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
| Primary Genre | Young Adult Fiction |
| Recommendations: |
'Written with such a lightness of touch and extraordinary charm that they always change my mood to hopeful. Absolute balm.' - Marian Keyes, author of Rachel's Holiday
The Morning Gift is a modern classic of unexpected love, independence and belonging during World War II. By award-winner Eva Ibbotson, author of The Secret Countess and A Song for Summer.
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?
'Her books are utterly delightful' - Daily Mail
The Morning Gift features in the following genres: Young Adult Fiction, Books with reviews by our Reader Review Panel, eBooks of the Month, Children’s, Teenage and Educational, Recommendations
The Morning Gift is available in Paperback
The Morning Gift was written by Eva Ibbotson and published by Picador an imprint of Pan Macmillan
The Morning Gift has 506 pages
£8.99