Weekly ballet classes are Harriet Morton’s only escape from her intolerably dull life. So when she is chosen to join a corps de ballet which is setting off on a tour of the Amazon, she leaps at the chance to run away for good.Performing in the grand opera houses is everything Harriet dreamed of, and falling in love with an aristocratic exile makes her new life complete. Swept away by it all, she … she is unaware that her father and intended fianc#65533; have begun to track her down . . .A Company of Swans is a sweeping tale of romance, freedom and the beauty of dance from award-winning author, Eva Ibbotson.
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More of a YA read, but I love this book! Harriet, the determined young dancer who defies her stern, heartless father to run away with a ballet company to Brazil. Rom, the black sheep of a respectable family who’s made his place in Brazil, but finds his heart with Harriet. Every character in this book is memorable, the plot is a bit madcap but it all comes together splendidly, and the romance is just lovely.
This is one of my favourite books ever, and my recent re-read was a delight. Eva Ibbotson’s writing is luminous and evocative, her characters as real as the people you pass on the street. I love this book—if I could wish for anything, it would be to experience it for the first time again.
Eva Ibbotson is always the author I turn to when I want to comfort read. She has the most incredible talent for transporting her readers to far off locations and writing wonderful characters that you want to spend forever reading about. A Company of Swans is no exception. It tells the story of Harriet Morton, the nineteen year old daughter of a stuffy Cambridge professor, who lives a life devoid of love and excitement. Her only outlet is her weekly ballet lessons, where she is able to express herself freely and creatively. When a Russian dancing master offers her a role in the corps of a ballet company that plans to tour South America, she runs away from home and finds herself dancing in the grand opera house of Manaus and finding love and friendship on the banks of the Amazon. Ibbotson’s descriptions of the natural beauty of Brazil are stunning, the story is lovely and it is filled with her signature brand of humour that never fails to absolutely delight me. In the absence of being able to travel anywhere, Ibbotson’s novels remain the next best means of escape.
Utterly charming story as all Eva Ibbotson’s stories are and full of quirky and whimsical characters under the guise of a romance.
The Characters
Her father: A desiccated stick that gets a comical and well deserved comeuppance. (Pantsed.)
Her equally desiccated aunt who has a box in her room labeled “String too short to tie” which is possibly my favorite description EVER of a character.
The fiancee: A boring scientific type stick that specializes in fleas as they “are his bread and butter” but lusts after Lepidoptera’s (butterflies). He tries to track her down in Manaus with dismal results for him.
The heroine: Willing to take a risk on her desire to dance and take a voyage to Brazil.
The hero: More than a touch of dashing and very appreciative of the heroine’s qualities without being boring.
The ex aka OW: Greedy, selfish and a bad mother. She meddles with some bad consequences and no real comeuppance other than not getting the hero.
Evil OW’s plot moppet: The long-suffering sweetheart of a little boy that idolizes the uncle he’s never met and befriends lonely Harriet.
Plot
Harriet is not just saddled with a boring name, but a misogynistic father and a penny-pinching Aunt. A born romantic and a ballet dancer, her life is restricted by her father’s expectations: nothing. No, to be fair he does plan to marry her off to a stuffed shirt.
Instead she runs away to a ballet troupe that will debut in 1912 Brazil. The Brazil in this book is not the Brazil we know today and is almost another character. Ibbotson presents a romantic view of ex-pat Europeans in a foreign country as well as a ballet troupe that is dominated by an emotional diva and a score of under ballerinas.
One memorable scene is where Harriet balances on a table sized Victoria Regia water Lilly.
The humor is wry and gentle, and I really can’t say enough about Ibbotson’s writing as it’s intelligent and witty.
It was an amazing read and great character development.
While simple to read and easy to follow a company of swans explores a wonderful world of dance and music through the eyes of a young scholars daughter who longs for freedom. It boasts a cast of wonderful characters and an engaging plot that is perfect for fans of romance and adventure alike. A lovely story that is well worth the quick time it will take you to read it!
I think I’ve read this book about five times since it was published. It was one of the first romances I’ve read and I haven’t really put it down since.