Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

I’ve been reading through Eva Ibbotson’s books and passing them on to my daughter for years now; tonight I finished listening to The Dragonfly Pool, and it was just as good as I wanted it to be.  Ibbotson tends to either mix a bit of poignancy into the absurd or a bit of the absurd into the poignant, and Dragonfly Pool was the latter.  It’s a story about a girl, a boarding school, a fictional European nation, and a very real period in history.  Tally loves her home and friends in London and is terribly upset when her father sends her off to a progressive boarding school; her father is just as upset, but it is 1939 and he knows Tally will be safer in the country. She soon grows to love Delderton.  When she and her friends travel to mainland Europe to participate in a children’s folk dancing festival, however, Hitler’s growing menace touches and changes all of their lives.  How the Deldertonians help the Berganian prince escape the Gestapo–and what happened after–makes for a period story that tugs at the heartstrings.  Ibbotson’s own history and experiences lend an authentic feel to a blend of historical fiction, fantasy, and fairy tale that ought to appeal to readers who enjoy at least one or two of the three.  This is an eminently worthwhile read–and on that note, I’m heading off to bed.  Goodnight all!