Why you should ... read Magic Flutes

To begin with, I am not a huge fan of the cover. It seems very girly to me and as I have said before I don't like real life models on the front. The colour is not too bad and I do like the sheet music and the elegant font. The girl could be our main character Tessa. However, it's nothing in comparison to e.g. the cover of another book by Eva Ibbotson "Journey to the River Sea".

Source

I read Magic Flutes in one day. It was partly because I had lots of time to spare - it was a day travelling by aeroplane and train but it was also because I really enjoyed the book.
It is set in the twenties in Austria. Tessa is a princess working despite protest of her leftover family in an opera as an under wardrobe mistress. Guy, the love interest, on the other hand was found in a bundle "on the quayside of a grim, industrial English town". Guy is ambitious and manages to become a millionaire owing to his high intelligence. But it is not only a love story, the book also explains the historical background and tells the the story of the decaying, once stunning castles and riches of the aristocracy of Austria. Due to Eva Ibbotson's origin she describes Vienna beautifully and uses many German or rather Austria words which makes it a lot more interesting. (Namely, Tessa's nickname with her aunts: "Putzerl".)
The storyline is quite captivating but I do have to add some criticism. Guy falls in love with a girl, Nerine, who is an all around flat character. She likes pretty clothes, expensive jewels and likes to flirt. And that's it.
Nothing more. Later he realizes this obviously, but the character was a bit of a disappointment. Also, Tessa's character was not as realistic as I would like her to be. She seems like the typical heroine who is a princess and not particularly happy about it but is still loved by many people. She is a do-gooder and very, very humble which put me off a bit. She wasn't treated well where she worked, she was bossed around constantly and had to fix everything but she just did everything she was told and gave up all her money voluntarily. In addition, although music was her passion she never actually "made" music which is something I cannot understand at all. It would itch me in my fingers to play at least a few tunes on a piano. To me, Tessa just seemed too simple, too humble, too good. Also, some of the other characters like Maxi didn't seem very well thought out. All criticism aside it is still a book worth reading if your expectancies aren't too high.

Au revoir, little biscuits (*waltzing around in a long ball robe that is actually a purple towel*)