The Morning Gift is about a young part-Jewish woman, Ruth, during WWII. She grew up in Vienna but became endangered when Nazis invaded her country. She has been in love with her pampered but musically talented cousin, Heini, her whole life. However, when the Nazis invade, her rescue comes in an unlikely form. The Englishman, Quin Somerville, she has known since she was a child comes to the University where her father taught to receive an honorary degree that her father was responsible for awarding him with. When he finds that her father no longer teaches there he goes in search of him and, instead, finds her alone hiding in her house. (Travel arrangements went wrong, she was supposed to be safely out of the country before her family but things went awry.) When he tries to get her papers sorted out he is told that the only way he will be able to get her out of the country safely, if at all, is to marry her. They choose this route with the belief that they can get a quick annullment when they arrive in England. Of course, nothing goes according to plan.
There are many reasons I loved this book, aside from it being well-written and keeping me in suspense. One reason I enjoyed this book is because it portrayed sex as something intimate and beautiful rather than "like a glass of water," something to sate your thirst that is no big deal, which is what Ruth thinks it will be like. It also portrays sex as something wonderful and to be enjoyed in the right circumstances rather than something which will inevitably lead to lonliness and regret, which is what Ruth expects because of the psychoanalysis books she has read.
I also liked the way Ruth's character is portrayed. She is intelligent and beautiful but this is not all there is to her. She is juxtaposed with another character who is also intelligent and beautiful but this other character is cruel and conceited. Ruth has gone through struggles that could have easily made her bitter but she chooses to be kind and compassionate, instead.
What I really liked about this book, though, is that it shows what the right man is like and what the wrong one is like. Through Ruth's experiences and an outside point of view the reader is shown what a good relationship looks like, even when things get rocky, and what a bad one looks like. The wrong man cares more about his piano than your family's financial hardships. The wrong one is not willing to sacrifice a little by playing in a nightclub so that your family's money burdens ease slightly. The wrong one gets angry when you find you can't bring yourself to have sex with him in a dirty apartment. The wrong one lets you think you are frigid, that it is all your fault. The wrong one manipulates your emotions to suit what is best for him.
The right man will bear whatever cost to himself to keep you safe. The right one will decide to spoil you as he would if it were your "real" honeymoon--when you are only marrying to escape the country--because you have been through a lot of hardship and he believes you deserve some sweetness in this mess. The right one will continue to offer help with whatever you might possibly need even after he has already done so much for you. The right one will jump into the cold ocean at night to rescue you even though you put everyone on board in danger because you jumped in to try and save a dog. The right one will confront you when you do something truly wrong. The right one will make sure you know that you do not have something wrong with you just because you did not want to have sex with someone you think you love. The right one will send you something beautiful, just to let you know he thinks you are amazing. The right one will protect innocent people just because it is right.
Heini does not mean to be selfish, but he is. Quin does not mean to unselfish, but he is. Therein lies the difference between the right man and the wrong one. One will ask you to sacrifice everything and give nothing in return. One will sacrifice everything and ask nothing in return. This is why it is a good novel for young women, it teaches there is nothing wrong with not being ready to have sex yet. It teaches that no matter how pretty you are, or how smart you are, kindness matters most. It teaches relational discernment and sacrificing for those you love.
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