The Star of Kazan

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Fourteen-year-old Opal's family falls on hard times when her accountant father foolishly forges a cheque to support his family.

The Star of Kazan - Eva Ibbotson - Google Books The Star of Kazan - Eva Ibbotson - Google Books

I've just reread this book for the above-mentioned Book Club -- and I think that I like and admire it even better the second time. A simple story…a predictable mystery and a plot oft-repeated. But what makes Star of Kazan so engrossing is the absolute love and affection with which Eva Ibbotson describes the splendour and grandiose of a vintage Vienna : the ancient but much-loved Emperor Franz Joseph with his ‘mutton-chop whiskers and bald head’...the extravagant waltzes streaming out of the cafes...the decadent opera houses...the sinfully rich confectioneries bursting with aroma and taste...and of course the pride of Vienna : The dancing Lipizzaner Stallions. Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 2021-04-29 14:00:50 Boxid IA40098023 Camera Sony Alpha-A6300 (Control) Collection_set printdisabled External-identifier The story is about a girl named Annika, who as a baby, is found abandoned in a church by 2 maids. The maids raise her, and despite how happy she is with them, and her life in Vienna, she still dreams of the day that her mother will come to get her. Her mother does come to get her one day, and takes her to her mansion in Germany, but things are not as they seem. In fact, they are much much worse.

Annika is the protagonist of the story. A foundling, she is found and taken in by Sigrid and Ellie. She has a real talent for cooking, but she is very trusting. The Star of Kazan by Eva Ibbotson makes your heart beat faster than a mouse's heartbeat. From an abandoned baby, to a grim suicide to a very volatile school and many more gripping events, The Star of Kazan has no bounds to its extraordinary moments. Some of the main characters are: Professor Emil, Professor Gertrude, Professor Julius, Zed, Stefan, Pauline, Gudrun, Loremarie, Hermann, Rocco, Edeltraut von Tannenberg, and of course Annika. It is about a little girl called Annika who was abandoned when she was a baby in an abandoned church. Two ladies, Ellie and Sigrid decide (after a nunnery says no to looking after her) to look after the baby and from then on lead a life filled with every emotion thinkable. From the vain Egghearts, whose child Loremarie taunts Annika continuously, to the lovely Zed, the gypsy, and the mysterious great-aunt of Loremarie, Annika's life is very complicated. Annika wants answers from people but as her life goes on Annika gets more questions than answers.

The Star of Kazan by Eva Ibbotson - review - The Guardian

Ovo je ljubić za devojčice od 10 do 12 godina, jedan kroz jedan - lepo i dobro nahoče, humane kuvarice šašavih profesora, otmene plemkinje sa mračnim tajnama, seksi zagonetni čergarski dečak na konju! Plus carski Beč, valceri, torte, dragulji itd. itd. Vrlo zabavno i potpuno zadovoljavajuće na tom avantura&romantika nivou. Sigrid works for the professors as a housemaid. She works well, but can be a little 'snappy' at times. Sigrid is very good friends with Ellie and is a hardworking role model for Annika. This was a perfectly satisfying and fulfilling read, despite being a children's/middle grade book. I mean, every element of a good story, of good writing, of good telling, literally everything, is spotless. This is an amazing book that I would recommend to anybody! It is the story of an orphan who goes through a series of identities to last her a lifetime.Hermann is Edeltraut's son, and heir to the family estate. He is a couple of years younger than Annika and obsessed with all things marshal. Hoping for a future military career, he follows the timetable of the officer school he dreams of attending each day. But when that day does come and she is taken to North Germany to live in a castle, she finds that dreams are rarely the same as reality -- and in her innocence she is unable to accept that people can be dissembling and not have her welfare truly at heart. After twelve-year-old Annika, a foundling living in late nineteenth-century Vienna, inherits a trunk of costume jewelry, a woman claiming to be her aristocratic mother arrives and takes her to live in a strangely decrepit mansion in Germany Good book. You think it is predictable but it really isn't. There is strong story line and a nice calm ending. A lady works as a cook in a grand professors house in Vienna, Austria. She finds a baby in a beautiful church and she and her friend, the housemaid raise the baby like she is their own. They name her Annika after the cooks mother. When Annika is twelve a woman appears at the front door of the professors house. She says she is Annika's mother and takes to her house in germany and i...

The star of Kazan : Ibbotson, Eva : Free Download, Borrow The star of Kazan : Ibbotson, Eva : Free Download, Borrow

I loved the subtle humor in this. It got me from the first chapter, when Ellie (a middle-aged cook) is hiking up a mountain with her friend Sigrid, and stops in a church to, as she tells it, pray for her dearly departed mother that she dreamed about last night. Sigrid rolls her eyes and says "I told you not to wear those new boots on the hike." Oh gosh this was delightful. It's the perfect blend of cozy mundane details and outlandish plot twists, with really delicious-sounding food, and exactly the thing you would most like to have happen nearly always happens. And there are many useful life lessons, from scrounging a meal from a nearly-bare cupboard, to taking care of a horse, investigating a suspicious document, or being a good friend. I loved the adventure hidden beneath this book, I love Eva Ibbotson because of her imagination and creativity. At first I thought this book would have been pretty predictable but as I got nearer to the middle or the climax, it got more and more exciting.Rocco is a gentle, quarter-Lipizzaner breed bay-coloured horse belonging to Zed. Although the Master bought him originally for Hermann, he changed his mind and left Rocco to Zed shortly before having a stroke. I liked the parts of this story that took place in Vienna. The author made it sound beautiful and charming. Also, the food sounded delicious. The parts that took place in Germany were boring. Not much happens there in this story. After twelve-year-old Annika, a foundling living in late nineteenth-century Vienna, inherits a trunk of costume jewelry, a woman claiming to be her aristocratic mother arrives and takes her to live in a strangely decrepit mansion in Germany. Twelve years pass and it is now 1908. For Annika, life in Vienna is perfect. She attends a local school whilst helping the adult maids with the day-to-day duties of running the household, has her friends, Pauline and Stefan, and loves her adopted family (Ellie and Sigrid, and the three professors who they all work for) very much.