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The Enchanted April

Elizabeth von Arnim

3.93 · Rating details · 22,408 ratings · 3,350 reviews

A discreet advertisement in 'The Times', addressed to 'Those who Apppreciate Wisteria and Sunshine...' is the impetus for a revelatory month for four very different women. High above the bay on the Italian Riviera stands San Salvatore, a mediaeval castle. Beckoned to this haven are Mrs. Wilkins, Mrs Arbuthnot, Mrs Fisher and Lady Caroline Dester, each quietly craving a res ...more

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Hardcover, 275 pages

Published August 4th 2011 by Virago Press Ltd (first published 1922)

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May 17, 2014 Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: i-own, gutenberg-freebie, italy, historical-fiction

Four proper English ladies, who don't know each other at all, decide to pool their resources and rent an Italian villa for a month, in the 1920's. They all have different personalities and there are some conflicting expectations. To make matters worse, (view spoiler). How can this possibly not go south really fast?

description

I saw Four proper English ladies, who don't know each other at all, decide to pool their resources and rent an Italian villa for a month, in the 1920's. They all have different personalities and there are some conflicting expectations. To make matters worse, (view spoiler). How can this possibly not go south really fast?

description

I saw the movie version of this book when it came out about 1992. Somehow I talked my fiancée (now husband) into seeing it with me; memory and imagination fail as to how exactly I pulled that off. So we're watching the first part of the movie as these British ladies try to figure out how to pull off a month-long vacation trip to Italy (without husbands), and their lives are dreary, and they arrive in Italy and it's dark and rainy and everyone's confused and upset, and my guy and I are both thinking, man, this is so going to be either bleak or angsty, which is so not either of our thing.

Then morning dawns and it's just absolutely lovely. And the rest of the movie is too.

description

So I'm surprised that it took me so long to read this 1922 book, especially since it's a Gutenberg freebie. But I finally did, and it's as delightful as the movie, though there are a few interesting differences.* What I most appreciated in this book is the additional insights into the characters, and how they grow and are changed by Italy and by their association with each other. When two of the ladies initially show some real selfishness in Italy, one of the other ladies, Rose, wants to fight back and assert herself, and I'm all, yes! Don't let them get away with this! Stand up for your rights! But Lotty tells Rose to let it go.

"What is rather silly," said Mrs. Wilkins with much serenity, "is to mind. I can't see the least point in being in authority at the price of one's liberty."

Lotty was wiser than both of us. Let it be, and let love and beauty and acceptance work their changes in their own time.

Scrap looked up at the pine-tree motionless among stars. Beauty made you love, and love made you beautiful. . .

She pulled her wrap closer round her with a gesture of defence, of keeping out and off. She didn't want to grow sentimental. Difficult not to, here; the marvelous night stole in through all one's chinks, and brought in with it, whether one wanted them or not, enormous feelings—feelings one couldn't manage, great things about death and time and waste; glorious and devastating things, magnificent and bleak, at once rapture and terror and immense, heart-cleaving longing. She felt small and dreadfully alone. She felt uncovered and defenceless. Instinctively she pulled her wrap closer. With this thing of chiffon she tried to protect herself from the eternities.

"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 focused 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 love.

Though there’s a pervading theme of love, it shares time with that of acceptance and not being judgmental. There’s also a gentle irony in how many times people, even (perhaps especially) married couples, misunderstand each other, but in the magical setting of San Salvatore it somehow always works out for the best.

Buddy reads in April 2015 & April 2020 <— we loved the serendipity here.

*Some of the differences:(view spoiler) I think Elizabeth von Arnim would have approved.

Free online at Gutenberg here, but be warned that there are several typos in this version. ...more

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Apr 09, 2020 Fionnuala added it · review of another edition

Shelves: covid-times

I was to have been in Italy right now. Flights, accommodation, gallery tickets, all were booked months ago. I had even chosen books to take along.

So much faith in April being exactly how I'd planned seems innocent now.
And holidays have become unimportant—they are frills I can easily live without. In fact I've discovered I can live without a lot of things I used to think were essential, visiting friends, for example, going for long walks, browsing in bookshops, eating out. Eating at home has ch I was to have been in Italy right now. Flights, accommodation, gallery tickets, all were booked months ago. I had even chosen books to take along.

So much faith in April being exactly how I'd planned seems innocent now.
And holidays have become unimportant—they are frills I can easily live without. In fact I've discovered I can live without a lot of things I used to think were essential, visiting friends, for example, going for long walks, browsing in bookshops, eating out. Eating at home has changed too as we rely more and more on food deliveries, which never contain quite what was ordered. I've become very good at doing without certain ingredients and using others in their place.

Instead of the long walks I loved, I walk in the garden now, though it's quite a tiny space. Never before have I paid so much attention to every sprouting tendril on the climbing plants, every hint of a bud. The simplest things thrill me, such as spotting that the wisteria that was planted three years ago and which had never yet flowered looks like it finally will. I can identify more bird species than I knew existed in my part of the world, and I've begun to recognise their calls. Instead of feeling imprisoned during this quarantine time, it's as if my life has opened up. The garden makes me feel good, it even makes me feel exuberant.

One thing that hasn't changed in my life is reading—I probably own enough books to see me through many quarantine seasons. I didn't own The Enchanted April though, in spite of having wished to read it in the past. When a friend reviewed it last week, it struck me as just the book I needed right now so I got it as an ebook. The plot of this novel concerns a holiday in Italy in April, and the story features a garden full of beautiful plants including wisteria. I enjoyed the book a lot. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I downloaded another book by Elizabeth Von Armin immediately on finishing. The second book, Elizabeth and Her German Garden, is a kind of memoir of a garden she owned at one point in her life. After reading it, I understood why the garden in The Enchanted April played such a big role. And I appreciated the character called Lotty Wilkins even more than I did initially—there's a lot of Elizabeth Von Armin in Lotty. It's in her delight in flowers, in her unusual forthrightness, and in her wonderfully exuberant personality. I really enjoyed Lotty. ...more

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Jul 01, 2017 Brina rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: romance, 500-great-books-women, historical-fiction, classics

Elizabeth von Arnim strikes me as an interesting character. A writer brought up in influential circles, she married no less than five times in her life, and also enjoyed an affair with writer H.G. Wells after he ended his own affair with Von Arnim's rival Rebecca West. When one of von Arnim's disastrous marriages ended in 1921, she decided to spend a month at Italian castello Portofino as a way to clear her head. The idea for her classic book The Enchanted April has been born. Von Arnim had the Elizabeth von Arnim strikes me as an interesting character. A writer brought up in influential circles, she married no less than five times in her life, and also enjoyed an affair with writer H.G. Wells after he ended his own affair with Von Arnim's rival Rebecca West. When one of von Arnim's disastrous marriages ended in 1921, she decided to spend a month at Italian castello Portofino as a way to clear her head. The idea for her classic book The Enchanted April has been born. Von Arnim had the book published in 1922, and today it merits inclusion in Erica Bauermeister's book 500 Great Books by Women. This book is as charming as the spell cast by Portofino castle, and is still widely read today.

Lotty Wilkins and Rose Arbuthnot lived a life of relative obscurity in the Hampstead section of London. Both were virtually ignored by their husbands and had the longing to get away from it all. One day, Lotty Wilkins noticed an advertisement in the Times to rent an Italian villa named San Salvatore in April for £ 60. Mesmerized by the idea but not wanting to spend her entire nest egg on the castle, she recruits Arbuthnot to join her. Later, the women ask Lady Caroline Dester and a Mrs Fisher to join them as well, making the pair into a foursome, and, more importantly, making the castle rental into an affordable getaway.

Even though Wilkins and Arbuthnot made the initial arrangements, Mrs Fisher and Lady Caroline shrewdly arrive at the castle first to claim the better rooms for themselves. The latter two women enjoy a higher standard of living than the former and want to ensure that they have an enjoyable holiday. Almost instantaneously, San Salvatore works its magic on all four women. An air of happiness overtakes them and rather than being bitter with their station in life, they talk of love being in the air. Wilkins and Arbuthnot originally came to the castle to get away from their husbands, but within a week, both women write their husbands asking them to join them in this enchanting setting.

Within the month, all four women are the best of friends, although this takes time, especially with Mrs Fisher. I thought the writing was basic yet descriptive and the plot to be straightforward with few twists and turns along the way. Von Arnim was writing from personal experience and recreated the Portofino castello where she enjoyed a monthlong holiday. This book was originally published within a year of her excursion, so the memories were fresh, especially the descriptions of the sea air and ever changing flowers. These descriptions of time and place ended up working for me much better than the plot developments.

While Von Arnim's novel is considered her greatest book, it did not captivate me completely. I enjoyed the seaside setting of the Italian castle, but I enjoy a complex plot of intrigue as well as multilayered character development. The ladies here while pleasant do not pack the punch for me as protagonists, although I give them much credit, especially in their era, for desiring a holiday independent of their husbands. The Enchanted April was a pleasant read for a lazy summer afternoon. I am sure the castle itself would have cast its spell on me as it did the ladies in this book, but the novel will not be an all time favorite for me. Still, The Enchanted April is a worthwhile read, which I rate 3.5 stars. ...more

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Jan 26, 2018 Steven Godin rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classic-fiction, great-britain

You can't best a good old holiday in warmer climates, but for the four ladies at the heart of Elizabeth von Arnim's 1922 novel there is more to it than that. The story is both a triumph to the transformative power of travel, and charmed with a decorative feel like that of a sun-kissed fairytale. von Arnim certainly cast a spell over me, and although we may only be talking of the Italian coast, it really felt like being whisked further away, enraptured in another world.

Four very different women You can't best a good old holiday in warmer climates, but for the four ladies at the heart of Elizabeth von Arnim's 1922 novel there is more to it than that. The story is both a triumph to the transformative power of travel, and charmed with a decorative feel like that of a sun-kissed fairytale. von Arnim certainly cast a spell over me, and although we may only be talking of the Italian coast, it really felt like being whisked further away, enraptured in another world.

Four very different women in terms of age and attitudes respond to an advertisement in the Times appealing to "those who appreciate wisteria and sunshine" to come and rent a small medieval Italian castle for a month. That month being April of course. The two original two respondents, Mrs Wilkins and Mrs Arbuthnot, are joined in their escapism by the youthful Lady Caroline, whose beauty and general melodiousness have become something of a burden to her, and the formidable Mrs Fisher, who first appears a bit of a grouch, but she slowly succumbs to the pleasant environment after initially insisting the other guests think of her as just as "an old lady with a stick". She sets about imposing her will on the rest, which makes up just one part of the story. Each lady is vaguely unsatisfied with their lot and Mrs Wilkins and Mrs Arbuthnot both have marriages of quiet English unhappiness, but that is about to change as both husbands are invited to come and stay, and it's this holiday reunion that sparks a deeper love, not just for the wives and husbands, but something is opened up in all of them.

Elizabeth Von Arnim has a keen eye for small human failings, the little acts of pettiness and selfishness in which most people indulge. She is perceptive about the way people misread one another's good and not so good intentions, and the early chapters read like a comedy of miscommunication. I felt it wasn't until the second half that the novel really shines, the characters seem fuller, growing on you like a petite garden flower. She also, perhaps not surprisingly, given her famed German garden revels in the descriptions of the castle grounds and their beauty and colour, like reading a vivid painting as literature. Everything is centred on the castle and guests, there are no outside influences, creating it's own little world of delight. The surroundings really do rub off on the women, they eventually start to wake up, shifting in the perceptions of love and life.

When I think back to how the novel opened with misery and cold rain, by the time I reached it's happy finale all was forgotten. The story was both humorous and wise, with a wisp of a premise, but von Arnim's brilliant writing transforms it into something much more, a possible satire on post-WWI British society, a sardonic rumination on human foibles, and a tale of women coming into their own. And most impressive of all, she makes it look effortless. The four main characters are precisely drawn, and their transformation during this break works it's way into the reader, you can't help feel but a rapturous joy in their presence.

It is written in a way that evokes geniality, without dipping her toes into the waters of sentimentality, which is a testament to her talent as a writer. And it's sweet pleasant temperament and light-hearted nature made for an easy, comfortable read, in fact had it been any lighter in tone, one could read this whilst the book floats in mid air. This would be an ideal candidate for that 'holiday book' whilst relaxing by the sea with a slightly chilled chianti. On holiday reading of a holiday, perfect fit!, sadly I had to settle for the Parisian suburbs. But not to worry, von Arnim brings the holiday to you in the comfort of your own home. ...more

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Mar 27, 2015 Candi rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics-shelf

This was a delightful little story! Four women, previously unknown to one another, leave a dreary winter in England behind to take a one month April holiday in a small, charming Italian castle after responding to an advertisement in a newspaper. The descriptions of the landscape are very lush and made me wish that I could make such an escape myself after a seemingly never-ending winter.

“By the end of the week the fig-trees were giving shade, the plum-blossom was out among the olives, the modest This was a delightful little story! Four women, previously unknown to one another, leave a dreary winter in England behind to take a one month April holiday in a small, charming Italian castle after responding to an advertisement in a newspaper. The descriptions of the landscape are very lush and made me wish that I could make such an escape myself after a seemingly never-ending winter.

“By the end of the week the fig-trees were giving shade, the plum-blossom was out among the olives, the modest weigelias appeared in their fresh pink clothes, and on the rocks sprawled masses of thick-leaved, star-shaped flowers, some vivid purple and some a clear, pale lemon.”

The novel is also sprinkled with humor throughout as the four very different personalities either bluntly clash with one another or surreptitiously try to avoid one or another of the group. I often found myself smiling at some of their little antics and remarks. Each woman begins with her own struggle, discontent, and preconceived notions of what is expected of her as a female member of society.

Lotty Wilkins, who is the first to embrace the charms of Italy and is the quintessential transformed spirit in the novel, begins her journey as one who really has very little confidence in herself. “Her clothes, infested by thrift, made her practically invisible; her face was non-arresting; her conversation was reluctant; she was shy.”

Rose Arbuthnot, the religious and charitable but lonely wife, is initially described: “Steadfast as the points of the compass to Mrs. Arbuthnot were the great four facts of life: God, Husband, Home, Duty… Frederick had been the kind of husband whose wife betakes herself early to the feet of God. From him to them had been a short though painful step.”

Mrs. Fisher, the elderly widow, who leaves England for Italy with the notion that “Hardly anything was really worth while, except the past… She had not come away from these friends (in London), these conversable ripe friends, in order to spend her time in Italy chatting with three persons of another generation and defective experience; she had come away merely to avoid the treacheries of a London April.”

And finally, the beautiful, unattached Lady Caroline, never without a suitor to her own exasperation, believes “Worse than jokes in the morning did she hate the idea of husbands.” She wishes to be left completely alone and yet she seems to attract everyone to her; and her coldness and biting remarks towards others is unnoticed due to her overwhelming beauty. “People were exactly like flies. She wished there were nets for keeping them off too. She hit at them with words and frowns, and like the fly they slipped between her blows and were untouched.”

Ultimately, no one is immune to the enchantments of Italy and companionship and each undergo their own individual transformations. They learn the value of friendship and that “Beauty made you love, and love made you beautiful.”

Perhaps one would say that this book was too neat and tidy, maybe a bit unrealistic. However, I felt it was a breath of fresh air and a great reminder that a little respite and new acquaintances can help immensely to renew a dampened spirit.
...more

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May 06, 2019 Beverly rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This was so mesmerizing and lovely. I had heard of the movie and knew vaguely what it was about, but I didn't realize it was first a book until recently. Why? Everything that is any good, is always first a book. Four women seek a vacation in Italy to get away from a dreary, soggy London. April in Italy sounds like a precious dream and it is. Each lady is miserable and alone in their own ways, even though two of them are married.

Once it seems that the dream might become reality, they start to awa ...more

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Jun 15, 2013 Rowena rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, classics

“All down the stone steps on either side were periwinkles in full flower, and she could now see what it was that had caught at her the night before and brushed, wet and scented across her face. It was wistaria. Wistaria and sunshine.”

This was a lovely book about four English women who answer an advertisement to rent an Italian chateau in San Salvatore,Italy during a dismal April in England. The advertisement seems to be a godsend to these women, whose lives are not going the way they had hoped. ...more

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Mar 11, 2020 Diane Barnes rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

I'm not sure I have enough wonderful adjectives for this little novel. In this time of bad news all around the globe, travel restrictions, event cancellations, panicked people buying up hand sanitizer and whatever else will see them through, this turned out to be the perfect novel at the perfect time. Through the magic of words, I spent the month of April in a medieval castle on the coast of Italy with four ladies not previously known to each other. Each with her own problems and need to get awa ...more

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Nov 25, 2014 Bobby Underwood rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Much like the film this book by Elizabeth Von Arnim inspired, there is something peaceful here on these pages. This is a gentle novel about gradual internal changes brought about by the beauty of our surroundings. It is a book that reads itself as much as it is read, the author writing with the flow of the characters' thoughts and feelings, as their hearts are changed by the surprise of beauty.

An ad to rent a castle in San Salvatore on the Italian Riviera will prompt two British women of slight ...more

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Aug 06, 2020 Dem rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: classic

My first Novel by Elizabeth Von Arnim and while it was an ok read I wont be adding any more of her novels to reading list. It's a charming and breezy and probably works if you like that kind of thing. I however was hoping for more a Daphne du Maurier feel to it and therefore this book just didn't work for me.

The novel tells the story of four dissimilar English Ladies who go on holiday to Italy after seeing an advertisement for a small medieval castle on the beautiful Italian Rivera.
I love nov ...more

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Jul 26, 2020 JimZ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Another 5 star-er! 😊 I’m so happy! Nothing like a great read to make me happy.

This is the second book I have read by Elizabeth von Arnim and I gave ‘Vera” 5 stars too.

In “Vera” von Arnim had a plot line which at least to me was sinister and worrying and dark but at the same time she had me at time laughing out loud. How do you explain that?! I think it is called tragi-comedy. Anyway, in The Enchanted April (published in 1921, re-issue I had was by New York Review of Books, 2007) it is all lighte ...more

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Apr 01, 2020 Laysee rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Who would have thought that a novel written almost a hundred years ago can bring so much pleasure and delight during our present troubled times? When safe distancing is mandated and travel outside one’s country fast becoming a thing of the past (hopefully not), it is especially refreshing to take a trip somewhere, even if only in our minds.

The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim, published in 1922, is dedicated to all who ‘appreciate wisteria and sunshine.’ Four women in England, strangers to Who would have thought that a novel written almost a hundred years ago can bring so much pleasure and delight during our present troubled times? When safe distancing is mandated and travel outside one’s country fast becoming a thing of the past (hopefully not), it is especially refreshing to take a trip somewhere, even if only in our minds.

The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim, published in 1922, is dedicated to all who ‘appreciate wisteria and sunshine.’ Four women in England, strangers to each other, answered an advertisement to rent a medieval castle in Italy for the month of April. Each needs to get away from her family for different reasons and harbors hopes that leaving the greyness and dreary rain in Hampstead for vistas of spring flowers, the mountains, and the sea will be restorative.

The four guests at San Salvatore include two housewives (Mrs. Wilkins and Mrs. Arbuthnot) whose marriages have lost their shine, an elderly widow (Mrs. Foster) who lives in the past, and a very beautiful, single, aristocrat (Lady Caroline) fleeing suffocation from her adoring fan club. I was the unseen guest and had a fine time getting acquainted with the idiosyncrasies of each person. It was like a mini study in human behavior. How do strangers who had to share close quarters (albeit in a gorgeous castle) relate to one another? However, what lent this book its charm is the way the beautiful locale worked its magic and brought out the best in people who had little in common with each other.

As is true when traveling with others, the foursome have to adjust to their companions’ quirks and habits. It was not at all surprising to observe them sizing each other up, protecting their own turf, and subtly (or firmly) making their preferences known. Hence, it was lovely that the ladies became friends when initially there was quiet competition for special corners in the castle or rooms with the most fetching views, and even who sat at the head of the table.

I was as excited as Mrs. Wilkins and Mrs. Arburthnot who arrived at San Salvatore when night had fallen and could not wait to look out of the window when morning dawned. Picture this: ‘The wisteria was tumbling over itself in its excess of life, its prodigality of flowering; and where the pergola ended the sun blazed on scarlet geraniums, bushes of them, and marigolds so brilliant that they seemed to be burning, and red and pink snapdragons, all outdoing each other in bright, fierce colour.’ Picture also its impact: ‘They stood looking at this crowd of loveliness, this happy jumble, in silence. No, it didn’t matter what Mrs. Fisher did; not here, not in such beauty.’

The irony is not lost on me that I read The Enchanted April set in Italy at a time when the coronavirus has cast a darkening gloom across the globe. I enjoyed this vicarious vacation in Italy, a country I have visited and love, and am saddened by how horribly it has been affected by the scourge. I am grateful for this lovely book that offered amusement and laughter. The vacation turns out pitch perfect for all four guests. It is too good to be true, but who cares? ...more

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Jul 19, 2015 Cecily rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: landscape-location-protagonist, historical-fict-20th-cent, miscellaneous-fiction

Enchanting Transformation

The enchantment of the title is apt, as there is an almost magical feel about the power of a beautiful landscape.

This is a carefully observed story of characters and transformation – including, perhaps, the reader. It constantly juxtaposes light with underlying sadness and hope. It’s about finding the courage to shake off undeserved guilt, rattle convention, and be true to yourself – and thus to others in your life. “Now she had taken off all her goodness and left it be ...more

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Apr 16, 2015 Idarah rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, own, favorites

“It was, that year, a particularly wonderful spring, and of all the months at San Salvatore April, if the weather was fine, was best. May scorched and withered; March was restless, and could be hard and cold in its brightness; but April came along softly like a blessing, and if it were a fine April it was so beautiful that it was impossible not to feel different, not to feel stirred and touched.”

One of my aunts recently introduced me to fruit infused water. In the scorching Texas heat, which ...more

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Apr 25, 2020 Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics

4.5 ★

The Enchanted April is an enchanting book!

Within the first couple of paragraphs I knew it was the book for me! I am still in Lockdown and I needed something that would help me escape the world's frightening realities. & mostly set in one of my favourite countries - what could be better?

Answer - not much!

A chance spotting of an advertisement leads to two virtual strangers, Lottie & Rose, deciding to rent an Italian castle together & have a month's escape from their dull, unhappy lives. The ...more

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Dec 17, 2020 Violeta rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audio

Airbnb-ing in the 1920s!

Four women, who haven’t got a lot in common except for their desire to get away from everything that constitutes their daily lives, join forces and budgets and, acting on their hearts’ desires, rent an Italian villa, fully equipped with all the trimmings for a relaxing stay for the whole month of April of a distant spring.

The time is the 1920s. The place is London (where they meet and set forth on their adventure) and San Salvatore, a fictional medieval castle complete ...more

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May 10, 2018 Sara rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: women-writers, pleasure-reading, gutenberg-download

In the words of Cole Porter, It’s delightful, It’s delicious, It’s de-lovely

The Enchanted April is sweet and soothing and heartwarming, like the holiday we find ourselves on with Lotty, Rose, Caroline and Mrs. Fisher. First off, I loved all the descriptions of the grounds and the gardens. I could see the Judas tree in bloom, the wisteria draping the arbors, and smell the frecias. The idea of a medieval castle in Italy was as charming to me as it was to Lotty Wilkins when she encountered the adve ...more

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Nov 20, 2019 Tony rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: british, nyrb-classics, top-10-2019

There are books that I might read and like but that I know are really only for me. Then there will be a book that I read and like and immediately want everyone I know to start reading it too. This is that latter kind of book. And surprisingly so because, in the abstract, it doesn't sound like anything I would really like.

In the abstract, four women in early 20th Century Britain find an ad to rent for one April a medieval castle in Italy. The women don't know each other, but for various reasons, ...more

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Apr 12, 2021 Jola rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: united-kingdom

NO MAGIC IN THE AIR

Not enchanted, alas. Despite April. Despite Italy. Despite Mrs Fisher.

I have been looking forward to reading this novel for a few years. I promised myself to do it necessarily in April, hoping spring will make Elizabeth von Arnim’s book even lovelier. Unfortunately, I kept forgetting about my plan. This year I remembered. As it seems, it wouldn’t have been a big loss if I had let it slip from memory.

My main problem with this novel: it apotheoses two 'truths' which I find harm ...more

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Apr 19, 2022 Cindy Rollins rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: the-literary-life-podcast, audiobooks, 2022

Just the best kind of novel. Layered, funny, astute, and just lovely through and through.

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May 15, 2021 Katie Lumsden rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

A thoroughly delightful read - charming, beautiful and witty.

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May 01, 2019 Maria rated it liked it

Shelves: great-britain

Four women spontaneously rent a castle in Italy for the month of April. Two of them are distant acquaintances, but other than that, they don't know each other. They are all displeased with their lives, and need a break. Away from everything they know, they get the chance to think things over, to come back to their true selves, as it were.

And the little castle, San Salvatore, seems to be just what they need. It is a place of healing. I would have loved to say that this story has a strong sense o ...more

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Sep 19, 2019 Madeline rated it really liked it · review of another edition

The Enchanted April is the ultimate comfort read, to the point where I’m almost disappointed that I read it in the summertime rather than the middle of winter, because I love the idea of reading this book while huddled under blankets during a snowstorm. This is the story of four British women in 1922 who rent an Italian villa for a month.

That’s it! That’s the book! Just four nice ladies who are kind of unhappy with their lives decide to go on vacation. Aside from their unhappy marriages (and it The Enchanted April is the ultimate comfort read, to the point where I’m almost disappointed that I read it in the summertime rather than the middle of winter, because I love the idea of reading this book while huddled under blankets during a snowstorm. This is the story of four British women in 1922 who rent an Italian villa for a month.

That’s it! That’s the book! Just four nice ladies who are kind of unhappy with their lives decide to go on vacation. Aside from their unhappy marriages (and it’s really just boredom – there’s nothing more malicious than that), there is virtually no conflict! Just lovely descriptions of Italian countryside and blooming flowers and relaxing on various balconies and parapets.

The four women of the story don’t know each other when the book starts. Two characters – Lottie and Rose – belong to the same London women’s club, and happen to both see the same advertisement for an Italian castle that can be rented for a month. They decide to pool their resources to rent it and, because they can’t quite afford it on their own, put out an ad of their own to get two more renters. They end up with Mrs. Fisher, a spinster who wants a quiet vacation where she can be left alone; and Lady Caroline Dester, who wants to get away from her usual crowd of Bright Young Things. In short, these are four women who just want some peace and quiet, dammit, so they all end up sharing an Italian castle for a month. Are you charmed yet?!

My only gripe with this book is this: along with Under the Tuscan Sun, it can be shelved under Stories About Unhappy Women Who Go To Italy To Find Themselves But Don’t Realize They’re Lesbians.

Like I understand that Elizabeth von Arnim was writing in the 1920s and couldn’t make these women overtly gay, but it makes SO MUCH SENSE. They’re unhappy in their marriages to their boring husbands! They’re always kissing each other and saying how much they love each other! They just want to sit in the sunshine surrounded by beautiful things and never have to speak to another man!

Of course, it’s 1922 and we can’t have them starting a lesbian commune in rural Italy. Lottie and Rose’s husbands join the vacation eventually, and (view spoiler)
...more

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Jun 04, 2018 Piyangie rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: brittish-lit, my-library

The Enchanted April is a very sweet book I have read. It is a classic which is timeless and of universal appeal. The story is about four women, who are almost strangers, sharing a medieval castle for the month of April in Italy. These four women, having fled from their unhappy homes, reflect on themselves and their past in the quiet, beautiful, sunny surroundings. At the end of their shared vacation, they come to understand themselves better and see clearly what has made them unhappy while devel ...more

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Aug 08, 2020 Judith E rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, italy

After my last, very intense read, I needed something...I dunno...happy? Surrounded by flowers? Under warm, blue skies? Lounging by the Mediterranean Sea? And yes! -that’s it - in sunny Italy!

The four ladies of Enchanted April painted this scene with understated humor (really, the very best kind) while I sipped tea, served by Mrs. Fisher not Mrs. Arbuthnot, in the garden at San Salvatore castle.

At the beginning, the choppy, rambling syntax provided no reading flow and I re-read many sentences b ...more

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Apr 16, 2010 Sarah rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

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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Mar 03, 2017 Fiona MacDonald rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: library-books, my-books

Charming, beautiful and wonderfully witty! This was a complete hidden gem, but I loved it, loved the writing which was lyrical, loved the characters, who were all drawn to minuscule detail and mostly loved the exquisite descriptions of Italy and the flowering and fragrance of early April

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Apr 20, 2010 Grace Tjan rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, ebook, 2010, british-literature

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 08, 2020 Olive Fellows (abookolive) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: feel-good, favorites-2020, classics

Check out my discussion of this book and its movie adaptation on Booktube! ...more

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Apr 18, 2015 Kim rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle

Some spoilers ahead, so beware.

On a whim, I joined a few of my GR friends in a group read of this novel, which I'd not read previously. Originally published in 1922, the premise of the narrative is appealing: four unrelated women share a medieval castle on the Italian Riviera for a month, the "enchanted April" of the title. Each woman has a reason to escape her life in gloomy London and, in time, each woman is transformed by the experience.

The novel gets lots of love from reviewers and I unders ...more

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Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
The Silver Pettic...: 'The Enchanted April' Book Discussion - Spoilers	5	6	Apr 29, 2022 01:32PM
The Silver Pettic...: The Enchanted April: Our March/April 2022 Selection	5	16	Apr 18, 2022 09:37AM
#ClassicsCommunit...: April 2021 Classic: Enchanted April	106	195	May 01, 2021 09:53AM
What's the Name o...: SOLVED. 3 or 4 adult women who arrange a vacation in a beautiful private house in an idyllic place. [s]	6	22	Apr 18, 2021 11:19AM
An Introvert's Wo...: The Enchanted April	6	24	Apr 02, 2021 07:04PM

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About Elizabeth von Arnim

Elizabeth von Arnim

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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 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 of Prussia.

She had met von Arnim durin ...more