Oh, I loved this book. It was beautiful; the story, the characters, the writing. It had adventure, politics, war, humor, friendship, culture, art, music, and romance. No, not romance, that's much to soppy a word; love. True love, the kind that waits and suffers and still clings tightly and truly, enduring through joy at its peak and misery at its depth.A Song for Summer was not what I expected it to be- a common occurrence among my recent literary adventures. I read A Countess Below Stairs not long ago and expected this to be similar, but the author seemed to deviate wildly from the somewhat amateur tone, even while keeping her style consistent. This was a book I would expect from someone like Gene Stratton-Porter, not a contemporary author. Ibbotson's transitions from one character's point of view to another's is rare and seamless. It was extremely impressive to find that, with upwards of ten streams of consciousness trading off, I never got lost within the transitions or wandered upon a loose trail of thought. She tied together so many elements and, even though Part II is less than one fourth of the book, there was no rush to the end and no unanswered questions. I laughed out loud at times, I brushed the dewy ghosts of tears from my lids, my heart ached for Marek and Ellen, leaped for Isaac and I could scarcely keep from smiling at the sheer loveliness of language and the stark, green imagery.
This book is one that has a few things that may be conceived as taboo, but it is in no way graphic or offensive.
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