A Song for Summer, by Eva Ibbotson
I read a number of Eva Ibbotson's books when I was younger, and was interested to see that she had written some more for 'young adults.' This one is about a young woman called Ellen Carr, a housekeeper at an eccentric school in 1930s Austria. I am always one for historical fiction, and remembering that I always used to enjoy Ibbotson's way with words, I decided to give this one a go. Overall verdict: I enjoyed it very much.
The thing that I relished most about this book was Ibbotson's ability to craft such a vivid world, and such a vivid cast of characters.
Her characters are crafted in such a way that even the smallest, most insignificant members of the cast seem to have an interesting and exciting backstory. I imagine that Ibbotson had written a detailed history for every single person that appeared in this book. Snippets of these histories are sometimes written down, but even when they aren't, you can tell from the richness of the descriptions that these characters are 3-dimensional. There seem to be no bit-parts, no extras, just a series of protagonists whose lives intersect, with the lovable Ellen Carr at the centre.
This is evident right from the first page, when we are introduced to 'the aunts.' Ibbotson doesn't just introduce us to the aunts as they are in the present; she tells us that they were suffragettes in their past. And she doesn't stop there: on page two, she gives us a description of their experiences as suffragettes - how they 'knocked off the helmets of no less than seven policemen.' The description is almost unexpectedly precise.
It's the same with the setting. Everything is painted in masterful detail, down to the colour of the curtains. And the portrayal of the culture of pre-WW2 Austria (where most of the book takes place) is so gorgeously evocative - it's a culture I know very little about, having never been there, but this book made me feel as though I knew it better.
What is the significance of this precision? Firstly, it's humorous. It reminds me of how you might insert a weirdly specific anecdote into a diary entry. Sometimes, I'm left giggling in pure admiration at the quirky details she throws in: how did she possibly think of that?
Secondly, it makes the whole book so real. The world of the novel becomes so believable, and the reader becomes so irresistibly immersed in it, that one cannot help but care about the characters and the things that happen to them. Their romance matters more; their pain hurts more. I became undeniably fond of them. Whilst reading this book, there were a few moments in real life when I was reminded of someone I knew, and then realised it wasn't actually someone I knew, but a character from 'A Song for Summer.' I even dreamt about some of them.
A great drama teacher once said to me that Naturalism in theatre is 'a slice of life on a stage.' I don't know if he came up with this himself, but I certainly think it's a lens we can look through here. If you're looking for a world to lose yourself in, and a cast of characters to fall in love with, look no further. Eva Ibbotson's 'A Song for Summer' is a slice of life on a page.