Ibbotson is wonderful. I love her writing -- such descriptions about music, dance, plants and animals. In this story we get a glimpse of South America as she details the life of a girl who ran away from her oppressive family to join a ballet company performing in Brazil. Harriet is so young and refreshing and I loved Rom and his almost immediate attraction to her. Although sometimes it was a little weird how he wanted to protect her - almost like a father figure. I felt this book was a little more mature than her others. A story full of tragedy, humor, and love nicely developed that often left me guessing. I especially liked Henry as a little boy (and a grownup). I can just imagine him suffering through the measles with his impatient (and awful) mother. However, this book suffered from a very poor editor. I found typos. Lots of typos - never a good thing.And if you were wondering: I still like a Song for Summer the best, but this was a close second. ( )

A Comapany of Swans tells the story of Harriet Morton, an eighteen-
year-old girl living with her Academic father Professor Morton and overly-frugal Aunt Louisa in a cold, dark house in 1912. Her only escape from this dreary life is her ballet class. One day, the Russian director of a ballet company comes looking for dancers to join the corps. She is refused permission to join the company on a tour to Manaus by her father, but after a visit to Stavely, a stately home in Suffolk, she decides to run away and join the company. Once in the Amazon, she meets a charming Englishman, Rom Verney, whom she discovers ran away from Stavely after his finacee left him for his elder brother. She falls in love with him, and, after many set-backs, they eventually find happiness together.

I realy enjoyed this book; Mrs. Ibbotson's writing style is witty and intelligent. Her main characters are always likeable, without being annoyingly 'good', and this is no exception. The way Rom and Harriet are re-united is brilliant (and rather unexpected).
I definitely recommend this one, and all Eva Ibbotsons books! ( )

If you like Ibbotson's style, you'll like this book, although in my opinion it wasn't as good as A Countess Below Stairs. Harriet Morton lives a dull life in Cambridge, constantly repressed by her cold father and aunt. Her only release is ballet class, where she is one day "discovered" by the head of a traveling ballet corps. She is invited to go on a tour to South America, which she eagerly accepts, running away from her oppressive home. In the tropical atmosphere of Brazil, she comes into her own and falls in love: but will she be forced to leave by people from her past? Even though I'm not particularly interested in ballet, I enjoyed this book very much. It's extremely romantic, and Harriet is a likeable character. Oh, and her wet-mop fiance from England is hysterical. The book does get a bit melodramatic in places, but who cares when the writing's so good?

Harriet is stifling in her excessively academic home, penned in between her professor father's stiffness and her aunt's stinginess. Her one escape is ballet. But when even her weekly lessons have been cut off, Harriet finds the courage to escape her colorless life and journey to Brazil.

I liked Harriet as a character, and I liked the romance. I was a little disappointed with the way the story twisted, bringing Harriet and Rom together in such a way. The setting and the characters were well written, but it could have been so much better.

Update: I decided that I was being just a little hard on the book. I really liked epilogue. So I'd give it 3 1/2 stars. ( )

A book about a girl born and destined to be a ballet dancer, but held from her dream from priggish parents and a stuffy suitor, this book will capture your heart, eyes, and brain all the way to the last page. Wonderfully woven in is humor, a fair amount of love, adventure, and of course a happy ending. ( )