Title: A Company of Swans
Author: Eva Ibbotson
Series: Stand-alone
Genre: Historical Romance (YA)
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For nineteen-year-old Harriet Morton, life in 1912 Cambridge is as dry and dull as a biscuit. Her stuffy academic father and her oppressive aunt Louisa allow her only one outlet, ballet. There, in Madam Lavarre’s famed school, Harriet is finally able to come to life for a few hours each week. 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. He chooses her to be the “eighteenth swan.” Defying her father’s wishes and narrowly escaping the clutches of the man who wishes to marry her, Harriet sneaks off to join the Russian ballet on their journey to the Amazon. There, in the wild, lush jungle, they perform Swan Lake in grand golden 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 fiancé have begun to track her down….
My friend Kayla recommended this to me and I’m really glad she did because I enjoyed reading A Company of Swans a lot. The love story was so sweet and the heroine and hero are very likable, especially the hero. I actually found myself dreaming about them when I went to sleep last night.
I loved that the story is very clean. The romance is there, but it wasn’t gratuitous. I found myself laughing out loud at a few spots and grinning at others. The characters are exciting and evoke every emotion you can feel based on their actions.
My only disappointment, as with many other stories, whether it be a book or a movie, is that it ended too soon. I always want more, but stories without conflict don’t sell very well.
About Jenni Elyse
