"A Company of Swans" by Eva Ibbotson

"A Company of Swans" by Eva Ibbotson

Published: July 1, 1985
Publisher: Speak

Genres: Young Adult, Historical, Romance

Pages: 384

Format: Paperback

Source: Bought

Read Sometime 2012

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For nineteen-year-old Harriet Morton, life in 1912 Cambridge is as dry and dull as a biscuit. Her stuffy father and her oppressive 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 fiancé have begun to track her down...

When I found this book, I was so excited. It was about dance, and I usually have trouble finding books that are about dance, other than biographies of dancers and histories of dance. So finding this book was a dream come true, and the story didn't disappoint!


Harriet leads a boring life. Her father and aunt are overbearing. She's supposed to marry a guy that she doesn't like. And she can't do anything that she wants to do. Other than dance. Ballet is the only thing that she enjoys, and the only thing her father and aunt let her do. So when she gets the opportunity to join a Russian company for their South American tour, she is ecstatic. However, everyone else isn't. So she decides to do something for herself, and run away.


Rom is a British exile who has created his own company. With this, he also owns the opera house that a ballet company will be performing in. Cue his meeting with Harriet.


I really liked the chemistry between the two of them. It isn't love at first sight, but they do grow to love each other. I love how they are reunited in the end, even though Harriet pretty much needed Rom to save her. I loved the ending so much.


I don't remember too much more, as I read this book about 3 years ago...


Harriet
I really liked her. Sure, she was kind of wimpy at times, but I think that was due to the fact that this book is set in 1912. I loved how when she got the opportunity to join the ballet company, she took it, even though is was definitely NOT what her father wanted.


Rom
I thought that he wasn't too bad. He did seem like a douche though, because he kind of lists off all of the women that he had been with before. He did turn out to be a great guy in the end thankfully!


Overall, I thought that this book was cute and sweet! It still had villains, of course, to give the book a bit more drama. I have high hopes for other books that are focused on dance, being a dancer myself. I also plan to read more books written by this author!