Magic Flutes by Eva Ibbotson

The next stop in the Book Junkie Trials is The Queendom Stone, which asks me to read a book featuring royalty. I decided to go with Magic Flutes by Eva Ibbotson for this prompt, as I recently heard about this author from a reading blog I follow and really wanted to give one of her books a try. Ibbotson is known primarily as an author of children's literature, but she wrote some novels for adults too. Recently, some of her adult novels have been republished and marketed as YA fiction. Magic Flutes is one of these. She wrote between the 1970s and the 2010s, but her work is set in the past and the plot summaries I saw gave me major fairy tale/classics vibes, so I went into my reading hoping to discover a new favorite author.

The plot of the novel follows Tessa, a young Viennese princess living in the early 1920s. Despite being born to royalty, Tessa doesn't care a bit for wealth or titles. Her true love is music, especially opera. It would be unheard of for a member of Austrian nobility to work with an opera company, so Tessa disguises her true identity and takes a job working backstage with a small theater company. Tessa is a hard worker and is devoted to helping the company create beautiful productions. She quickly becomes an indispensable and much-loved member of the crew, completing a wide variety of tasks ranging from costume alterations to painting scenery. None of the people she works with know who she really is, and she endeavors to keep things that way.

It becomes impossible to maintain this facade, however, when a wealthy investor purchases her family's ancestral castle and hires Tessa's company to put on an opera there. This investor, Guy Farne, is an orphan that has worked his way up in the world from nothing. In buying the castle, he is hoping to impresses Nerine, the young, upper class woman he has been in love with for years. The opera, a production of The Magic Flutes, is part of a week-long party he has planned, and all the titled people in Austria will be there.

Of course, Tessa can not continue on with her false identity with so many other royals around. She is instantly recognized, but she continues on working for the company in spite of this, just as before. Her devotion to helping create art is strong, and she is starting to feel drawn to Guy, a man with a big personality and a love of music very similar to her own. Guy is starting to have feelings for Tessa as well, although with Nerine finally accepting his advances, he is torn as to how he should proceed. Should he stick with the woman he's been chasing for years, or should he throw caution to the wind and choose the unusual princess with a heart as musical as his own?

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It was reminiscent of a Jane Austen romance, overflowing with charm and all sorts of characters to love and to hate. I did have a few issues while reading; Ibbotson's language, while clever and tongue-in-cheek, took some getting used to. Many sentences felt oddly constructed and didn't necessarily flow into each other smoothly. I did eventually slip into her style, but it was something I was very conscious of throughout the first part of the story. I also thought that the descriptions of the various settings went on for too long, and that the pacing in general was slow throughout. However, I still really enjoyed the novel in spite of these things. It's one of those stories that you know isn't perfect, but you like it anyway.

One of my favorite aspects of the novel was Tessa's character. She is quiet, unfailingly kind, and incredibly thoughtful. She always considers the feelings of those around her and is a hard worker. At the same time, she is very strong willed and independent. She makes her own decisions and doesn't let anyone push her around. She works in a theater despite her royal status. She refuses a very advantageous marriage because she will only marry for love. She refuses to act any particular way just because people expect her to. I loved her, and so did almost every other character in the novel. She might have been a little too perfect, in fact, but I have such a soft spot for characters that are quietly powerful that I could forgive this. She is exactly the kind of heroine that I would want to be if I were in a book.

The secondary characters are similarly wonderful. Ibbotson develops them with such distinct personalities that they feel very genuine. It was easy to tell them apart, which is not something I can always say of minor characters in a novel. They behave throughout the story in ways that make absolute sense for them, and there were some reals gems among them. Guy's foster mother, Mrs. Hodge, was my special favorite; she's another kind, thoughtful character that's easy to love. Her relationship with Guy is charming and a treat to read.

The plot of the novel definitely has a "classics" feel to it. It's an utterly predictable romance, so there aren't a lot of twists or suspenseful moments to uncover. Instead, it's the kind of book that encourages the readers to slow down and enjoy the ride. Many common romance tropes fill the pages, and it's comforting to watch all the pieces of the story fall into place. Good triumphs. Selfishness is punished. Happiness reigns. The world manages to become as it should be by the last page, with lots of laughs, pretty dresses, and swirling emotions along the way. It's a wonderfully sweet story, for the right reader.

Magic Flutes was a very enjoyable read for me. I do feel, however, that you have to be in the right mood for a book like this. This is a book made for quiet days, big cups of coffee, and a desire to drift into familiar waters where you know things will turn out okay in the end. I think that some readers will fall in love with Eva Ibbotson, and others will be bored out of their minds. As for me, I fall in the former camp. I wouldn't say this book is a new all-time favorite, but it's a comfortable one that I will remember fondly. I will certainly seek out more of Ibbotson's work in the future.


Challenge Tally
Book Junkie Trials (The Queendom Stone - Read a book featuring royalty) 7/17
Finally in 2019: 27/6 Books Read - Complete!

Total Books Read in 2019: 45