Love by the Morning Star

April 7, 2014
Sullivan (Ladies in Waiting) presents a charming tale of mistaken identity, one that’s perhaps too lightweight for its historical setting. After Kristallnacht, German-Jewish Hannah arrives in England to stay with her snobbish relatives, but she is mistaken for kitchen maid Anna. A freethinking child of Weimar-era Berlin, the irrepressible Hannah shocks her stuffy British employers, unselfconsciously lecturing the lusty Lord Liripip on droit du seigneur and singing opera among the yew trees by night. Anna, a self-centered social climber painted in refreshing shades of gray, delights in her new position as the Liripips’ refugee relative, but worries about the mysterious mission her Nazi-sympathizer father wants her to carry out. Sullivan’s wry and evocative omniscient voice makes Hannah and Anna’s escapades a pleasure to read, though it tells rather than shows too often. Farcical and decidedly risqué misunderstandings ensue as Hannah and Anna compete for the affections of the idealistic son of the manor, and Anna’s fascist handlers prove increasingly ruthless. The rushed denouement stretches plausibility, but the book’s gentle humor and good-natured optimism offset these minor drawbacks. Ages 12–up.

May 1, 2014

Gr 8 Up-It's 1938 in rural England, and Anna Morgan is desperate to find a way out of her life as the working-class daughter of a grocer. When she's given an opportunity to live at a grand country estate called Starkers, she believes that her chance has finally come to marry well and fulfill her destiny of becoming a lady, despite the fact that she's supposed to be there working as a kitchen maid in order to spy for a group of Nazi sympathizers. In Berlin, Hannah Morganstern is happy with her life as a singer in her father's cabaret, and confident that she'll soon find a place as an opera singer in Vienna. Her dreams are dashed, however, when the German government begins shutting down Jewish businesses and threatening to send Jews to prison camps. Hannah is half-Jewish, and her parents believe the best way to keep her safe is to send her to live with distant relatives, who she has never met, at a grand estate in England. When the two girls arrive at Starkers on the same afternoon, one is welcomed as a member of the family and a companion to the lady of the house, while the other is sent to work in the kitchen. What follows is a delightful comedy of errors, full of near misses, misunderstandings, and double entendres. While the plot drags at time and lacks some necessary historical context, this is a light and fun romance that should appeal to fans of Downton Abbey.-Liz Overberg, Darlington School, Rome, GA

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