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Born in Vienna, Eva came to England as a small girl and now lives in Newcastle upon Tyne. When her husband was alive he bred snails in the garage; they also kept fish and had a small and very hairy dog. Eva has four grown-up children and seven grandchildren. Eva Ibbotson writes for both adults and children. Which Witch was runner-up for the Carnegie Medal and The Secret of Platform 13 was shortlisted for the Smarties Prize. Journey to the River Sea won the Smarties Book Prize Gold Award, was runner-up for the Whitbread Children's Book of the Year and the Guardian Fiction Award, and was also shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal.
A message from the author:
I started to scribble stories when I was about seven years old and I just carried on so I became a writer gradually. I didn't try to get anything published until I was quite grown-up. I write at my mother's old desk, looking out on to a leafy street, and I rewrite what I have written again and again until I get the words the way I want them (most of my pages have been through eight drafts or so). It's my belief that one should be in the same place each day, so that if an idea is hovering it knows where to find you. Ideas can come from places one has seen or conversations one has overheard - or just from nowhere! Being an author can be lonely, difficult and frustrating, but there is nothing else I'd rather be.
New Biog
Her books for older readers (12+) include: The Morning Gift, A Song for Summer, The Secret Countess, A Company of Swans and Magic Flute.
Her books for younger readers (9+) include: The Dragonfly Pool, Journey to the River Sea and The Star of Kazan.
And for even younger readers (7+): Which Witch, Dial a Ghost, Not just a Witch, Monster Mission, The Beasts of Clawstone Castle, The secret of Platform 13, The Great Ghost rescue and The Haunting of Hiram.
This is a beguiling story of a young Russian countess who loses everything in her homeland but finds sanctuary in England as a house maid in an aristocratic household. The trappings of her childhood of privilege are a distant memory but then she falls in love (forbidden of course for she is a servant girl) with the young Earl of the family who is already spoken for, Anna must decide whether to risk losing everything or reveal her true identity in the hope of ensnaring the love of her life. As with all Eva's novels, the writing and characterisation is sublime.
Romance and intrigue make this lyrical historical adventure an unputdownable read! When a British millionaire sets out to buy a secluded fairy tale castle set high up on a rock above a beautiful lake he finds that its heiress is missing. Meanwhile, the heiress herself is enjoying a secret life working backstage at the Viennese opera. Can the two lives be kept separate forever? Evocative descriptions of the contrasts between the two worlds provide a vivid background for a romp of a read. ~ Julia Eccleshare Lovereading4kids comment: It’s wonderful to see a new edition of a wonderfully evocative novel that was first published back in the early 1980s and has now been given a new cover look for a new generation. Set in the 1920s Tessa is a beautiful young girl who takes on a new identity. As a princess she’s empty and bereft and so disappears to Vienna and works backstage in the theatre. Her secret safely hidden until one day her life collides with a handsome man. In escaping her inheritance with this man she finds her destiny.
Eva Ibbotson is so clever at capturing moments in history and weaving a story around them and her characters too are so real you feel you can reach out and touch them. Here in A Song for Summer is absolutely no exception. A growing friendship leads to romance but at what price. Can good deliver over evil when it involves Hitler’s Reich and can the relationship survive?
Eva Ibbotson’s Journey to the River Sea is the book that for many will be the most memorable of all the books they read as a child. Like Journey to the River Sea, A Company of Swans is set in the Amazon jungle, and is another book to touch the heart. Oppressed by her mean-spirited father and aunt, teenager Harriet is finally driven to rebel and runs away with a troupe of Russian ballerinas, all the way to the city of Manaus. There she falls in love with another runaway, the handsome Rom. Of course the path of their love is far from straight, and Harriet’s nasty father is determined she won’t escape. A Cinderella story distinguished by Ibbotson’s humour, intelligence and gift for creating unusual but always believable characters this wonderful book is recommended for romantics of all ages. ~ Andrea Reece
The story of this marvellous romance begins in Vienna, then moves to London – the gloomy, tense London of 1939 when the reception for refugees like Ruth and her family was meaner than we’d like to think. It’s a journey Ibbotson herself took, but Ruth’s story has all the elements of a fairy tale. To escape the Nazis she marries a family friend, paleontologist Quinton Somerville. When divorce proves harder to get than either of them imagined, fate throws them together and gives them time to fall in love. Ruth and Quint are delightful characters, as are the supporting cast of relations – passionate Viennese and reserved British. In all fairy stories there is always grief, but there’s also reward for being honest, faithful and good. Ruth gets her happy ending, and it will make readers’ hearts sing. ~ Andrea Reece
August 2013 Guest Editor, Lauren St John "To me, Eva Ibbotsen is a genius. You can pick up any of her books – The Dragonfly Pool and One Boy and His Dog are also fantastic – and be guaranteed a good read. Journey to the River Sea is about orphaned London schoolgirl, Maia, who, accompanied by her strict but kind governess, is sent to live with her ghastly relatives in South America. Unlike her nature-phobic relatives, Maia loves her exotic, colourful new world. This is a journey of the spirit as well as the globe and the way Maia unfurls like a flower with each new adventure and encounter is one of the many reasons Journey to the River Sea is a classic. A warm, joyous book to be enjoyed by any generation." JOURNEY TO THE RIVER SEA won the Smarties Book Prize Gold Award, was runner-up for the Whitbread Children's Book of the Year and the Guardian Fiction Award, and was also shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal.
Romance and intrigue make this lyrical historical adventure an unputdownable read! When a British millionaire sets out to buy a secluded fairy tale castle set high up on a rock above a beautiful lake he finds that its heiress is missing. Meanwhile, the heiress herself is enjoying a secret life working backstage at the Viennese opera. Can the two lives be kept separate forever? Evocative descriptions of the contrasts between the two worlds provide a vivid background for a romp of a read. It’s wonderful to see a new edition of a wonderfully evocative novel that was first published back in the early 1980s and has now been given a new cover look for a new generation. Set in the 1920s Tessa is a beautiful young girl who takes on a new identity. As a princess she’s empty and bereft and so disappears to Vienna and works backstage in the theatre. Her secret safely hidden until one day her life collides with a handsome man. In escaping her inheritance with this man she finds her destiny.
A gorgeous 20th anniversary edition of Eva Ibbotson's award-winning, bestselling classic adventure, with a beautiful cover by Katie Hickey and an introduction by award-winning author of Letters from the Lighthouse Emma Carroll. 'Funny, wise and true' - Philip Pullman A joyous Amazon adventure set in the lush nature of Brazil, Journey to the River Sea is filled with mystery and extraordinary characters. Maia, an orphan, can't wait to reach her distant relatives a thousand miles up the Amazon. She imagines a loving family with whom she will share great adventures. Instead she finds two spiteful cousins who see the jungle as the enemy and refuse to go outdoors. But the wonders of the rainforest more than make up for the hideous twins and their parents. And when Maia meets a mysterious boy who lives alone on the wild river shores, she begins a spectacular journey to the heart of an extraordinary and beautiful new world. Winner of the Smarties Gold Medal. Shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread Award (now the Costa). 'The most perfect children's book . . . captivatingly told, funny and moving' - Nicolette Jones, Sunday Times
All Hal had ever wanted was a dog. But a dog would damage the carpets in Hal's house, and so his parents refused to let him have one. Then they discover Easy Pets, a convenient dog-rental agency. Terrier Fleck arrives on Hal's birthday, but when he discovers that his dog must be returned, he runs away. An irresistible adventure from a truly great and much-loved children's author that every dog-loving child will adore. Perfect for fans of 101 DALMATIANS.
A classic from beloved author Eva Ibbotson - now with a brand-new cover from Jamie Littler. How do you smuggle a family of yetis from Tibet to England? When Agatha Farlingham is kidnapped by a yeti on a mountain in Tibet, she soon discovers that the hairy monster is clever and noble. His children are in danger from the modern world and he needs her help. She sends them on a top-secret journey to England and the safety of her ancestral home. But first she must teach them some manners. . . A rollicking adventure from the extraordinary imagination of one of Britain's most beloved storytellers.
'Discovering Eva Ibbotson's books is one of the nicest things that's ever happened to me. The most beautiful, delicious, wry read' - Marian Keyes Curl up with a collection of romantic short stories taking you from nineteenth-century Vienna, over the wild moors of Northumberland to the snowy streets of pre-revolutionary St Petersberg. A collection of eighteen romantic short stories from the award-winning and much-loved Eva Ibbotson, A Glove Shop in Vienna will show you the great passions and astute observations of everyday life. Join Great-Uncle Max, torn between his grand and secret love for Susie, the enchanting glove shop assistant, and the devotion of his opera-singing wife. Meet Miss Bennett, drama mistress at the fading Markham Street Primary School, whose search for a baby Jesus for the nativity play yields unexpected and miraculous results. And agonise with Kira, a dancer in Russia's Imperial Ballet school, thrown out onto the streets of St. Petersburg, and found by Edwin, a lonely dreamer. A chocolate-box collection of deliciously romantic, atmospheric and witty stories to lose yourself in this Christmas. 'Eva Ibbotson is such a good writer that her characters break the bonds of the romantic novel' Washington Post
A whip-smart observation of the passions and tragedies behind daily life, Eva Ibbotson's Madensky Square is a classic snapshot of Viennese life before WWI, with a new introduction from Laura Wood. Susanna Weber's dress shop stands in the picturesque Madensky Square, a quiet little world of its own, nestled in the heart of glittering pre-war Vienna. As the winter of 1910 unfurls into spring, Susanna starts a journal about life in the Square, about the buildings and their colourful inhabitants. There's Frau Schumacher, with six daughters and a baby on the way, Professor Starsky and his menagerie of sickly reptiles, an aging bookseller, a teenaged Anarchist, and little Sigi - an orphaned child prodigy forced to play the piano all day, every day. And then there's her dear friend Alice, the only person who has noticed the heartbreak that hides beneath Susanna's brisk kindness and brilliant talent . . . Discover more of Eva Ibbotson's sweeping historical romances in Magic Flutes, The Morning Gift, The Secret Countess, A Song for Summer and A Company of Swans, all with brand new introductions.
Sweeping across countries, class and music, Eva Ibboton's classic historical romance, Magic Flutes, is a richly imagined tale of intrigue and identity, with a new introduction from Harriet Evans. In the spring of 1922, young Austrian Princess Theresa-Maria - known to her ancient aunts as 'Putzerl' - abandons her crumbling castle and her royal duties. Disguising herself simply as Tessa, she enrolls as under wardrobe mistress of the International Opera Company and soon loses herself in the intoxicating world of the Viennese opera. But when Guy Farne, an Englishman looking to impress his new fiance, arrives in Austria and employs the Company to perform at his newly purchased Austrian estate, he finds himself fascinated by the under wardrobe mistress, and Tessa finds it increasingly difficult to keep her two lives separate . . . 'I have binged on Eva Ibbotson . . . her elegantly written, witty and well-observed fables' Nigella Lawson, The Times Rediscover Eva Ibbotson, award-winning author of Journey to the River Sea, in her sweeping historical romances, including The Morning Gift, A Song For Summer, The Secret Countess (originally published as A Countess Below Stairs), Madensky Square and A Company of Swans. Magic Flutes was originally published as The Reluctant Heiress.
A Company of Swans is a sweeping tale of romance, freedom and the beauty of dance from award-winning author, Eva Ibbotson, with a new introduction by Joanna Nadin. Weekly ballet classes are Harriet Morton's only escape from her intolerably dull life. So when she is chosen to join a corps de ballet which is setting off on a tour of the Amazon, she leaps at the chance to run away for good. Performing in the grand opera houses is everything Harriet dreamed of, and falling in love with an aristocratic exile makes her new life complete. Swept away by it all, she is unaware that her father and intended fiance have begun to track her down . . . 'I have binged on Eva Ibbotson . . . her elegantly written, witty and well-observed fables' Nigella Lawson, The Times Rediscover Eva Ibbotson, award-winning author of Journey to the River Sea, in her sweeping historical romances, including The Morning Gift, A Song For Summer and The Secret Countess, originally published as A Countess Below Stairs, Magic Flutes, originally published as The Reluctant Heiress, Madensky Square and A Company of Swans.
Rediscover the magical secrets at King's Cross station in a 25th anniversary illustrated edition of Eva Ibbotson's classic, The Secret of Platform 13. Under Platform 13 at King's Cross Station there is a secret door that leads to a magical island . . . It appears only once every nine years. And when it opens, four mysterious figures step into the streets of London. A wizard, an ogre, a fey and a young hag have come to find the prince of their kingdom, stolen as a baby nine years before. But the prince has become a horrible rich boy called Raymond Trottle, who doesn't understand magic and is determined not to be rescued. The Secret of Platform 13 is an exciting magical adventure from Eva Ibbotson, the award-winning author of Journey to the River Sea, in a special edition illustrated by Beatriz Castro. Discover more of the magical world with Sibeal Pounder's exciting adventure sequel, Beyond Platform 13, based on characters from Eva's original. 'This kind of fun will never fail to delight' Philip Pullman
A richly imagined story of unexpected love, independence, and belonging - The Morning Gift is a classic WWII romance from Eva Ibbotson, with an introduction from Sarra Manning. Eighteen-year-old Ruth lives in the sparkling city of Vienna with her family, where she delights in its music, energy and natural beauty. She is wildly in love with the brilliant young pianist Heini Radik and can't wait until they are married. But Ruth's world is turned upside down when the Nazis invade Austria and her family are forced to flee to England, and through a devastating misunderstanding she is left behind. Her only hope to escape Vienna comes from Quin, a young English professor, who unexpectedly offers her a marriage of convenience to bring her back to London. Ruth throws herself into her new life - but a secret marriage is more difficult than she expected, especially as she and Quin find themselves drawn together. 'I have binged on Eva Ibbotson . . . her elegantly written, witty and well-observed fables' Nigella Lawson, The Times Rediscover Eva Ibbotson, award-winning author of Journey to the River Sea, in her sweeping historical romances, including The Morning Gift, A Song For Summer and The Secret Countess.
Set against the backdrop of gathering war, A Song for Summer is an unforgettable love story from master storyteller Eva Ibbotson, with an introduction from Ella Risbridger. When Ellen Carr abandons grey, dreary London to become housekeeper at an experimental school in Austria, she soon knows she's found her calling. Swept into an idyllic world of mountains, music, eccentric teachers and wayward children, Ellen brings order and joy to all around her. But it's the handsome, mysterious gardener, Marek, who intrigues her - Marek, who has a dangerous secret. As Hitler's troops march across Europe, Ellen finds she has promises to keep, even if it means sacrificing her future happiness . . . 'I have binged on Eva Ibbotson . . . her elegantly written, witty and well-observed fables' Nigella Lawson, The Times
'A fairy tale for grown-ups. It's unapologetically romantic but it's also extremely funny, wry, dry and witty - and hugely uplifting.' Marian Keyes, Daily Mail As WWI draws to a close, a love affair that stretches across countries, families and class begins, in master storyteller Eva Ibbotson's classic historical romance The Secret Countess, with an introduction from Amanda Craig. Anna Grazinsky, a young Russian countess, has lived in the glittering city of St Petersburg all her life in an ice-blue palace overlooking the River Neva. But when revolution tears Russia apart, her now-penniless family is forced to flee to England. Armed with an out-of-date book on housekeeping, Anna determines to help her family in any way possible, and she is soon hired as a housemaid at the Earl of Westerholme's crumbling but magnificent mansion. Then Rupert, the young Earl, returns home from the war and is fascinated by his new housemaid, and the more time they spend together the more they feel inexplicably drawn together. But they can never be together; Rupert is already engaged and Anna is only a servant . . . 'I have binged on Eva Ibbotson . . . her elegantly written, witty and well-observed fables' - Nigella Lawson, The Times Rediscover Eva Ibbotson, award-winning author of Journey to the River Sea, in her sweeping historical romances, including The Morning Gift, A Song For Summer and The Secret Countess, originally published as A Countess Below Stairs.
Susanna Weber's dress shop stands in the picturesque Madensky Square, a quiet little world of its own, nestled in the heart of glittering pre-war Vienna. As the winter of 1910 unfurls into spring, Susanna starts a journal about life in the Square, about the buildings and their colourful inhabitants. There's Frau Schumacher, with six daughters and a baby on the way, Professor Starsky and his menagerie of sickly reptiles, an aging bookseller, a teenaged Anarchist, and little Sigi - an orphaned child prodigy forced to play the piano all day, every day. And then there's her dear friend Alice, the only person who has noticed the heartbreak that hides beneath Susanna's brisk kindness and brilliant talent . . . A magical novel about the passions and tragedies behind daily life, Eva Ibbotson's Madensky Square remains as enchanting today as it was on first publication.
An Amazon adventure set in the wilderness of Brazil, Journey to the River Sea is filled with mystery and memorable characters. It is 1910 and Maia, tragically orphaned at thirteen, has been sent from England to start a new life with distant relatives in Manaus, hundreds of miles up the Amazon. She is accompanied by an eccentric and mysterious governess who has secret reasons of her own for making the journey. Both soon discover an exotic world bursting with new experiences in Journey to the River Sea, Eva Ibbotson's highly colourful, joyous adventure. This 15th anniversary edition includes a forward by Lauren St John, author of The White Giraffe. Winner of the Smarties Gold Medal. Shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread Award.
A collection of three wonderfully festive stories from Eva Ibbotson, the bestselling author of Journey to the River Sea. With a beautiful cover by Joe Wilson and inside illustrations, The Christmas Star is a wonderful gift to treasure at Christmas and all year round. In the first story, Vicky and the Christmas Angel, a young Viennese girl discovers, to her horror, who really brings the children's presents at Christmas. In The Christmas Star a family encounters a fortune teller at the local Christmas market who changes their lives. The Great Carp Ferdinand is a story about a hero with a difference as it follows the impact that Ferdinand - the carp intended for the Mannhaus family's Christmas dinner - has on the household in the lead-up to Christmas.
With a beautiful cover illustration by Alex T. Smith, creator of the Claude series, The Haunting of Hiram is a wonderfully spooky young fiction title from the award-winning author of Journey to the River Sea, Eva Ibbotson. 'I will buy your castle,' declared Hiram C. Hopgood. 'But only if there are no ghosts!' Alex MacBuff can't afford to keep his beloved Castle Carra, and an American millionaire has made him an offer he can't refuse. The castle is shipped all the way to Texas, but its ghostly inhabitants, including Krok the Viking warrior and a hell-hound called Cyril, follow their home across the Atlantic. How can Alex stop them haunting Hiram and also save the millionaire's daughter from an evil ransom plot?
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