Background
The book is based on Eva Ibbotson's own experience as a refugee and many elements and characters within the novel follow events and people in her own life. Ibbotson was born in..."''who belonged to that displaced group of Jews that were created by Hitler - assimilated, non-religious intellectuals, the backbone of Austrian and German cultural life, many of whom had never set foot inside a synagogue''"...A few years later her parents separated and Ibbotson moved to Berlin with her mother, who worked with the legends of the
(Eva Ibbotson - Preface to the novel '' Manja'' by her mother Anna Gmeyner)
..."''its streets abounded with Jewish doctors and lawyers and school children; with Communists and Social Democrats, with actors and writers and bankers of no particular political persuasion who had spoken out against the Nazis. The war had not yet come, but these refugees saw its necessity as the English could not yet do. They used their humour to keep the terror and desolation at bay, but it was always there. This band of exiles had been deprived in a few years of the certainty of centuries''"...The experience of fleeing Vienna and the sight of friends and relatives who came through London as refugees, desperate and in fear, became a strong thread throughout Eva Ibbotson's life and work as her son Piers Ibbotson recently recalled in an interview.Eva Ibbotson's son speaks about her legacy, by Hannah Davies, ''The Journal'', 2011piers ibbotson
(Eva Ibbotson - Preface to the novel ''Manja'' by her mother Anna Gmeyner)
Plot summary
''The Morning Gift'' tells the story of Ruth Berger, whose family is part of the Jewish Intelligentsia in Vienna. When the Nazis take over, the Bergers organize a student visa for Ruth to be sent ahead to England, not realizing that she will not be allowed to leave Austria because of her political leanings as a Social Democrat. When her father is suddenly arrested by the Gestapo, he is told to leave Austria within a week and while his family is able to escape to London, Ruth on a separate transport is stopped on the border by the SS and sent back to Vienna. Quinton Somerville, an English professor and scientist who worked with Professor Berger in the past, arrives in Vienna for an award ceremony and learns that Professor Berger has been dismissed. Trying to contact the family, he visits Bergers' home and discovers Ruth, who is desperate to find a way to escape to England. Several attempts to get a valid visa for Ruth fail and Quin realizes that the only way to get her out of the country quickly is through a marriage of convenience. The marriage has to stay a secret until Ruth receives British citizenship, but once safe in London, the annulment of the marriage takes much longer than expected. Ruth and her family try to re-establish their life in the world of refugees, using their humour to keep the terror and desolation at bay. When the university that Ruth is set to attend is forced to transfer her, the Quakers enrol her into Quinton's University. She ends up being lectured by her own husband by coincidence, alongside the snobbish and clever Verena Plackett, who has ambitiously set her sights on Quinton. Unaware of Ruth's marriage of convenience, her real fiance Heini, a talented pianist from Budapest, escapes to England, and the unfolding events put Ruth and Quinton's secret marriage of convenience on the verge of being discovered and betrayed. Desperately trying to cling to their moral values, Ruth and Quin deny their growing attraction for each other - then World War II breaks out and personal intentions become insignificant.Adaptation
Film rights had been bought for ''The Morning Gift''. The film was in development and expected to be released in 2013, but was delayed.References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morning Gift 1993 British novels British young adult novels Novels by Eva Ibbotson Novels set in Vienna