A review by rhodered
Madensky Square by Eva Ibbotson

5.0

This is a book tinged with a certain bittersweet, calm middle European melancholia that I enjoy, but suspect some Americans might not like the flavor of. It is romantic and thoughtful, with a marvelous sense of place and history. And the characters are all so well drawn, people who make you (or at least me) smile in passing. It's an intelligent book, written by a woman who herself came originally from the city it's written about. She knows and clearly deeply loves these places and people, although the story takes place in what would have been her mother or grandmother's era.

Her other books are either quirky children's fare or quirky adult romances in which the humble, young adult heroine is often celebrated for her extraordinary kindheartedness.

This is not one of those books. In fact, this is the author's only published venture into what I would call true literary fiction. The heroine is a true adult woman who owns her own small business in a time when being a single woman alone was not normal or easy. She is not wide-eyed naive. She will save herself if she needs saving, rather than requiring the deuce ex machina of a conveniently timed romance. There is a romance, but it's icing, not the cake.

I don't know if you can tell from this description, but it is one of my favorite books of all time. Top 10 probably.