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The Reluctant Heiress

3.86 of 5 stars 3.86 · rating details · 3,881 ratings · 385 reviews

Being an heiress in 1920s Austria with nothing but a broken-down castle to your name and nary a penny in your purse could be frustrating for anyone but the Princess Theresa-Maria of Pfaffenstein. ?Tessa,? however, is thrilled with her situation, as it allows her to concentrate on her love of the arts?and no one in the Viennese opera company need know that their delightful...more

Paperback, 368 pages

Published April 30th 2009 by Speak (first published 1982)

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Nov 17, 2009 Katie Hutchison Irion rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Alright, I really like this author but enough is enough. I think I have read too many of her books in too short of time. Heck, I think I could write one of these books. Hmm, here goes. Impoverished adorable female heroine who, despite very bleak odds, is still the happiest, calmest, sweetest girl on the block. It doesn't matter that her parents hate her of she has no money, her beauty shines through the mess her life is in. Rich, tall, dashingly attractive man comes on the scene. Has all the mon...more

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Aug 04, 2012 Jillian -always aspiring- rated it 2 of 5 stars

The summer before my senior year, I tore through Eva Ibbotson's quartet of standalone teen books (A Countess Below Stairs, The Morning Gift, A Song for Summer, and A Company of Swans) and thoroughly enjoyed them. When I came across this book a few months back in the bookstore, I was pleasantly surprised to find another Eva Ibbotson book, so I snatched it up.

Then I started reading and . . . it fell flat like music I'd already heard a thousand times before. I don't know why, but this book just was...more

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May 03, 2009 Barbara rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, historical-fiction, romance

Oh no, fooled by the great re-naming bug. I loved this book when I read it years ago under its original title of Magic Flutes. The new packaging is nice. However, all the time I was waiting for this to come out I thought I was waiting for a NEW story.

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Sep 22, 2009 Anne Osterlund rated it 4 of 5 stars

Another joyous romp through Eva Ibbotson's world of love in the face of early 20th century post-war Europe, great art, and truly disarming heroines. Tessa (who just happens to be an Italian princess) has dedicated herself as a maid of all work in the service of opera. Guy (tycoon/former foster child & chaos creater) buys up her old palace in honor of his fiance. Said fiance turns out to be in love with herself. Which is actually a good thing because you know sooner or later Tessa & Guy a...more

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Nov 18, 2010 Kristy rated it 3 of 5 stars

I feel like I am in a Bad Book Rut, I need a good book asap to restore my faith in writers everywhere!!

Author Eva Ibbostson is 1-1. Her book "A countess below stairs" was wonderful, I thouroughly enjoyed reading it. This book, "The Reluctant Heiress' was a flop.
It took me about 200 pages of reading this one (or scanning it) to become half-way interested. The wording in this one is just too much. I know she was trying to write fitting to the time period, but I just really didn't like it. The char...more

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Oct 12, 2011 Lady Knight rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, teen, 19th-c, 20th-c, public-library, central-europe

While I have to saw that I found this a highly enjoyable book, I really felt that it drug on for way too long. Despite knowing how it would work out before I even opened the book, after finishing the first third, I honestly thought that the book should have ended. It's almost as if Ibbotson ended it and then decided that she wasn't quite finished with the characters and chose to change a couple of lines and then continue on for another couple hundred pages. Thus, while good, I've read better in...more

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Sep 02, 2009 Josie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: romance, young-adult

This was typical Eva Ibbotson fare: a story that's just predictable enough to make it feel cosy and well-loved without feeling boring or clichéd. I like her blend of simple storytelling mixed with delicious description, only in this case I found the description began to detract from the story. I can forgive a little exaggeration, but too much and I start to squirm. Oh, and Guy's eyes changing colour felt just a bit too much for me. And -- as with all Eva Ibbotson's books -- there were references...more

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Sep 15, 2012 Maya rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: library

Eva Ibbotson is one of my favourite authors, and I think her books for teenagers/adults are utterly wonderful! Magic Flutes (also known as The Reluctant Heiress) was, in my opinion, gorgeous. It was almost like a fairytale, with the runaway, music-loving princess who then meets and falls in love with a rich, handsome man. Of course it wasn't that simple, and Tessa and Guy had to overcome many obstacles before they could be together.

I loved the 'minor' characters of this book. Martha Hodge was lo...more

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Jul 01, 2012 Maninee rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Maninee by: Avisikta

Shelves: romance

When I flipped through the book at the library the cover told me this was the story of beautiful dark eyed princess who has shrugged off her royal duties and taken up the life of theatre and how she meets and falls in love with a handsome and rich English businessman. For me atleast the story isn't so much about romance really. Atleast, not one of those heady romances where every other page is filled with detailed descriptions of the heroine's face. No, this was less of romance and more of, well...more When I flipped through the book at the library the cover told me this was the story of beautiful dark eyed princess who has shrugged off her royal duties and taken up the life of theatre and how she meets and falls in love with a handsome and rich English businessman. For me atleast the story isn't so much about romance really. Atleast, not one of those heady romances where every other page is filled with detailed descriptions of the heroine's face. No, this was less of romance and more of, well more of, I can't say what exactly. It's a lot of everything to be sure.

Putzerl, or rather, Princess Theresa belongs to a more progressive branch of royalty. She is a staunch republican at heart and after the war she is one of those who fiercely support the end of royalty. She believes that art is the path to equality and music, something much bigger than all of us, is what will show the world that all of us are equal and royal titles don't matter at all. She is dedicated to art and so, informing her aunts, she sets off to Vienna where she takes up the job of a stage hand at the International Opera Company to serve the art she so believes in.

When Guy, a successful English businessman, simultaneously buys Putzerl's castle and then hires the opera company to perform in it Putzerl's two worlds meet.

But really, that's not the main bit of the story. As I said before, it's not about one particular thing or the other. It has a lot of stuff going on. It's about the peculiarities of royalty, the ridiculous snobbery and almost childlike obsession of the royalty to stick together and not give into being common. The royals aren't a bad lot really. Honestly from Eva Ibbotson's writing they seem this childlike group of terribly old Prince and Princesses secure in their absolute belief that Royalty will survive and their infantlike joy and interest in each other's family trees and lineage.

It's about Vienna, the wonderful city which lives and breathes music with names like Beethoven and Mozart associated with it. Ibbotson's story describes the city, it's splendour, it's streets, people, sites and history in every page, dropping off nuggets of information about the history and royalty in every paragraph and dialogue till unknowingly you learn as much (and sometimes more)about the city itself as you do about the characters. Vienna isn't just the setting of the story, it seems to be a living breathing character and perhaps the most important of them all. In every single paragraph there's an interesting little tidbit about the making of a famous building, or the marriage of some king, or what a famous artist did said or composed while in the city. All of it makes you want to put down the book and grab the first tickets to Austria that very moment.

It's about art. The one other thing that seems to be as important a factor as the city and it's royalty in this book is music and the opera. There are pages and pages on the antics that go on backstage at the theatre, the superstitions of the performers, their dreams and hopes, their fears and failures and eccentricites, the bailiffs, the pressure of performance, the rush to grab the audiences attention, the scarcity of money...the list goes on. The opera and it's inhabitants once again form a tidy little group of childlike adults, each more eccentric than the last and as a whole a not entirely unadorable little troup.

And then, only then, is it about any romance at all. But I loved the story. Every single last bit of it. Eva Ibbotson is one of those authors who leave you begging for more and I highly recommend anyone and everyone with an interest in art, music, history or theatre to pick up the book. (less)

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May 01, 2012 Jill rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book is virtually identical to Ibbotson's The Morning Gift in many ways, but I didn’t care. I always say, when you have a good story, stick with it! It was still enjoyable to me in the way all modern fairy tales are. Nevertheless, having just read The Morning Gift before this one, there were no surprises for me, except for the occasional change in syntax:

The Morning Gift: “What I’m going to do now, is kiss you.”

The Reluctant Heiress: “’I’m going to kiss you, you see,’ he explained.”

Yes, the...more

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Jan 20, 2012 Rebecca rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical, romance

Guy Farne was abandoned as a baby and grew up first in an orphanage, then with a foster mother. When he fell in love with a young woman whose family threw him out for being penniless and nameless, he spent years amassing a vast fortune so he could eventually win her. His coup de grace was purchasing a magnificent, ancient Austrian castle from its bankrupt owners (just one of many Austrian and German castles for sale after WWI) and throwing a house party with the creme de la creme (such as it now...more

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Oct 18, 2011 Melissa rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Mar 19, 2011 Nan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, romance

This book was exactly what I wanted at exactly the right time. I was suffering from a migraine yesterday when I started it, and this light and fluffy concoction was enough to distract me from my pain while still being light enough not to add to my strain.

This book is entirely predictable, but that's part of the reason you'll want to turn to it. As much as we readers know how the narrative will end, it's a delight getting there. The characters are lively and often filled with joy. Love of music f...more

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May 03, 2010 Kate Quinn rated it 4 of 5 stars

Eva Ibbotson's usual lovely effort to raise the bar in the romance category, redeeming a typical fairy-tale plot with real people and real humor. Taking place in Austria just after World War I, we are swiftly introduced to two people obviously intended for each other: Guy, an English foundling turned self-made millionaire, and Tessa, an Austrian princess with a lineage that goes back to Charlemagne. But Guy is smitten with a snobbish fiancee and buys Tessa's castle to impress her, while Tessa is...more

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Feb 15, 2010 Melissa rated it 2 of 5 stars

Update: I finished... actually, I skipped a lot of the book. I just couldn't get into it. And it wasn't even the random big words (see earlier rant below). I just didn't really care about these characters. And there was so much in this book that didn't seem to fit quite right or that just felt like filler. I really doubt I'll ever read anything by Eva Ibbotson again.

Just a quick note... I'm only 40 pages in and I'm a bit annoyed with the author. "Vituperative" and "salubrious"? Really? She could...more

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Nov 24, 2009 Candi rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya

If I had read this book before I read A Countess Below Stairs it would have been one of my favorite books. A beautiful story with such a great leading lady, and the opera...Debussy, Mozart, Puccini--love love love. I like the sacrifice of everything toward the greater good of music, and that Beethoven's button business-genius.
However, this is strikingly similar to A Countess Below Stairs and that book has a slightly more appealing hero, bigger climax moment with that great line that goes somethi...more

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Nov 11, 2009 Nicole Catherine rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: fluffy not-quite-squeaky-clean romance lovers

Shelves: the-only-slightly-sketchy-shelf

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Sep 21, 2009 Angie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: good-uns, ya

I was so excited to find another Eva Ibbotson book! Awhile back I blew through A Song for Summer, A Countess Below Stairs, A Company of Swans, and The Morning Gift. When I surfaced again, I found myself really hoping the magic spell wouldn't end there. Happily there was one more sweet historical in store for me. THE RELUCTANT HEIRESS is a (retitled) re-issue of Ibbotson's Magic Flutes, which was originally published in 1982. It is set in the 1920s and revolves around the outrageously funny and t...more I was so excited to find another Eva Ibbotson book! Awhile back I blew through A Song for Summer, A Countess Below Stairs, A Company of Swans, and The Morning Gift. When I surfaced again, I found myself really hoping the magic spell wouldn't end there. Happily there was one more sweet historical in store for me. THE RELUCTANT HEIRESS is a (retitled) re-issue of Ibbotson's Magic Flutes, which was originally published in 1982. It is set in the 1920s and revolves around the outrageously funny and touching members of the Viennese Opera Company, in particular a young woman named Tessa who eats, drinks, and breathes music and is the heart and soul of the company.

The narrative alternates between Tessa and Guy's stories as they work their way toward meeting one day in the bowels of the theater when Guy walks in on a weeping Tessa, who (an absolute martyr when it comes to opera) has just chopped off all her beautiful hair to provide a wig for the diva to wear in that night's performance. From there their lives intersect at more or less regular intervals and these two individuals with such wildly different backgrounds unexpectedly become friends. The one thing they share is a love of music. And music permeates the pages of this book, wrapping itself around you as you read. Tessa has turned her back on her past and made the opera the focus of her entire life, while Guy has all but nullified his humble origins by molding his life around the pursuit of wealth and power. When the woman he's loved since he was a young student at Oxford is suddenly widowed and back on the market, he lays out an alarmingly elaborate plan to woo and win her back and gift her with the life he believes she deserves. Unsurprisingly, no one is who they seem to be and that presents several sticky problems for our protagonists to tackle.

Opening up an Eva Ibbotson book is like biting into a hot biscuit smothered with butter and jam--at once perfectly satisfying and extremely comforting. Similar to A Countess Below Stairs there are few, if any, unpredictable events in this story. But that's not really what it's about. It's about those arresting passages you come across at just the right moment and think--perfect. Absolutely perfect. Similar to A Song for Summer and A Company of Swans the characters' love of art and nature fairly leap off the pages and it's hard to resist their charms and not wish you lived in a time and place where ancient royalty glided about crumbling castles and Mozart was god. In fact, my favorite bits in this book are the ones where the characters talk about Mozart and Beethoven and the way music makes life worth living. I liked Tessa and Guy quite a bit. I wish they had a few more scenes together. There is one point near the end of the story where they find themselves alone in the same place for the first time in months and months and their quiet conversation is exquisite. The story needed just a few more of those intimate moments to really cement the arc of their relationship and move it from like-minded acquaintances to soulmates. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed my read, laughed several times, had tears in my eyes twice, and fell in love with each and every member of the opera company. For Ibbotson fans, this volume is not to be missed.(less)

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Jul 27, 2009 Amanda rated it 4 of 5 stars

As always, "The Reluctant Heiress" kept my not only my heart, but my emotional well-being on a roller coaster. Though it was not one of my favorite of Eva Ibbotson's works, for I was not groveling in painful tears and heartache as usual, it was none the less an enriching and enchanting piece of literature, starring as usual a humble, most-likable heroin, a man, this time battling with love's folly, and of course - conflict, at which Mrs. Ibbotson is distinguished in my opinion. Again, I was surp...more

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May 24, 2009 Delaina rated it 4 of 5 stars

How does one describe the novels of Eva Ibbotson? She has a way of blending outlandishly caricatured, eminently familiar hero and villain types with simple, earnest storytelling. Damning with faint praise, you say? No, no, for she does it so very well that, as a reader, you allow yourself to be swept away into her unabashedly modern fairy tale world. And her YA romance novels are nothing if not that. They don't contain the obvious trappings of fairy tales, for the characters are real people (eve...more

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May 12, 2009 Courtney rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: teen

A republican princess of the people is charmed by a self-made orphan who buys her castle and shares her love of opera. This is the barest of summaries. A sweet, predictable book. I regret that I did not believe the relationship between Guy and Tessa, neither in its early stages, nor in its progression. Also I dislike that Ibbotson's bad-guy characters are so two-dimensional. Why do they have no redeeming qualities? Their shallow, self-absorption makes them the perfect fairy-tale foils (and utter...more

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May 02, 2009 Debbie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: oldbooks-historicalfiction

I know, I KNOW, that any time I pick up one of Eva Ibbotson's romances, I can't put it down. I KNOW THIS. And yet, last night when I got home after midnight, I STILL PICKED IT UP. Fortunately I could sleep in this morning.

The remarkable thing about this unbreakable grip Ibbotson's books have on me is that the main characters are the same from book to book, which you'd think would get boring. All the girls are young and full of loving, giving life, and all the guys are about 10 years older, hot-t...more I know, I KNOW, that any time I pick up one of Eva Ibbotson's romances, I can't put it down. I KNOW THIS. And yet, last night when I got home after midnight, I STILL PICKED IT UP. Fortunately I could sleep in this morning.

The remarkable thing about this unbreakable grip Ibbotson's books have on me is that the main characters are the same from book to book, which you'd think would get boring. All the girls are young and full of loving, giving life, and all the guys are about 10 years older, hot-tempered and remarkably talented. But this sameness doesn't matter - I have to keep reading, and I enjoy each book. Some people say that there are only a few basic plots in existence - every author just writes them differently. I guess my Ibbotson addiction really proves that a single plot, told in the same way several times, can be ever-entertaining. I don't know if this mostly reflects well on her or poorly on me. I just know I like the stories she tells.

In this iteration, the man is an orphan who was found as a baby under a piece of sacking on a dock. He is brilliant and has devoted himself to making money. The girl is an Austrian princess who must sell her magnificent castle because there is no more money for upkeep. Although a princess, she believes in the equality of all people and works, unpaid, for an opera company, in a wholehearted effort to support this branch of the arts she loves. The man ends up purchasing the castle and hiring the opera company all in an effort to win back the girl he lost 10 years ago and support her in the style of life to which she dreams of being accustomed. He and the girl are attracted to each other, but he doesn't really acknowledge this since he's engaged to someone else, and she tries to convince herself to stop thinking of him. But in the end, their true love triumphs.

As always, Ibbotson includes a cast of engaging and eccentric side characters. And the setting is Vienna after WWI and a castle I'd love to explore. Another of Ibbotson's traits that I like is her passion for music that she passes on to her characters. In this book, there is a performance of Mozart's The Magic Flute that is transcendent, the music full of truth, to use her word.(less)

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Oct 24, 2012 SLK rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: romance, fiction, historical

I don't think whomever wrote the summary did the novel justice. The chance encounter that evidences Guy's kind and tender heart (his tendresse for his young love is further evidence). I read this as "Magic Flutes". Very sweet, tender denouement of Tessa's love and her feelings for Guy. It gradually sneaks up on her as she is trying to give her heart to the theater/Opera Company. The gift of the perfect performance of the Magic Flute at the Castle is one of the things that further brings Guy and...more

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Apr 14, 2011 Nafiza rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, fairytale-retellings

Eva Ibbotson writes fairytales. Or at least the two books I have read by her seem like fairytales. For reasons that will become clearer as the review progresses, I have decided to review both books together. I have spent almost a year immersed in the academics of fairytales (and yes, it is as fun as it sounds), deconstructing fairytales, finding out what they are saying under the shiny dresses and glass slippers and finding out that they are not as benign as they may be portrayed to be. On the s...more Eva Ibbotson writes fairytales. Or at least the two books I have read by her seem like fairytales. For reasons that will become clearer as the review progresses, I have decided to review both books together. I have spent almost a year immersed in the academics of fairytales (and yes, it is as fun as it sounds), deconstructing fairytales, finding out what they are saying under the shiny dresses and glass slippers and finding out that they are not as benign as they may be portrayed to be. On the surface, The Secret Countess and The Reluctant Heiress are delightful reads. They are sort of Cinderella stories, no wait, they actually are Cinderella stories.

In The Secret Countess, Anna is a noble who was almost unimaginably rich, lost it all due to political upheavals that left her entire family penniless and in London, at the mercy of an English governess they retained. In The Reluctant Heiress, Tessa is a penniless princess who has to sell off her castle because her family lost family members and all its money due to um…political upheavals. The heroes of both novels are somehow damaged whether in physically or emotionally. They are saturnine and fashioned in the style of Austen’s Darcy.

If you have read many fairytales, you will realize that the female protagonist of the tales always get their princes after they have been humiliated. Ibbotson’s heroines are almost falling over themselves to please. To serve. This is directly at odds with their upbringing and honestly? Not very realistic. As if their humility is not enough, they are nice to everyone (well, almost everyone) but I think what stood out most for me is their almost obsessive compulsion to serve people. To go to the extent of cutting her hair (TRH) or to have her hands be chapped and hurt (TSC) before they are able to get their “princes.” What else is problematic for me is the portrayal of the “other women.” In both these books, the other woman is the fiancée. Both women are vain, (taking pleasure in the way they look is a criminal offence) and both are loathe to “serve” and abase themselves in the manner of the heroines (who are actually above them where social status is concerned). For Ibbotson there are only two types of women: The Cinderella type and the Evil Queen (from Snow White) type.

In both stories, the men could not “break their word” that they gave to the other woman being the manly men they are and instead resort to elaborate schemes in order to make the other woman break up with him. See this? I don’t like it. What’s wrong with cutting your losses and making a run for it?

You’ll say to me, “Nafiza, this book does not promise a realistic tale. You yourself said it was a fairytale.” And yes, you are right. This book or rather both books did not promise realism and I am not finding fault with that but what I do find fault with is that both books endorse subservience in women. Both books portray finding pleasure in the way you look or taking care of your appearance (admitted in an exaggerated manner) in a very negative light. In both books, the “princes” take it for granted that the protagonist would agree to marry them and skip the asking part. So while I might end up liking the heroines (because it is impossible to hate them) I will end up hating the fact that I do so. And Ibbotson doesn’t do any favours to men either. I am all about being honorable but not at the expense of your personal happiness.

I found the writing to be overwhelming full of descriptions and names I could not pronounce. I liked the descriptions – I just wish there had been less of it. I am going to read one more book by Ms. Ibbotson and see if it is essentially the same story set in a different place. I don’t know if I want to recommend it or not. But if you do read it, keep in mind that people like the heroines only exist in fiction and they are not women you want to emulate. It’s okay to be a little vain.(less)

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Oct 09, 2011 Destiny rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 1920s, young-adult, historical-romance, historical-fiction

I really enjoyed this book. I bought this and four other books by Eva Ibbotson. I decided to pick this one up to read a few days ago because it looked interesting. It didn't fail me. I really liked Tessa and I was rooting for her and Guy to get together. But of course in their way, they had Guy's fiancee, Nerine. I was originally annoyed by the author portraying stereotypical feminine things like wanting to look good and loving to shop as being shallow. But as I read, I found out that Nerine was...more

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Jan 15, 2011 Breda rated it 3 of 5 stars

Eva Ibbotson's middle grade far outclasses her YA: it's more light-hearted in intent, which gives it both more fun and more emotional heft than this heavy-handed attempt at a romance. It's very sweet, but it lacks the impact and the creativity of, say, THE ISLAND OF THE AUNTS, not to mention its polished and easy prose. She has a hard time here with the maxim, "Show, don't tell," and instead prefers that less-beloved but no less common method, the infodump. Her books are very old-fashioned in a...more

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Jun 01, 2009 Hayden rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult, art-history, chick-lit, historical, humor, romance, teen

I'm sure Eva Ibbotson is too precious by half for a lot of people, but I like her and she is very popular with a certain kind of teen girl. I've read two of her written-for-adults-but-recently-repackaged-for-teens books now, and while I liked A Countess Below Stairs better, this one is good too. To me, the main selling point is the voice of the narrarator, which is arch but kind to her characters.

The basic formula in these books is that a young woman loses her job as a princess/member of the ari...more

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May 11, 2010 Margaret H. rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: frivolous-fun-books, historical-fiction, young-adult-fiction

If you've read and enjoyed Eva Ibbotsen's other recently republished historical romances, this one is just the same and perfectly charming. The plot is extremely similar to that of The Countess Below Stairs, but the supporting cast is distinct enough that it's still quite enjoyable to read.

All of Ibbotsen's heroines are roughly the same type: whisper-thin urchins with huge eyes and mischevious grins whose pure-hearted joy at life and art makes them glow from within. Her heroes, by and large, ar...more

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Feb 25, 2010 Flannery rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult-teen, read-in-2010, bpl

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jun 03, 2012 Shelver 506 rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical, ya-fiction

Originally posted at http://shelversanon.blogspot.com

This is such a strange book. Do you know how a cat will tip its head and jerkily poke an unfamiliar object? That's how I feel starting this review.

The writing style was... weird. I don't know if it was a "I was written in the 80's and we did things differently then" kind of weird or what, because I'm not an expert on the evolution of writing styles. Maybe it was an Austrian type of style (the story is set in Austria, and I'm willing to wager t...more

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About Eva Ibbotson

Eva Ibbotson (born Maria Charlotte Michelle Wiesner, 1925, Vienna, Austria) was a British novelist specializing in romance and children's fantasy. Eva Ibbotson was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1925. When Hitler came into power, Ibbotson's family moved to England. She attended Bedford College, graduating in 1945; Cambridge University from 1946-47; and the University of Durham, from which she graduat...more Eva Ibbotson (born Maria Charlotte Michelle Wiesner, 1925, Vienna, Austria) was a British novelist specializing in romance and children's fantasy. Eva Ibbotson was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1925. When Hitler came into power, Ibbotson's family moved to England. She attended Bedford College, graduating in 1945; Cambridge University from 1946-47; and the University of Durham, from which she graduated with a diploma in education in 1965. Ibbotson had intended to be a physiologist, but was put off by the amount of animal testing that she would have to do. Instead, she married and raised a family, returning to school to become a teacher in the 1960's. Ibbotson was widowed with three sons and a daughter.

Ibottson began writing with the television drama Linda Came Today, in 1965. Ten years later, she published her first novel, The Great Ghost Rescue. Ibbotson has written numerous books including The Secret of Platform 13, Journey to the River Sea, Which Witch?, Island of the Aunts, and Dial-a-Ghost. She won the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize for Journey to the River Sea, and has been a runner up for many of major awards for British children's literature. The books are imaginative and humorous, and most of them feature magical creatures and places, despite the fact that she disliked thinking about the supernatural, and created the characters because she wanted to decrease her readers' fear of such things. Some of the books, particularly Journey to the River Sea, also reflect Ibbotson's love of nature. Ibbotson wrote this book in honor of her husband (who had died just before she wrote it), a former naturalist. The book had been in her head for years before she actually wrote it. Ibbotson said she dislikes "financial greed and a lust for power" and often creates antagonists in her books who have these characteristics. Some have been struck by the similarity of "Platform 9 3/4" in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books to Ibbotson's The Secret of Platform 13, which came out three years before the first Harry Potter book.

Her love of Austria is evident in works such as The Star Of Kazan and A Song For Summer. These books, set primarily in the Austrian countryside, display the author's love for nature and all things natural.

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Quotes from The Reluctant Heiress

“I must go-- the aunts will be worried. Guy, I don't know if we will meet again, but--" Her voice broke and she tried again. "Sometimes, when you're alone and you look up at--" Once more, she had to stop. Then she managed, "If I cannot be anything else... could I be your Star Sister? Could I at least be that?"

Guy dug his nails into his palms. Everything in him rose in protest at the fey, romantic conceit. He did not want her in the heavens, linked to him by some celestial whimsy, but here and now in the flesh and after the death of the flesh, her hand in his as they rose from graves like these when the last trump sounded.

"Yes," he managed to say. "You can be my Star Sister. You can at least be that.” — 14 people liked it

“She took a deep breath, inhaling the night air scented with hay, honeysuckle and the rich waters of the lake, listened to the music and laughter coming from the theatre, tilted her head to the the stars. She had never seen them so brilliant and clear. Cassiopeia, Orion, the great girdle of the Milky Way-and her own birth sign, Gemini. With such staggering beauty in the world, how could anyone not rejoice?

It seemed however, that 'anyone' could. For at once came the age-old cry of lovers since time began. 'What are the stars if i am not gazing at them with him? What is beauty except something we share?” — 10 people liked it

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