I have always loved The Secret Countess (aka A Countess Below Stairs) and it is my second favourite Ibbotson book after Journey to the River Sea. So obviously I had to get myself a copy when I saw it being sold at an extremely reasonable price.

The Secret Countess is about Anna, one of the Russian nobility who had to flee Russia after the revolution. She decides to take a job as a maid for the Earl of Westerholme (Rupert), and promptly charms everyone around her (including the Rupert). But sadly, the Rupert is engaged to Muriel, a horrible but wealthy young woman, which makes things complicated.

Since I read this right after The Morning Gift, I was struck by how similar the books were. Both have quirky Europeans as the protagonists, both protagonists are fleeing life-threatening danger, and both girls fall in love with English nobility. That said, there are three main differences:

Firstly, I think the Morning Gift paints a much more nuanced picture of England. In The Secret Countess, almost everyone except Muriel and her allies are nice, while in The Morning Gift, England’s antipathy towards foreigners is a lot clearer. I actually prefer The Morning Gift for its realism in this aspect.

Secondly, I had this sense that the nouveau rich were being criticised through the character of Muriel in The Secret Countess, while in The Morning Gift, I never had the sense that one type of person was being criticised. While The Secret Countess does have the off-puttingly rude Nettlefords, it’s Muriel who’s the main villain. And the book makes it very clear that Muriel set up to snare Rupert and she does that by volunteering in the war effort.

Third, I found the language in The Secret Countess to be funnier and with a lot of dry humour. The introduction of Muriel as having “had been, quite simply, a perfect baby” and someone who had “reached a full-breasted and acne-less adolescence when her mother, as though she knew that she could do no more for her lovely daughter, contracted pneumonia and died” reminded me of “Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her.” Perhaps it’s because I still have The Genius of Jane Austen in my mind, but I found so many examples of this ironical narrator in The Secret Countess that reminded me of Austen and enjoyed it so much more because of it.

One nice thing about rereading is that you can anticipate your favourite moments in the book. In this respect, The Secret Countess did not let me down; scenes that I remembered and looked forward to were just as good as I expected, and I basically just flew through this book.

Featured Image: Photo from Canva