As a kid, I read quite a few of Eva Ibbotson’s novels for children (some of my favorites included Which Witch?, The Secret of Platform 13, and Island of the Aunts). This was at the height of my Harry Potter obsession phase (which, let’s be honest, never really went away), and some of Ibbotson’s work is said to have influenced some of JK Rowling’s. Plus, she’s just hilarious.

It had been a few years since I had last read an Ibbotson novel when I stumbled across the audiobook for A Countess Below Stairs in my library’s Libby (by Overdrive) app and realized that, in addition to children’s novels, Ibbotson also wrote historical romance. I gave it a listen and discovered that to my delight, Ibbotson’s humor is present not only in her children’s novels but also in the novels she wrote for adults. And after listening to me listen to it, Ben decided to listen to it too (more on this below). 

A Countess Below Stairs is a fun in-between World Wars story that’s lighthearted and doesn’t focus too much on the horrors of war and its aftereffects, but still has plenty of conflict and difficulty for the main characters. 

From Riches to Rags

Anna Grazinsky is born into a Russian noble family with close ties to the tsar. Wealthy, beautiful, and kind, she is loved by everyone who knows her and lives a charmed life, until her father is killed fighting in World War I. After his death, the Bolshevik revolution forces the Grazinskys to flee the country, leaving everything behind—except for their fortune in precious jewels and gems, which will be smuggled to a rendezvous point by Anna’s old nurse. 

When the nurse doesn’t show up at the rendezvous, Anna and her family realize that they have been betrayed, and they flee to England without her. They are able to seek refuge with their old English governess, but they are destitute. To support her family, Anna ignores her governess’s protests and gets a job as a housemaid at Mersham, a grand country estate. Armed with an outdated book of housekeeping tips, she is determined to be the best housemaid ever, despite the other staff members’ resentment of her when they realize that she is nobility. 

What Anna doesn’t anticipate is that Mersham’s owner, Rupert Frayne, Earl of Westerholme, will be quite so young and handsome. Or that she might start to fall in love with him. Unfortunately for Anna, Rupert is already engaged to Miss Muriel Hardwicke. And Muriel sucks. 

Ugh! Muriel!

Before Ben read A Countess Below Stairs himself, he would be in another room and hear me yelling “Ugh! Muriel!” every few minutes while I was washing the dishes. (Coincidentally, once he began listening to it, I would be in the other room and hear him yelling “Ugh! Muriel!”) That pretty much sums her up. 

Muriel is the most delightfully vile book villain I’ve met in quite a long time. She’s very much a caricature, but you hate her so much that you just can’t wait to see her get what’s coming to her. Muriel is vain, judgmental, and only wants to marry Rupert because, as the wealthy daughter of a businessman, she’s after a noble title to legitimize her standing in society. (Also, she hates puppies.)

She is also a devout follower of Dr. Lightbody, a self-credentialed professor of eugenics, and believes that anyone with any kind of imperfection, be it mental or physical, should not be allowed to reproduce or even to participate in society.

The moment Muriel arrives at Mersham, she sets about trying to make it fit to her idea of a “perfect” society. As many of Rupert’s servants, family members, and friends do not fit Muriel’s ideals, this causes plenty of hurt feelings, self-esteem issues, job resignations, societal rifts, and outrage. You kind of know it’s coming because, through Anna, you get to know and love the servants and other villagers and neighbors (and their various “imperfections”) before Muriel shows up, but it’s just amazing how totally and completely she wreaks havoc on Mersham and how unapologetic she is about the entire thing. It is both terrible and hilarious to watch, and makes the book’s resolution so much more satisfying. No spoilers, but the moment when she finally gets her comeuppance left both Ben and me cracking up. It was beautiful. 

Muriel kind of made this book for me even though she’s the villain, but of course, this story is about Anna. Anna is kind of like a fairy-tale princess; she’s beautiful and kind towards everyone she meets, and as a result, everyone loves her where they hate Muriel. Despite the fairy-tale heroine persona, however, Anna is still really likable (which is kind of the point) and you just can’t help but want her to succeed, especially as she is so willing to roll up her sleeves and work hard even though she was brought up to be a countess. 

Rupert was kinda boring. But I wanted Anna to be happy, so I wanted them to get together anyway.  All the same, I liked most of the other supporting characters more and felt like their personalities and quirks were more interesting.

Like Russian Snow

Ibbotson’s writing is just gorgeous from the first paragraph, and her lyrical prose sucked me in from the minute I started listening to the audiobook. There were moments when I just had to skip back a few seconds to catch something again because the writing was so lovely. 

It also had me laughing every few minutes. Eva Ibbotson’s dry humor shines in her kids’ books, but it also shines in this. The delivery of every joke is so perfectly straight-faced that you could miss it if you aren’t paying attention. 

That’s not to say that A Countess Below Stairs is a fluffy read or that there is no conflict. It deals with lots of rather dark topics—eugenics, anti-semitism, and inhumane mental institutions, to name a few—but in a way that is sensitive, and it balances out the serious with the comical in a way that is thought-provoking without being too heavy. Most of that is because those things are made fun of through the portrayal of Muriel, who is ridiculous to the extreme in her devotion to perfection and her judgment of others. 

Who to Read With

I think A Countess Below Stairs was originally published as a historical romance for adults, but I could see teens enjoying this as well. This might also be reflected by the fact that it was recently reissued with a YA label. If there’s swearing in it, it’s minor because I don’t remember there being any. 

There are a few moments that might make this less well-suited for younger children or tweens. These include a scene where someone walks in on someone else bathing (but looks away immediately); comments about women being “well-endowed”; and, of particular note for me, an elderly uncle who has a taste for grabbing maids. Nothing is described in detail and is mostly mentioned in passing, but all those things would probably make this one to enjoy with your more mature family members. 

That being said, though, A Countess Below Stairs is pretty tame, despite dealing with a lot of serious stuff. There wasn’t anything I felt uncomfortable listening to, although I made sure to have my headphones on when Geekling was in earshot.

Listen Together

I listened to A Countess Below Stairs through my public library’s Overdrive subscription. I liked it so much that I went to look for the audiobook on Audible and found, much to my dismay, that it isn’t available. There is a heavily abridged version called The Secret Countess, but the audiobook I listened to and enjoyed so much wasn’t even listed. You might be able to find it through your library’s Overdrive subscription if you’re lucky, but if not, this might be one you have to read in print (sorry, busy moms!). Because this is one story you definitely don’t want to read in an abridged form.

If you are unlucky in the Overdrive department but are still interested in listening, I did find an audiobook CD on Amazon, which I checked and confirmed is the same one I listened to. There are also print copies available on Bookshop and Amazon. Purchasing books from Bookshop will support independent bookstores, which have been struggling to stay open during the pandemic.

Which historical romances are your favorites? Let us know in the comments if there are any others we should check out!