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''A perfect marriage of deep romance and gently observed social comedy . . . It is flawless. I cannot imagine this book not making your heart swoon and your day brighter'' Jenny Colgan ''Sophisticated, brilliantly plotted and gloriously funny'' Amanda Craig, Guardian Spring 1938: as Hitler marches into Austria, Ruth Berger''s family is forced to flee, but a devastating misunderstanding leaves her alone in Nazi-occupied Vienna. There is no hope of escape until a chance meeting with an old family friend, Quinton Somerville, offers her refuge through a marriage of convenience. On arrival in London, Ruth and Quin find that dissolving their marriage is not as simple as they had thought, nor is keeping it secret. As war approaches, how will Ruth start a new life if she is not able to break away from the past? The Morning Gift by award-winner Eva Ibbotson is a modern classic of unexpected love, independence and belonging during World War II.
About the author
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.
