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A review by kailey_luminouslibro
A Countess Below Stairs by Eva Ibbotson

3.0


Anna and her family have fled to London after the Russian Revolution and she is forced to work as a maid in order to support her ailing mother. Rupert, the Earl of Westerholme, is on his way home from serving in WWI, and the entire household is working night and day to have the house ready to receive him. He is bringing his rich fiancée, Muriel, to look over the estate and plan their wedding, but the moment he meets Anna, he feels a strong attraction to her. Anna is torn between her feelings for him and needing to hide her high-born ancestry in order to keep her job.

Everyone at the Westerholme estate hates Muriel, the earl's fiancée, because she is so prejudiced against anyone with the slightest disability or blemish. She is a devotee of the popular ideas on eugenics. This becomes a main theme in the book, and the other characters are appalled at her lack of compassion. She makes a great villain, because you really love to hate her. She's so despicable and nasty.

I loved sweet Anna! She is kind and compassionate to everyone. She has charm, grace, and courage in the midst of a very difficult life. I loved the scenes where she is confused and upset and probably suffering from culture shock. It just shows that she has strength, but she also can be vulnerable.

I liked Rupert okay. He's sort of a cookie-cutter hero character. There is one scene where he finally lets down his guard and starts laughing hysterically, and then I finally really liked him. He's incredibly stupid for most of the book though, because he puts up with that mean fiancée of his just because she has money, and from this mistaken sense of honor that he has to marry her no matter how awful she is, because he "gave his word." What an idiot.

There is a creepy uncle character who sexually harasses all the maids in the house, pinching their bottoms, kissing them, and groping them. The book treats this as if it is harmless, and even the maids say that they don't mind because "he never goes too far". Pervert uncle gets away with it. Ew.

Rupert's mother uses a Ouija board to contact the spirits, trying to contact her deceased husband and son. The other characters don't believe that she can really hear spirits, but they indulge her.

There is a little bit of mild profanity. There is also a scene where a character gets drunk and passes out, and the footmen have to drag the man back to bed to sleep it off.

I really love this author's writing style! The prose is beautiful and vivid. The story was adorable, although the plot was a little predictable.

I liked all the supporting characters too! Actually, the supporting characters had more "screen time" than the two main characters. Their romance is sort of boiling under the surface, and a lot of the focus is on how they interact with all the supporting characters.
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