For nineteen-year-old Harriet Morton, life in 1912 Cambridge is as dry and dull as a biscuit. Her stuffy father and her opressive aunt Louisa allow her only one outlet: ballet. When a Russian ballet master comes to class searching for dancers to fill the corps of his ballet company before their South American tour, Harriet’s world changes. Defying her father’s wishes and narrowly escaping the clutches of the man who wishes to marry her, Harriet sneaks off to join the ballet on their journey to the Amazon. There, in the wild, lush jungle, they perform Swan Lake in grand opera houses for the wealthy and culture-deprived rubber barons, and Harriet meets Rom Verney, the handsome and mysterious British exile who owns the most ornate opera house. Utterly enchanted by both the exotic surroundings and by Rom’s affections, Harriet is swept away by her new life, completely unaware that her father and would-be finacé have begun to track her down. . . .
There were a few scenes that were wonderfully surprising and delighting. I found myself amazed and laughing out loud when I thought about those scenes later. However, I was disappointed to find the author used one of my pet peeves. The hero and heroine made erroneous assumptions about each other that would have been cleared up if only they had communicated in a normal manner. They loved each other and wanted to marry, but each one thought the other did not. Therefore, they separated. I hate this. I wanted to rate this 5 stars due to creativity and ideas I haven't seen elsewhere, but I'm giving it a 4, due to the reasons for the separation. I was also a bit sad at the end thinking about the evil done to Harriet by her father and aunt.
CAUTION SPOILERS: Following are brief references to two wonderful scenes. Page 203, after seeing Harriet dance, Alvarez decides to do something he previously was not going to do. Page 233, Harriet's unbelievable delight in describing herself as "ruined" after she sleeps with Rom.
Sexual language: none. Number of sex scenes: none. Setting: 1912 England and Amazon River in Brazil. Copyright: 1985. Genre: historical romance.
writes,
Eva Ibbotson's early romantic books have been out of print for a number of years, so i was delighted to see this new printing of her adult novels. Perhaps due to her popular children's fiction, i have seen this book and her other romance novels listed under adolescent literature, but there are definitely adult themes. Ms. Ibbotson's novels make frequent references to mythology, classic literature, and musical arts, which set them apart from the ordinary romance genre. I have learned a lot about opera, ballet, and the classics just from reading her books.
I first read this novel almost 20 years ago. It is a warm, feel good story which i can escape into over and over again. Highly recommended
writes,
This book is one of my favorites. I picked it up not knowing the author at all and became lost in a touching romance. I now try to find her books wherever I can. This is usually in libraries, because most of her adult books at out of print.
