"The Enchanted April" by Elizabeth von Arnim

Oh my goodness.  What dear, sweet, charming book!  I loved it so much!  In fact, it is one of my favorite new-to-me reads of the year so far!

Back in the 1920s (when this was written), four women from London decide to go on holiday to Italy together.  It all starts when dowdy, weary Lotty Wilkins sees an advertisement offering that people can rent an Italian castle for the month of April for a reasonable price.  She knows she could never afford it herself, and asks a...