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The Enchanted April

by Elizabeth von Arnim, Cathleen Schine (Goodreads Author) (Introduction)

3.98 of 5 stars 3.98 · rating details · 4,054 ratings · 752 reviews

A discreet advertisement in The Times, addressed to "those who appreciate wisteria and sunshine," is the prelude to a revelatory month for four very different women. High above a bay on the Italian Riviera stands the medieval castle San Salvatore. Beckoned to this haven are Mrs. Wilkins, Mrs. Arbuthnot, Mrs. Fisher, and Lady Caroline Dester, each quietly craving a respite....more

Paperback, 247 pages

Published April 3rd 2007 by NYRB Classics (first published 1922)

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Jun 21, 2012 Jacob rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction-and-literature, i-own, nyrb, 2012-part-1

June 2012

Dissatisfied with their respective lots in life, four English women divorce their respective husbands, get a hefty advance for a book deal, and go off to Italy to enjoy the wisteria (a kind of pasta, I think). After a month of wisteria and freesias and syringa (more pasta?), the women all go to India, where they become spiritual. Following that, they go to Bali, and take handsome exotic Indonesian men as lovers. When they return home, wiser and more enlightened than before, they write w...more

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Jan 08, 2012 Mariel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: I think I've made the spanish moss that grows on trees around here a bit jealous

Recommended to Mariel by: Elizabeth

There's a castle in Italy. Wisteria grows there. Can you picture the private wilderness? The castle is not important. It is a fortress to protect the plants. Don't tread on me. More importantly, can you see yourself there? It's a little place unmolested and unpressed on by who you are in all of those other places you can't quite see yourself in but you're still there all the same. If you wander around in that bit of wild life will you leave tracks in the dirt there too? You know that Camera Obsc...more There's a castle in Italy. Wisteria grows there. Can you picture the private wilderness? The castle is not important. It is a fortress to protect the plants. Don't tread on me. More importantly, can you see yourself there? It's a little place unmolested and unpressed on by who you are in all of those other places you can't quite see yourself in but you're still there all the same. If you wander around in that bit of wild life will you leave tracks in the dirt there too? You know that Camera Obscure song "Let's Get out of this Country" (great song)? "We'll find a cathedral city, you'll convince me I'm pretty." What does it take to convince you?! It's freaking pretty. There's wisteria! (Is that purple? The crayon called wisteria is purple. Color me stupid if I'm wrong.) It's a bit of land. Be pretty. I feel like I should know more songs about this. Kings of Convenience's "Gold in the Air of Summer". Patrick Wolf's "The Gypsy King". "How do I follow? What road to be choosing? Do I follow the star or The Gypsy King?" I know this feeling. I'm thinking the special thing about The Enchanted April is that desire. Let's get out of this country and we will shine like gold in the air of summer. (If you know more songs like this please share. I've felt for some time that it was a kind of song I should have been collecting.)

I know why the advertisement for the castle with the wisteria brought up such longing in Lotty Wilkins and Rose (I forgot how to spell her A name so we get to be on first name basis. I wish I felt better about this presumption). Sometimes I get to feeling too trapped in myself that going somewhere else helps so much. Going to the beach with a book (the mind escape is as vital). The taking of you out of what you can't shake as being a part of you. (Kristen tells me that I should kite surf when I get like that. I wish that I could afford one of these kites. I bet that kite surfing high would last.) I read with hope in my heart that they were going to really spend Lotty's nest egg (a life time of denying herself to save for a rainy day that she had not really intended on having. Oh!). Rose would get out of the guilt of what she believed she should be doing: religious guilt, the needs of others. Recurring problem in others and not a cliche at all. Elizabeth von Arnim is so good! I could feel the weight on their shoulders and it was enough. In November I went to Berlin with my twin sister. Spending all of the savings in one big go because the having that to look forward to is totally something I would do.

Is it so easy, though?

Elizabeth recommended this book to me (thank you, Elizabeth!!) because we were talking about breaking your own heart books. The special thing (I'm getting a bit obsessed with pinpointing to myself what makes something special) about The Enchanted April is that it takes that further. What's the missing part? What is going to become easier to carry if you do something for yourself that is solely for the pleasure of it? Paying attention to the wrong things and reasons until other people become part of that scenery you are the wrong you in. Why does changing something like the background alter the before unhindered path? If you willed yourself into the background I suppose it would...

I wasn't an all new Mariel in Berlin. There was the socially awkward moment typical to me when I bought tickets to the super famous Roman and Greek antiquities museums and then didn't go in because the employee was a bitch to me. I turned tail and ran. Then I fell down outside. And it started to rain! (When it happened I told myself that I'd never tell anyone it did.) The only thing missing was a teary Madonna track like the sob scene in Never Been Kissed (that only made me bawl like no movie has ever made me bawl in my life because I was pmsing!). Other times I had such fun doing things that I could really do at home, or any where else. It didn't take much. It's like the wisteria. I loved so much imagining the past when in historical sites. I liked that the people didn't seem to want to force themselves to exude happiness. I liked that no one knew me. It was an illusion of freedom that's really always there (and not an illusion), if the part of you that allows that is there. All new. Did Lady Caroline aka Scrap (ha! I loved it when von Arnim switches to identifying her as Scrap midway. Revenge!) really get pinned by what she thought were other's needs on her person? Lotty could talk as she could only in her head before because she wasn't nervous. Maybe it has to do with echoes of your own mistakes haunting you. If you leave the haunted house? I think there's a lot to be said for that bit of land.

The special thing about The Enchanted April is the desire to have that gold in the air of summer glow. Ah, but what about the after glow? I felt the potential. What about the April? I didn't feel like I got one enough. I don't know if this is a criticism or not. It's something that occurred to me and then stayed there in the back of my mind. Maybe I need a new setting to figure out what it is. The air between them -- Don't forget Mrs. Fisher, Mariel! Yes, they are accompanied by an old lady who has no one any longer. She holds onto her money because she WILL be taking it with her when she dies. She influenced me a bit towards Lotty, I must admit. Or I just agreed with her. Lotty lost me with all of her certainty once she is in the castle. She "sees" and knows and it is without question. What was the missing part of her and where was it found in Italy? It's true that a new morning can make what seemed hopeless the night before better. Was it something to be admired or does it just preclude me from knowing her beyond this? Will that good mood continue? I know that I wouldn't have been friends with Rose either. I think it is because they don't question a lot (and the goody two shoesness of it all). It was interesting that the air von Armin puts between them often reads like action that has taken place off stage. It wasn't important what happened as much as that it did. I'm not sure how I feel about that but it was an interesting dynamic, like a place out of time. Done deal. They were all in their own ruts for whatever reason (mostly the burden of expectation, perceived or otherwise) and took for granted. In a new place! I don't like to take for granted. (That's what is great about new places. You aren't used to them and you don't take for granted what you are not used to.)

Mrs. Fisher and Rose's battle to be the mistress of the castle was too funny. Rose follows up every request for tea or food something with the same. "Will you have some tea?" "Will you?" Neither of them understand why the other is doing what they are doing.

This is all my confused and roundabout way of saying that I felt the desire more than the change. Expectations persisted. Dammit, it was probably because I was not there. I could only see the advertisement for the wisteria... Why didn't they long for more when they got there. If you get the dream and then there are no more dreams then it is worse. I miss having the something to look forward to.

"How passionately she longed to be important to somebody again- not important on platforms, not important as an asset in an organization, but privately important, just to one other person, quite privately, nobody else to know or notice. It didn't seem much to ask in a world so crowded with people, just to have one of them, only one out of all the millions, to oneself. Somebody who needed one, who thought of one, who was eager to come to one- oh, oh how dreadfully one wanted to be precious!"

I want to see preciousness. If Scrap lived in mortal fear (it's all so life and death) of being grabbed at (it was all so tyrannical to her) then I live in ruin another perfectly good location fear of grabbing. I don't want to take it for granted that I "see" it all played out as Lotty does. Off stage? Not as good. Guess you can't get out of the country forever. Guess it is a good idea to find what the hell the missing thing is. The physics (I blame science) reason for breaking ones own heart in the first place is probably connected to that. And it feels less off stage if they notice as I'm noticing why they are doing those things. (I suspect it gets to that unimpeded train of expectations when what you're noticing is only what you are noticing. Not that I'm wise or nothing.)

P.s. I really liked this book! (But they aren't invited to my villa. I wanna be pretty and you be handsome with someone who will sit under the trees and not worry about what god thinks about it. At least I don't agonize over what is proper or not! It could be so much worse.)(less)

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Apr 29, 2010 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kindred-characters

Shall I tell you a secret? .. It's always been my fantasy to share a castle with my friends!

This book was a joy to read! It satisfies so many of my literary cravings: kinship, validation, botanical beauty. There's a shy misfit, a beautiful socialite. All four voices, though quite distinct, resonated with me in some way. Elizabeth von Arnim was very smart in the way she developed characters and intertwined their separate narratives into one cohesive whole. I was just enough aware of literary devi...more

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Apr 21, 2012 Kathryn rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Kathryn by: Susan Branch

Shelves: 2012

Ask me if I want to go to San Salvatore, the castle with four friends in April. Oh my yes I would. I want my own room, my own sitting garden, I want tea in the afternoon, I want to sit in the splendor of the beautiful grounds overflowing with sumptuous trees and delicious flowers. Oh, and have some one cook for me, another to lay the fire, hot baths without blowing up the hot water tank. Yes, yes, yes I want to go there. Such a delightfully charming read. The movie is on it's way!

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Apr 06, 2010 Wanda rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Everyone - Man and Woman

Shelves: 2010, womens-fiction, heartwarmer, favorites

Go to the Amalfi Coast, rent a villa in Portofino and you will be happy for the rest of your life. Honestly, if I could gaze upon the wisteria all the hours of the day, I would be happy too.

This sweet little book is about rebirth and renewal. As the April blooms spring forth from the Earth and renew the landscape, so does the "enchanted April" work its magic on the four women of this book. Each is escaping from London for her own reasons, and I am so happy that each is successful. I won't rela...more

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Dec 29, 2012 Laura rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Constant Reader

Shelves: classics, e-books, read-2008, new-zealand-authors, nyrb-classics, 3ms, virago-modern-classics, book-and-movie

What a lovely novel. The Enchanted April (1991)movie based on this book is available at You Tube.

Director: Mike Newell

Cast:

Josie Lawrence as Lottie Wilkins
Miranda Richardson as Rose Arbuthnot
Alfred Molina as Mellersh Wilkins
Neville Phillips as Vicar
Jim Broadbent as Frederick Arbuthnot
Michael Kitchen as George Briggs
Joan Plowright as Mrs. Fisher
Polly Walker as Caroline Dester

5 likes · like · see review

Jul 19, 2012 Diane rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, british-charm

"To those who appreciate wistaria and sunshine..."

This is the second Elizabeth von Arnim book I've read recently, and I've enjoyed them so much I plan on reading more of her novels. Enchanted April is the story of four unhappy Englishwomen who impulsively rent a castle in Italy in April, and the experience changes them for the better. One finds peace, another vitality, and several find love. I was especially fond of the character Lotty Wilkins, the one who was convinced that a month in Italy wou...more "To those who appreciate wistaria and sunshine..."

This is the second Elizabeth von Arnim book I've read recently, and I've enjoyed them so much I plan on reading more of her novels. Enchanted April is the story of four unhappy Englishwomen who impulsively rent a castle in Italy in April, and the experience changes them for the better. One finds peace, another vitality, and several find love. I was especially fond of the character Lotty Wilkins, the one who was convinced that a month in Italy would invigorate them all. This novel is so delightful that I was ready to book a flight to Italy for next spring.

Some favorite passages:

"Mr. Wilkins, a solicitor, encouraged thrift, except that branch of it which got into his food. He did not call that thrift, he called it bad housekeeping."

[On Mrs. Wilkins first morning in Italy.] "She lay with her arms clasped round her head thinking how happy she was, her lips curved upwards in a delighted smile. In bed by herself: adorable condition. She had not been in bed without Mellersh once now for five whole years; and the cool roominess of it, the freedom of one's movements, the sense of recklessness, of audacity, in giving the blankets a pull if one wanted to, or twitching the pillows more comfortable! It was like the discovery of an entirely new joy."

"She was having a violent reaction against beautiful clothes and the slavery they impose on one, her experience being that the instant one had got them they took one in hand and gave one no peace till they had been everywhere and been seen by everybody. You didn't take your clothes to parties; they took you. It was quite a mistake to think that a woman, a really well-dressed woman, wore out her clothes; it was the clothes that wore out the woman -- dragging her about at all hours of the day and night. No wonder men stayed young longer."

"Lady Caroline began to be afraid these two were originals. If so, she would be bored. Nothing bored her so much as people who insisted on being original, who came and buttonholed her and kept her waiting while they were being original."

Note: There is also a lovely movie version of the book featuring Miranda Richardson, Joan Plowright, Polly Walker and Josie Lawrence.(less)

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Jul 26, 2010 Sandy Tjan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: british-literature, classics, ebook, 2010

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. What I learned from this book (in no particular order):

1. Spring in Hampstead is depressing. Italian trains are always late.

2. Eating macaroni with a knife, even though it is of the wormy, stringy variety, is an insult to a proper Italian cook.

3. Other people’s chills are always the fruit of folly, and the worst thing that could happen is that if they are handed on to you, who had done nothing at all to deserve them.

4. Being too sexy for your own good is hazardous to your mental health.

5. Clothe...more

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Apr 01, 2012 Bettie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: e-book, gutenberg-project, published-1922, classic, italy, spring-2011, women, spring-2012, re-read, 3m-bookshelf-challenge, fraudio

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Sep 20, 2008 Linda rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: anyone in need of a vacation

Recommended to Linda by: constant reader

Shelves: 1920-s, fiction, favorites, favorite-characters, italy, travel

On a rainy February day in England, a woman on the verge of desperation overcomes her natural reserve to invite another unhappy woman to share the rental of an Italian villa with her in Italy. They invite two other strangers to share expenses, and then the Italian sunshine works its magic.
I didn't even know this was a book and not just a movie until it became a pick for the Constant Reader group. It is a wonderful read: beautifully delineated characters that show growth, a lovely setting, and cr...more

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May 14, 2009 Bibliophile rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009, fiction

The Enchanted April was, well, enchanting. I’d seen and adored the film version, but I’d never read the book before (and even though I read it in May, it did seem like the right time of year!) The story is very slight indeed – four strangers rent a castle in Italy together, and the combination of wisteria and sunshine ends up “fixing” what’s wrong with their lives in London – but it’s charmingly told, and Elizabeth von Arnim’s descriptions of the profusion of flowers and sunshine at San Salvator...more

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Apr 17, 2012 Marialyce rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: april-2012

Loved, loved, loved it.

This was a perfect peaceful book. There were no major issues nor were we trying to solve the problems of the planet. This was just a book where the important message was to be selfish, to allow yourself to get back to the things that are always the most important, that of your love for each other. Yes, it does sound oh so maudlin, but this sweet, kind book is just what I needed. It made me say ah at the end (and really mean it!)

Our story follows four woman thrown together...more

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Jun 21, 2012 Whymsy Likes Books rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: rewiewed

A Story Steeped in Beauty and Truth

“To Those who Appreciate Wistaria and Sunshine. Small mediaeval Italian Castle on the Mediterranean to be Let Furnished for the month of April.”

This simple advertisement changed the course of four women’s lives forever. Mrs. Wilkins spends her days in fear of her husband, unloved and unable to love she wishes to have some time to do exactly what she wants, without having to pretend to be virtuous. Mrs. Arbuthnot carefully fills her days with good works, trying...more A Story Steeped in Beauty and Truth

“To Those who Appreciate Wistaria and Sunshine. Small mediaeval Italian Castle on the Mediterranean to be Let Furnished for the month of April.”

This simple advertisement changed the course of four women’s lives forever. Mrs. Wilkins spends her days in fear of her husband, unloved and unable to love she wishes to have some time to do exactly what she wants, without having to pretend to be virtuous. Mrs. Arbuthnot carefully fills her days with good works, trying to ignore the distance between her and her once beloved husband. Lady Caroline wants to only be left truly alone, with no one “grabbing at her”. Mrs. Fisher desires time to sit and savor her memories of better times and people. Together they chose to escape dreary London and rent the castle named San Salvatore; spending a month in “heaven” as Mrs. Wilkins comes to call it.

Set against the beautiful Mediterranean scenery we see what each of the main characters are struggling with and how their chance holiday to San Salvatore allows them to change for the better. Each woman blossoms under the magic of flowers and sea and beauty and each other. By the end of this miraculous April they bare very little resemblance to their London selves. Von Arnim instantly pulls you in and introduces the characters in such a way as to let you get to know them very quickly. You see their lives and motivations, what haunts them and their deeper desires –especially with the help of Mrs. Wilkins insight. This book is about the inner life and not so much the outer show the characters put on.

When I think of this book what comes to mind is the word beautiful. I’m not sure whether it is the writing or the imagery, but all you can think of is beauty. At the beginning of this book I found the rate of information given hard to digest, but as the story went on either the rate decreased or I might have gotten used to it. I’m not sure which. Either way it all worked out in the end and didn’t take away from my overall reading experience.

This was a lovely book and well worth the effort. Sadly, I originally planned on giving it four stars until toward the end. The way the deception at the end of the book was handled really bothered me and frankly lost the book a star. I do, however, like this book well enough to try and search out others by Elizabeth von Arnim, who lived a very fascinating life in her own right.
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Jun 17, 2011 Melee rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-online, wishlist

Lovely, lovely book! I've been wanting to read Elizabeth von Arnim's work for what seems like forever, but my library system is pathetically lacking in that respect (except for the film version of Enchanted April which I watched last month). When I found a great number of Elizabeth von Arnim's novels on Project Gutenberg I was in heaven! Though reading books online is not ideal, it's so convenient for those books I can't find anywhere else. But I will definitely be buying a tangible copy of The...more

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Jun 21, 2008 Yulia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Yulia by: Happyreader

Bravo, I'm in love with this book, from beginning to end. A new favorite! Predictable, yes, and with dissatisfying male characters, but I could forgive her for almost anything.

****************************************************

Lovely lines so far:

"[. . .] and they had a prolonged quarrel, if that can be called a quarrel which is conducted with dignified silence on one side and earnest apology on the other, as to whether or no Mrs. Wilkins had intended to suggest that Mr. Wilkins was a villa."

"...more

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Apr 13, 2010 Leslie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"It was cloudy in Italy, which surprised them. They expected brilliant sunshine. But never mind; it was Italy, and the very clouds looked fat."
Seriously one of the best books I'v ever read. This is my third or fourth time reading it and each time I draw something new from its pages. It divides a woman's adult life (remember it was written at the turn of that century) into four stages: single, married, married with children, and widowhood. All of these are represented in this book through the liv...more

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Mar 31, 2008 Genevieve rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Anyone that feels down or negative

Recommended to Genevieve by: ldssplash.com

I started out thinking the book would be a dull but pretty book of description but I was wrong. Then I thought there would have to be some unseemly affair to make the book a romance since the 2 main characters were already married but I was wrong. Then I thought that I would have to sludge through good women being taken advantage of and again I was wrong. I had all the wrong ideas about this book and they caused me to waste all of that time dreading nothing. In the end it was nothing but lovely...more

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Jul 06, 2008 Graceann rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Fans of Good Novels

Recommended to Graceann by: Constant Reader

Shelves: classics

Please see my detailed review at Amazon.com Grace's "Enchanted April" Review"

Please click that the review was helpful to you at Amazon so that my rating continues to climb!

I am so glad that this book was nominated for the Classics group at Constant Reader. I knew the story, having enjoyed both film versions, but I had never settled in with the novel that begat them. Gorgeous literary style that had me able to smell the flowers, feel the sunshine, and yearn for my own month in Italy. I understa...more

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Jul 21, 2008 Jen C. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read Elizabeth von Arnim's The Enchanted April in record time. It's the story of 4 very different British women who decide to rent a villa in San Salvatore, Italy for a month together. Each is fleeing from Britain for her own reasons -- too many suitors, negligent husbands, loneliness, English gloominess. Once the women arrive in San Salvatore, the novel jumps between the rebirth of the Italian landscape in spring and the rebirth of the 4 renters' spirits. While this story is, in the end, one...more

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Apr 06, 2013 Knitme23 rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I've read Enchanted April at least twice and seen the film a number of times--actually saw the film first. Amazingly, our library has a large print edition of EA and when my book club decided to read it for April 27, I went right after it.

What a light and pleasant book with great descriptions and a surprisingly important message about love and relationships! Von Arnim takes a lots of risks in this novel, and chief among them is making her main character, Lottie Wilkins, a ditz who delivers emba...more

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Nov 17, 2012 Shonna Froebel rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

This novel was written after World War One and is a happy one. Two young women both see an advertisement in a newspaper while at their club, and one approaches the other to suggest they follow through on renting the castle in Italy for a month. This is a very daring action for both women. Mrs. Wilkins feels taken for granted in her marriage and unloved and feels that this would be a good use of the money she has put aside for a rainy day. Mrs. Arbuthnot has devoted herself to good works and the...more

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Sep 17, 2012 Ryandake rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

this refers to the audiobook version.

it always surprises me, how involved one can get in a well-written story about people's lives when not much actually happens in the book. in this book (when is it set? it feels pre-WWI, but i'm not sure), four women leave icky England for a month in an Italian castle.

all of these women would be totally acceptable in polite society--there are no firebrands, no bluestockings, no nascent feminists or communists in the lot. but their inner lives are chaotic and i...more

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Jan 29, 2012 Ali rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Oh my what a treat, I started this while in hospital a few hours after undergoing minor surgery, and finished it at home - and it was perfect reading for being laid up with. It is probably perfect reading for almost anytime. Four women who are little more than strangers to one another, and who are not, to begin with, entirely comfortable with one another, share a castle on the Italian riviera for the month of April. In sight of the sea and surrounded by flowers, their holiday in San Salvatore be...more

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Oct 31, 2011 Joy H. marked it as watched-film-only · review of another edition

Shelves: adapted-to-film

Added 10/31/11.
I saw the movie only. It was called "Enchanted April" (1992). It was a charming film:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101811/
http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Enc...

Summary (from my local library online catalog):
"Two proper, middle-class English women, bored with their lives and their passionless husbands, spend a month on vacation in a medieval villa on the Italian Riviera. The idyllic hideaway holds a special magic, and they find ways to live and love that have long eluded them."

It...more

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Jun 06, 2011 Book Concierge rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Mrs Wilkins (Lotty) is spending a February afternoon at the Women’s Club when she happens to see an advertisement in the newspaper – a “castle” to let for the month of April in sunny Italy. This very proper British wife of an up-and-coming solicitor would never dream of doing anything so rash as going on holiday without her husband. And yet … who could blame her for desiring “wisteria and sunshine,” and she does have that little nest egg saved. Oh, but she couldn’t possibly … As she turns from h...more Mrs Wilkins (Lotty) is spending a February afternoon at the Women’s Club when she happens to see an advertisement in the newspaper – a “castle” to let for the month of April in sunny Italy. This very proper British wife of an up-and-coming solicitor would never dream of doing anything so rash as going on holiday without her husband. And yet … who could blame her for desiring “wisteria and sunshine,” and she does have that little nest egg saved. Oh, but she couldn’t possibly … As she turns from her reverie she sees that Mrs Arbuthnot (Rose), a woman she knows only by sight but with whom she’s never spoken, is now looking at the same page of the paper. Could she possibly be looking at the same advertisement? Could they manage it if they did it together, perhaps with one or two other women as well?

Thus begins a delightful adventure for four women who really do not know one another but agree to share the unique property. It is not quite what they were expecting, but somehow everything they dreamed of; friendship and love bloom along with wisteria in the Italian sunshine.

This is a gentle read. The story moves with the languorous pace of a day spent relaxing in the sun, with nothing more to worry about than what time lunch will be served. Von Arnim really gives us just a snapshot of these four women during one month spent in Italy; the reader learns about them in dribs and drabs … much as you would discover a new acquaintance (and hoped-for friend).

I found Lotty’s enthusiasm infectious; in fact, it is she who brings the others to a sense of peace and happiness. Rose and Lady Caroline Dester are perhaps the least happy with their lives in London, but each begins to flower as she relaxes and sheds her anxieties and worries. And Mrs Fisher has possibly found a true friend to comfort her in her old age. We get to know a little about their lives before they came to San Salvatore, but we are left to imagine what will happen once they leave.

One thing that surprised me was Lotty’s seeming ability to “see” what will happen. In that respect there was a bit of “magic” to the tale, and the story reminded me of modern works by Sarah Addison Allen.

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May 29, 2011 Tony rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-mainstream

von Arnim, Elizabeth. THE ENCHANTED APRIL. (1922). ****.
von Arnhim, nee Beauchamp, was born in Australia to a merchant shipper. His goal was to explore the world, and he took his family with him. When his wife died, he continued to take Elizabeth along with him, until he remarried and settled in England. Elizabeth ultimately married twice, the final time to a German count and then went to live in Pomerania. Her first book was “Elizabeth and Her German Garden,” which was enormously popular and...more von Arnim, Elizabeth. THE ENCHANTED APRIL. (1922). ****.
von Arnhim, nee Beauchamp, was born in Australia to a merchant shipper. His goal was to explore the world, and he took his family with him. When his wife died, he continued to take Elizabeth along with him, until he remarried and settled in England. Elizabeth ultimately married twice, the final time to a German count and then went to live in Pomerania. Her first book was “Elizabeth and Her German Garden,” which was enormously popular and started her on her writing career. This novel – mostly a longish bit of fluff – deals with the transportive and curative powers of places of beauty and peace. Most of us, at one time or another, find the need to get away to relax. That’s what this novel is all about. It is mostly charming, though it tends to dip very closely to what then might be a romance novel of the times. A young woman who has seen the spark go out of her marriage and to question her role in life sees an ad in the newspaper about a small castle for rent for the month of April on the Italian coast. She approaches another woman member of her club to see if she would want to go halves with her, since all she had was her “pin” money. The two decide to write and see what the cost will be and find out that the rent would be 60-pounds for the month. This amount puts them perilously close to their limits so they advertise for two other women to join them. They know they can do this because the castle has eight bedrooms. They are a little disappointed that they only receive a reply from two women, but go on to accept them as their vacation companions. The four women – our first two being married and deciding not to take their husbands – move into Castel San Salvadore and discover its transformative properties. They revel in its beauty and peacefulness and, along the way, begin to find the women they used to be. As I said, the novel is a little fluffy, but I found it charming. Recommended.
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Feb 12, 2011 Helen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: virago-modern-classics

The Enchanted April, first published in 1922, is the story of four women who rent a castle in Italy together one April. The women are strangers to each other at the beginning of the novel, but each of them has her own reasons for wanting a holiday. Spending a month at San Salvatore surrounded by sunshine and flowers gives each woman a chance to resolve her problems and try to find happiness.

I'm so glad my first experience with Elizabeth von Arnim was a good one. I hadn't expected something so re...more

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Oct 09, 2010 Miriam rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: movie-link, reread

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Oct 06, 2009 Suzanne Moore rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Rose feels neglected by her writer husband, and Lottie is tired of being "good." The remedy they suppose is to get away for a month, using money they have saved, without their husbands. They decide to rent a small castle in Italy, and they recurit two other ladies along to help foot the bill.

Lady Caroline, or Scrap, is a young, high society girl and Mrs. Foster is an old widow with a cane. They join Rose & Lottie after replying to an ad requesting traveling/vacation companions.

The four are...more

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Jul 10, 2009 Daniele rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: my, favorites, rosa, comedy, librivox, audiobook

I found this enthralling book by mere chance and the more I went on with its story the more extremely pleased I was with my fortunate discovery.

Subtle character-driven irony and perfect characterization make this novel so much Jane-Austen-like that if it weren't for the lack of balls and much nose powdering I could have sworn Austen had helped with writing it.

It is quite refreshing and captivating at the same time, almost as if the enchanted Italian environment would reach out and grasp the rea...more I found this enthralling book by mere chance and the more I went on with its story the more extremely pleased I was with my fortunate discovery.

Subtle character-driven irony and perfect characterization make this novel so much Jane-Austen-like that if it weren't for the lack of balls and much nose powdering I could have sworn Austen had helped with writing it.

It is quite refreshing and captivating at the same time, almost as if the enchanted Italian environment would reach out and grasp the reader's attention as well.

Be sure not to miss it.

"Did you know Keats?" eagerly interrupted Mrs. Wilkins.

Mrs. Fisher, after a pause, said with sub-acid reserve that she
had been unacquainted with both Keats and Shakespeare.

"Oh of course--how ridiculous of me!" cried Mrs. Wilkins,
flushing scarlet. "It's because"--she floundered--"it's because the
immortals somehow still seem alive, don't they--as if they were here,
going to walk into the room in another minute--and one forgets they are
dead. In fact one knows perfectly well that they're not dead--not
nearly so dead as you and I even now," she assured Mrs. Fisher, who
observed her over the top of her glasses.

"I thought I saw Keats the other day," Mrs. Wilkins incoherently
proceeded, driven on by Mrs. Fisher's look over the top of her glasses.
"In Hampstead--crossing the road in front of that house--you know--the
house where he lived--"

Mrs. Arbuthnot said they must be going.

Mrs. Fisher did nothing to prevent them.

"I really thought I saw him," protested Mrs. Wilkins, appealing
for belief first to one and then to the other while waves of colour
passed over her face, and totally unable to stop because of Mrs.
Fisher's glasses and the steady eyes looking at her over their tops. "I
believe I did see him--he was dressed in a--"

Even Mrs. Arbuthnot looked at her now, and in her gentlest voice
said they would be late for lunch.

It was at this point that Mrs. Fisher asked for references. She
had no wish to find herself shut up for four weeks with somebody who
saw things. It is true that there were three sitting-rooms, besides
the garden and the battlements at San Salvatore, so that there would be
opportunities of withdrawal from Mrs. Wilkins; but it would be
disagreeable to Mrs. Fisher, for instance, if Mrs. Wilkins were
suddenly to assert that she saw Mr. Fisher. Mr. Fisher was dead; let
him remain so. She had no wish to be told he was walking about the
garden.
AN ENCHANTED APRIL
--

listen to it at: http://librivox.org/the-enchanted-apr...
Text at: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16389/...(less)

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About Elizabeth von Arnim

Elizabeth, Countess Russell, was a British novelist and, through marriage, a member of the German nobility, known as Mary Annette Gräfin von Arnim.
Born Mary Annette Beauchamp in New Zealand while her family resided in Sydney, Australia, she was raised in England and in 1891 married Count Henning August von Arnim, a Prussian aristocrat, and the great-great-great-grandson of King Friedrich Wilhelm I...more

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Quotes from The Enchanted April

“Beauty made you love, and love made you beautiful.” — 13 people liked it

“... Why, it would really be being unselfish to go away and be happy for a little, because we would come back so much nicer.” — 10 people liked it

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