Set in England after WWI, it's the story of a Russian countess, Anna, whose family flees to England after the revolution. She goes to work as a house servant for the Westerholme family, keeping her identity a secret. But her free spirit and cultured upbringing capture the attention of the master of the house, who is engaged to be married soon...and not to Anna.
The writing is witty. The characters are wonderful, even the ones you love to hate. It also deals with some of the attitudes that made the atrocities of the Holocaust happen. It's well worth reading.
Now, NaNo. I so admire those who do this. I'm too much of an edit as I go type to pull it off. Plus, I always seem to find myself in the middle of a book or revisions when November rolls around.
I have, however, been struggling to fit in writing time lately, so I've issued myself a mini-NaNo challenge. 1000 words a day. I'm still doing some revising and editing along the way, so this is way more doable than the 1700 or so words you'd need a day to reach 50K. The good news is, I found myself staying up last night to get my last few hundred words in when I would've just given up any other night.
How about all of you? Doing NaNo? Have before, but not this year? A mini-NaNo or unofficial NaNo? How does it work for you?
Haven't done Nano ever! My timing is always off. That book sounds like a great read, I'll have to remember this one!
ReplyDeleteI loved Countess Below Stairs! That was one of those books I just had to read in one sitting :) As for NaNo, I'm doing it unofficially to finish up the WiP I had been working on, and I'm a little behind at this point, but it is fun to get caught up in all of it! Good luck with your own NaNo :)
ReplyDeleteOh I love characters that you love to hate! No nano for me... I appreciate the written word and enjoy being a cheerleader to all you authors :) The longest work I've ever written was my thesis in graduate school and that about killed me :)
ReplyDeleteI signed up for NaNo for the first time this year, but I'm watching from the sidelines, keeping my regular pace, while I observe. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm not doing NaNo for basically the same reason. I'm about 20K to completing my current WiP and don't really want to start another while I'm working on this. One of these years, I will do it though :)
ReplyDeleteI did Nano last year and penned 25,000 words. I'm on board again this year and if I can duplicate last year's feat I'll be very happy!
ReplyDeleteLoved all of Eva Ibbotsons re-released romances. Countess Below Stairs was one of the best.
ReplyDeleteI can't discuss NaNo. I break out in hives.
Janine- Ahh. So these weren't originally written as YA? They do have sort of a Victoria Holt feel about them...no explicit sex scenes, but it still an adult feel to them. Most of her other newer stuff is MG, so I just figured she went from that to YA.
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