with warning that it is an adult book, not YA.I concur with this assessment as YA books tend to be much more racy and explicit where this one is a gentle expression.

[mmillet_7 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I am actually quite disappointed in this book. I read "A Song for Summer" and loved it and was excited to get my hands on another of Ibbotson's books. My main complaint was that I felt like I had read the story before -- a sweeter, more compelling version with characters I found more honest and likable. I actually loved some of the secondary characters but not Ruth and Quin so much. I mean Ruth had this amazing life growing up around these amazingly smart people and living by the sea in Austria and then she is impressed with one standoffish British guy with a little bit of money (and a large estate of course). And to top it all off, I never could understand why the characters all loved Ruth so much. Okay, so she has long flowing blond hair. Anything else? She basically seemed like a piece of wood to me. But Ibbotson’s writing is beautiful and the descriptions of the scenery were prefect. I finished the book mostly for that reason alone. So maybe if this was the first of Ibbotson’s books I had read I might have liked it more, but it wasn’t so I didn’t.And I found typos. I NEVER find typos cause I read too fast. So that was another downer.

[jennie_103 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I absolutely loved this book. The first I have given 5 stars in a long time. I really begrudged any time spent away from reading it, especially as I got towards the end! Wonderful characters and beautiful settings. Recommended for young and old.

[mrshillreads · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I love historical fiction--especially the stiff upper lip British stuff. This book was slow getting into; but I enjoyed the slow pace and the strangeness of some of the characters. I don't think I will be able to get any students to read this but the English teachers will enjoy it.

[books_ofa_feather · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Eva Ibbotson has done it again! Just when I think I may be disappointed in her, because you never know when an author will exhaust their repertoire, I'm pleasantly surprised. Yet another story of pure devotion, history, twists and turns, and another reason to burn the midnight oil. I love her ability to describe a place so that I can say I've been to Vienna and England. My only disappointment is that I can't meet her and beg her to write more, plus I have so many questions. I highly recommend this book!