The Enchanted April (New York Review Books Classics)
by Elizabeth von Arnim
published
April 3rd 2007
(first published 2006)
by NYRB Classics
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binding
Paperback, 376 pages
isbn
1590172256
(isbn13: 9781590172254)
description
A recipe for happiness: four women, one medieval Italian castle, plenty of wisteria, and solitude as needed.
The women at the center of The Enchanted April a...more
The women at the center of The Enchanted April a...more
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 687)
Read in September, 2008
recommended to Linda by:
constant readerrecommends it for: anyone in need of a vacation
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 ...more
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 ...more
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5 comments
Read in June, 2008
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.
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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. W...more
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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. W...more
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2 comments
Read in March, 2008
recommended to Genevieve by:
ldssplash.comrecommends it for: Anyone that feels down or negative
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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Has a copy to sell/swap
—
Read in July, 2008
recommended to Graceann by:
Constant Readerrecommends it for: Fans of Good Novels
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. Gorg...more
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. Gorg...more
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Read in July, 2008
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 th...more
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Read in March, 2008
This is such a fun book to read about completely different women living (renting) a castle for the summer. Oh, you'll love this for the idea of living in castle! you'll love getting to know the different characters and their lives as they all seek "peace" for the summer away from their regular lives.
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What could be more enticing on a cold, wet, February day than to read "To Those Who Appreciate Wistaria and Sunshine. Small mediaeval Italian Castle on the shores of the Mediterranean to be Let furnished for the month of April." and feel this is an answer to all woes. Mrs Wilkins did and convinced three more ladies to leave all connections and ties for one month, just one month with no expectations, no plans. "Think of getting away for a whole month--from everything--to heaven--&
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Read in May, 2008
What a delightful read! I read this during rainy Portland season and could easily identify with the characters and their need for wistaria. In fact, reading it was almost enough, not quite... I am now planning my Enchanted April in Umbria...perhaps I will post an ad in the paper...any takers?
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Read in October, 2008
"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 ever written for women. This is my third or fourth time reading it and each time I draw something new from its pages. I would say a woman's adult life could be divided into four stages: single, married, married with children, and widowhood. All of these are represented in this book through the lives of four wome...more
Seriously one of the best books ever written for women. This is my third or fourth time reading it and each time I draw something new from its pages. I would say a woman's adult life could be divided into four stages: single, married, married with children, and widowhood. All of these are represented in this book through the lives of four wome...more
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Read in June, 2008
This should probably be called a "fantasy/romance" but it is so well-written, so charming, so funny and so sweet, that I can't help but give it five stars. It makes me want to read all her work, if her other books are half as good as this one.
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Beautiful story, in style and in content, especially if you love gardens and travel. Well ahead of its time, the novel places four different women who want something unidentifiable in an Italian castle for one month. Delightful!
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Delightful (and better than the movie, which I love).
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Read in January, 2002
A pleasant vacation read, much like A Year in Provence. What was neat about reading this one was the personal context within which I read it. I told a friend in my Creative Nonfiction class that I was planning with my boyfriend a trip to Italy at semester's end and she insisted I read this, one of her favorite books. So it was stowed in my daypack and while on a vacation in Italy I read about people on vacation in Italy. It was, for me, a new and delicious kind of submersion in something wond...more
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Read in October, 2007
This was SUCH a refreshing book. It is so charming and innocent (and therefore completely different from everything else I've read lately!) that I wanted to read it again as soon as I finished it.
The story starts with two middle-aged English women who are both trapped in loveless marriages and unfulfilling lives. They are practical strangers, but each is struck by an advertisement for a Villa for rent in Italy, San Salvatore. Lottie, the more outspoken of the two, notices Rose reading the...more
The story starts with two middle-aged English women who are both trapped in loveless marriages and unfulfilling lives. They are practical strangers, but each is struck by an advertisement for a Villa for rent in Italy, San Salvatore. Lottie, the more outspoken of the two, notices Rose reading the...more
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Read in June, 1996
THE ENCHANTED APRIL - Ex
von Arnim, Elizabeth - standalone
Four very diverse women, all seeking revitalization and escape from the dreary February rains of 1920s London, rent the small medieval castle of San Salvatore, nestled high above the bay of Portofino, Italy. Arriving at San Salvatore, they find it awash with the scent of flowers, its olive groves terracing down to the sun-warmed sea.
This is such a beautifully written, wonderfully descriptive book it always makes me was to gather ...more
von Arnim, Elizabeth - standalone
Four very diverse women, all seeking revitalization and escape from the dreary February rains of 1920s London, rent the small medieval castle of San Salvatore, nestled high above the bay of Portofino, Italy. Arriving at San Salvatore, they find it awash with the scent of flowers, its olive groves terracing down to the sun-warmed sea.
This is such a beautifully written, wonderfully descriptive book it always makes me was to gather ...more
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Read in April, 2008
My movie club is going to view this film, and I saw the play last year, so the novel is now a must.
A fluffy, romantic trip to a refreshing and beautiful place. Yet von Arnim examines her characters carefully and lets us in on their various motives and mysteries; her descriptions have the very aroma of wisteria and sun-drenched roses; she gives her story an interesting depth and bits of witty, ironic twists.
But my movie club can't get the film for this weekend. Still, I am pleased I read ...more
A fluffy, romantic trip to a refreshing and beautiful place. Yet von Arnim examines her characters carefully and lets us in on their various motives and mysteries; her descriptions have the very aroma of wisteria and sun-drenched roses; she gives her story an interesting depth and bits of witty, ironic twists.
But my movie club can't get the film for this weekend. Still, I am pleased I read ...more
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Read in February, 2008
The main character in this book may actually be the setting, San Salvatore, in Italy. In this gentle read, four women from dreary, rainy, depressing England agree to share a villa in Italy for the month of April when the flowers and nature are at their most beautiful. The contrast between the two countries is repeated frequently. With the winter we have been experiencing, I am ready to beat it to Italy myself! Of the four women, Mrs. Wilkins is the visionary and she is most intuitive about t...more
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Read in September, 2008
recommends it for:
everyone
What a beautiful book. I feel like turning around and reading it all over again (and that doesn't happen very often--I like variety). Preferably to Jake. It just feels like a book to share with the one you love best.
I loved the lessons--the importance of beauty, the necessity of love, and how intimately the two are intertwined when it's real love and true beauty. I saw the movie once a long time ago, and the book is so much better in my opinion. It's just not possible to explore peopl...more
I loved the lessons--the importance of beauty, the necessity of love, and how intimately the two are intertwined when it's real love and true beauty. I saw the movie once a long time ago, and the book is so much better in my opinion. It's just not possible to explore peopl...more
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Read in October, 2008
recommended to Anne by:
a clean-reads listrecommends it for: Anyone
I really enjoyed this book. Four women from diverse backgrounds rent a castle together in Italy. By stepping out of their lives, they are able to reawaken to the world around them. The only downside was that the book spent so much time on the duldrums and one character's happiness isn't found until nearly the last page. I would have loved to have spent more time with the happy version of that character, but oh well.
A reminder to take time to care for yourself in order to take better care of ot...more
A reminder to take time to care for yourself in order to take better care of ot...more
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Read in August, 2008
'"I suppose" whispered Lotty, "Rose's husband seems to you just an ordinary, good-natured, middle-aged man"
Scrap brought her gaze down from the stars and looked at Lotty a moment while she focussed her mind again.
"Just a rather red, rather round man," whispered Lotty.
Scrap bowed her head.
"He isn't" whispered Lotty. "Rose sees through all that. That's mere trimmings. She sees what we can't see, because she loves him."
Always...more
Scrap brought her gaze down from the stars and looked at Lotty a moment while she focussed her mind again.
"Just a rather red, rather round man," whispered Lotty.
Scrap bowed her head.
"He isn't" whispered Lotty. "Rose sees through all that. That's mere trimmings. She sees what we can't see, because she loves him."
Always...more
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