A look at the exterior of the present-day No.22 shows remarkable similarities to photographs of No.23 as it was re-built after the 1882 fire.Īnd additional support for this view is found in a passage in Morning gift where the author describes a meeting which took place around 1938: Possibly a re-numbering has confused the authors. It would be natural for the cinema to be built on the site of the Alhambra, especially since the site, with rear access extensible to Charing Cross Road, would be large enough for all possible requirements without the need to spend additional funds on the purchase of a relatively small additional area. …in 1936 was completely demolished, together with the house adjoining on the north, and replaced by the present Odeon Cinema.īut this information came from Volume 34 of the London Survey, which states that, 'The site was later incorporated into the Odeon.' However, this seems unlikely. Owned-though in this case not started by-Charles Bartholomew, anĮarly member of the Bristol Foreign Affairs Committee. This is the one at number 23 Leicester Square, one of those Important London Turkish bath which was stated to have been completelyĭemolished. (Aug.The Morning gift is especially interesting because it appears to describe part of an Ibbotson's spirited novel features atmospheric locales-Budapest, Vienna and the Somerville estate in Northumbria among them-and a colorful supporting cast of European refugees whose eccentric behavior mystifies their upper-class British sponsors. Indeed, wealthy, aristocratic Verena Plackett has set her cap for him.

Naturally, complications delay the dissolution of their marriage, so Ruth enrolls in London's Thameside College, where Quin is a highly sought-after professor. As the Nazis march into Vienna, British paleontologist Quinton Somerville decides to save 20-year-old Ruth Berger, daughter of his Jewish-Austrian colleague, by marrying her and whisking her off to England, where the couple plan to obtain a quick annulment. The grim political problems of Europe before and during World War II set in motion the plot of this upbeat, gently humorous romance, but such grave matters are soon left behind so the author of Madensky Square can spin a predictable but engaging story of love denied, then finally triumphant.

The morning gift by eva ibbotson