The Secret Countess

Her books are utterly delightful' - Daily Mail'Radiant and comforting' - The TLSAward-winner Eva Ibbotson's The Secret Countess, author of The Morning Gift, is a classic historical romance that stretches across countries, families and class divides. After revolution tears her country apart, young Russian countess Anna Grazinsky is forced to flee Saint Petersburg for rural England, where her now penniless family has no choice but to rely on the kindness of their only friend, Anna's old governess. Determined to help her family in any way possible, Anna arms herself with an out-of-date book on housekeeping and takes work as a servant at a crumbling mansion in the English countryside. 1919 sees Rupert, the handsome young Earl of Westerholme, return from war and become instantly mesmerized by Anna. As powerful attraction clashes with tradition, Anna finds concealing her true identity increasingly impossible.