Picador The Secret Countess.

by Eva Ibbotson

By the award-winning and bestselling author of Journey to the River Sea, a novel that sings with characteristic Ibbotson warmth and wit. Anna, a young countess, has lived in the glittering city of St Petersburg all her life in an ice-blue palace overlooking the River Neva. But when revolution tears Russia apart, her now-penniless family is forced to flee to England. Armed with an out-of-date book on housekeeping, Anna determines to become a housemaid and she finds work at the Earl of Westerholme's crumbling but magnificent mansion. The staff and the family are sure there is something not quite right about their new maid - but she soon wins them over with her warmth and dedication.

Then the young Earl returns home from the war - and Anna falls hopelessly in love. But they can never be Rupert is engaged to the snobbish and awful Muriel - and anyway, Anna is only a servant. Or so everybody thinks . . .

352 pages, Paperback

Published May 1, 2025

About the author

Eva Ibbotson (Maria Charlotte Michelle Wiesner) was a novelist specializing in romance and children's fantasy.

She was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1925. When Hitler appeared, her family moved to England. She attended Bedford College, graduating in 1945; Cambridge University from 1946-47; and the University of Durham, graduating with a diploma in education in 1965. Eva had intended to be a physiologist but was put off by animal testing. Instead, she married and raised a family, returning to school to become a teacher in the 1960s. They have three sons and a daughter.

Eva began writing with the television drama “Linda Came Today” in 1965. Ten years later, she published her first novel, “The Great Ghost Rescue”. Eva has written numerous books including “The Secret Of Platform 13”, “Journey To The River Sea”, “Which Witch?”, “Island Of The Aunts”, and “Dial-A-Ghost”. She won the Nestlé Smarties Book Prize for “Journey To The River Sea” and has been a runner up for many of major awards for British children's literature.

Her books are imaginative and humorous and most of them feature magical creatures and places, despite that she disliked thinking about them. She created the characters because she wanted to decrease her readers' fear of such things.

Some of the books, particularly “Journey To The River Sea”, reflect Eva's love of nature. Eva wrote this book in honour of her husband (who had died before), a naturalist. The book had been in her head for years.

Eva said she dislikes "financial greed and a lust for power" and often creates antagonists in her books who have these characteristics. Some have been struck by the similarity of “Platform 9 3/4” in J.K. Rowling's books to Eva's “The Secret Of Platform 13”, which came out three years before the first Harry Potter book.

Her love of Austria is evident in works such as “The Star Of Kazan” and “A Song For Summer”. These books, set in the Austrian countryside, display the author's love for all things natural.

Reviews

[Kiara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story. I appreciated seeing how the war and life took different things away from each person. Anna was a joy to read about, both through her optimism and willingness to better her life and circumstances.

Throughout the book, I called Muriel the eugenics bride, which is honestly better than she deserved.

My critique here would be that throughout the book, I felt like we didn't get to see enough of Rupert and Anna, making the growth in their relationship feeling like it jumped at points. Also, the end felt very abrupt and we could've seen a bit more of them at the end. I think this might have been Ibbotson's style, as I remember feeling the same way about The Morning Gift's ending.