Father

by Elizabeth von Arnim

"There came a moment, she imagined, in the lives of most unmarried daughters, and perhaps in other people’s too, when they must either bolt or go permanently under."

Since her mother’s death, Jennifer has devoted years of her life to her father, managing the family home and acting as his secretary. After the sudden announcement that her father has married again, Jennifer, at 33, seizes the opportunity to lead an independent life. Quickly she secures the lease of Rose Cottage and turns her attention to her own needs and interests.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Historical Fiction, British Literature, Audiobook, Literary Fiction, Summer

339 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1931

About the author

Elizabeth von Arnim, born Mary Annette Beauchamp, was an English novelist. Born in Australia, she married a German aristocrat, and her earliest works are set in Germany. Her first marriage made her Countess von Arnim-Schlagenthin and her second Elizabeth Russell, Countess Russell. After her first husband's death, she had a three-year affair with the writer H.G. Wells, then later married Earl Russell, elder brother of the Nobel prize-winner and philosopher Bertrand Russell. She was a cousin of the New Zealand-born writer Katherine Mansfield. Though known in early life as May, her first book introduced her to readers as Elizabeth, which she eventually became to friends and finally to family. Her writings are ascribed to Elizabeth von Arnim. She used the pseudonym Alice Cholmondeley for only one novel, Christine, published in 1917.

Reviews

[Chrissie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book fits me to a T. Particularly right now. It really had me thinking. It is about marriage, close, close relationships versus couples who give each other space. Is it best to be tied to another or is independence the way to go? Me? I see the goods and the bads of both! I have been in a very close marriage. I have seen the pluses and minuses of that. I used to think that an experience shared was always the best. This book has you thinking about the enjoyment that can be attained from independence and freedom. There are good sides to an independent way of life too. Naybe depending on where you are in your life is the factor that clinches what is best here and now.

I like this book a lot because it contrasts different ways of approaching life and of relating to people. There is no one right or wrong way. Situations are different. People are different. I like seeing different ways of thinking.

This book made me smile. This book made me laugh. This book has given me plenty to think about.

There is a section in the beginning that is SO funny. A woman in a borrowed coat will have you laughing out loud. That is all I will say.

I like what the book says about religion. I like what it says about the value of physical exercise. I like what it says about one’s appreciation of nature.

The lines are very, very good.

In the audio version there is interesting information about Elizabeth von Arnim’s life and the situation for women after the First World War. After the war, women outnumbered men. The book demonstrates the consequences.

Penelope Freeman does an absolutely wonderful narration. Her intonations for the different characters are superb. The dialogs make you smile because she captures perfectly how conversations would be. The characters are so different from each other and hearing them talk becomes alternately amusing or thought provoking. This is the perfect book to study how people interact. Freeman brings this out SO well. Five stars for the narration.

Elizabeth von Arnim is a classical author you simply must not miss.

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

*Elizabeth and Her German Garden 4 stars
*Love 4 stars
*The Pastor's Wife 4 stars
*The Benefactress 4 stars
*Vera 4 stars
*Father 4 stars
*The Princess Priscilla's Fortnight 2 stars
*The Enchanted April 2 stars
*All the Dogs of My Life TBR
*The Caravaners TBR
*The Solitary Summer TBR

*Only Happiness Here: In Search of Elizabeth von Arnim by Gabrielle Carey

[Tania · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jennifer Dodge is a spinster and one of that eras surplus women, made to take care of her widowed father by her mother's dying wish. When her father brings home a new and very young wife, she is elated, looking forward to her new found freedom; her father has other ideas and expects her to stay on as his housekeeper, so while he is away on his honeymoon, she sneaks off and rents herself a cottage down in Sussex from the neighbouring vicar, he hadn't intended to rent it out to a lone female but his sister hands it over to spite him when he refuses to do as she says. It's small and quite inconvenient, but it is hers and hers alone and she looks forward to making it into a home.

The vicar is rather taken by Jenny, much to Alice's (his sister) dismay, Alice is another spinster who has managed to carve out a little niche for herself bossing around her younger brother and she won't give up this position willingly.

Elizabeth von Arnim often writes stories highlighting the position of women in society and this is a very entertaining one, some particularly dislikeable characters in this and I was surprised at how she managed to achieve a 'happy' ending for them all (nearly all, anyway).

Re-read 10/03/24

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

April 2013
This rather quaint (now rare) novel by Elizabeth von Arnim is utterly delightful. It's the story of a dutiful daughter who experiences her first glimpses of freedom and genuine happiness when her widowed father suddenly remarries. While he's away on his honeymoon she rents a tiny picturesque, but primitive, country cottage and prepares to live on the small annual inheritance left her by her dead mother. As she sets up house there and begins to putter about in the garden she finds real joy for the first time in this simple, new way of life. All kinds of complications, fair and foul, arise with her new landlords, a young clergyman and his domineering spinster sister, and her father and his new bride. Despite an odd turn at the very end I thoroughly enjoyed this book. There is wisdom, insight, and plenty of humor in this very charming tale.

Oct 2020
This is still as delightful as I remembered, a truly wonderful gem of a book.

Highest recommendation. 5 stars and a 💗!

[Diane Barnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

von Arnim is always worth reading just for her sly humor and thinly veiled criticisms of men in general and in this one, the clergy in particular. Jennifer's tyrant of a father, brings home a new, very young wife one day, thus setting her free from the promise to her dying mother to take care of him. He doesn't see it that way of course, as he looks at her as a valuable servant to do his bidding. He takes off on a month long honeymoon, and Jennifer takes off to find a new home. It turns into quite an adventure when she rents a primitive cottage from the local Vicar in the country, who promptly falls in love with her, and invites the suspicion of his older, spinster sister, who doesn't want him to marry, as then what would become of her?

Lots of action in this, and lots of introspection into the plight of women with no income and nothing to call their own unless some man comes along to support them. And of course, it being Elizabeth von Arnim, the women find a way.

Not my favorite of hers, that's reserved for Elizabeth and Her German Garden and Enchanted April, but it's very close.

[JimZ · Rating 3 out of 5]

A strong 3 stars. It was definitely a worthwhile read but it was too long for the story line. If shortened it would have gained an extra star in my book (so to speak). 😉

I think I have gone through all of von Arnim’s oeuvre, although I haven’t read her pseudo-memoir, All the Dogs of my Life.

The edition I read 'Father' was from the British Library Women Writers Series. Very nicely constructed softcover issue with an Afterword. This particular Afterword was from Simon Thomas, a series consultant who created the middlebrow blog ‘Stuck in a Book’ in 2007 (http://furrowedmiddlebrow.blogspot.com/).

Thoughts:
• Easy to read. Although the father in this novel was not as evil as Everard Wemyss from her dark novel ‘Vera,’ I think he was cut from the same cloth and perhaps was even a twin! The only thing that stopped the Father from spoiling Jennifer’s life by stopping her from marrying James was that he apparently had a massive stroke and died moments before he could break up their romantic canoodling. And in ‘Vera’ there really was just one bad person, but in this novel there was James’ older sister, Alice, who thoroughly dominated and controlled his life. But although she was bad, she was not evil. She was a middle-aged unmarried woman living in London in the 1930s without any skills, and was petrified that if her younger brother, whom she lived with, ever met a woman and married her, then she would have nowhere to go, and she would be out on the street. So that was a powerful motivator for her ‘bad’ behavior.

• Father at the beginning of the novel had just remarried. He was in his mid-60s, and he married an 18-year-old woman, Netta Blaine! Netta foolishly consented to be his wife without having any idea of what she was getting into. I don’t even think they had a courtship. He one day got it into his head that I guess he wanted to have sex with a pretty young thing and latched onto her. But he had no intentions of letting his 33-year-old daughter leave his domicile once he was married for his daughter was, to him, his full-time secretary and manager of the household. He did not think kindly of her, and thought she was plain and overweight.

Reviews:
• https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2021...
• https://www.stuckinabook.com/father-b...
• https://journeydestination.org/2022/0...
• https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2020/...
• https://karensbooksandchocolate.blogs...

[Beth Bonini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Papa is wed, and I am free,
O blessed state of liberty!

And now here was Jen singing, and audaciously singing, like some exultant thrush on a fine spring morning, as she hurried into the back dining room to tidy up her day's work, and for the first time saw that dull spot not as a prison, not as a gloomy frame within which sat an ageing girl doggedly performing duties that would never end, but as a jumping-off place from which one flung oneself into glory.

This is my fourth Elizabeth von Arnim novel, and in many ways it is characteristic of the others. The narrative style has a lightness of tone - the word 'breathiness' comes to mind - even when the subject matter has a dark edge. All of the characters are gently mocked and it's essentially a comic novel about a serious subject: the subjugation and dependence of women.

In the Afterword to the novel, Simon Thomas refers to the problem of the 'surplus women' - both a real and a perceptual problem caused by the deaths of too many men in World War I. The heroine of this story, Jennifer Dodge, is a 33rd year old spinster who is still living with her father at the beginning of the novel. She serves as his secretary, his housekeeper and a sort of whetstone for him to sharpen his temper on. When Jennifer's father suddenly decides to marry - to a young woman, Netta, much younger than his own daughter - Jennifer realises that this is her opportunity to clear out of the Gower Street home which has imprisoned her for so many years. She takes the opportunity to flee to the countryside, where she has hatched a plan to rent a tiny cottage for herself. Her plan is to take up gardening and freedom.

With father, she had never once, in her whole life, been natural. Probably no obedient creature, she thought, could be so, no creature whose time was spent carrying out orders, and dodging round as the shadow and echo of another human being; no person, that is, who was in any way a slave.

In the tiny village of Cherry Lidgate, Jennifer finds that the cottage advertised in the Churchgoer is ostensibly managed by a young vicar named James Ollier. In reality, its management belongs to the estate of his bossy older sister Alice. A quarrel between the two siblings provides a sort of loophole through which Jennifer slides and finds herself - for the first time - in command of her own home.

One of the clever dichotomies of the novel is the way that von Arnim contrasts the plight of two women - Jennifer (a daughter) and Alice (a sister) - who are wholly unlike in nature, and yet both dependents of men. Although they each have techniques for asserting themselves, and even getting their own way, one of the dark edges of the novel is the knowledge that neither woman really has the sufficient funds to go it alone.

Another theme of the novel is emotional subjugation, and in this particular circumstance, Jennifer finds her familiar not with Alice - but with James. On a dark summer's night, they discover that they are kindred spirits in many ways, but they will not be able to form a proper attachment to each other until they can separate themselves from the emotional tyranny of father (for Jennifer) and sister (for James).

You can't really describe this book as a romantic love story, although it does provide the traditional romantic closure, albeit in a darkly absurd form. The truer romance in the book is for the beauty of countryside, and in this case James and Jennifer discover that they are both lovers, appreciators and 'fellow gloaters'. But the author spares a kind thought for the spinster sister Alice, too, and she has her own - if not happy - then at least fitting ending.

As far as Alice was concerned, and she was the person he saw most closely, God needn't have bothered to fill the year with magnificence, or invent a single sunset. For her the hedges in May foamed with white sweetness, and the buttercups turned the fields to glory, in vain. On her the wonder of the first real spring morning was lost. While as for when the daffodils dropped out in March and took possession of the world, she saw in this recurring miracle merely a sign that lamb would not be in season, and hastened to order it, roast, for their Sunday dinner.

[Poiema · Rating 5 out of 5]

The self-important "Father" is not the main character of this book, but he casts a huge shadow within which his only daughter must exist. Jennifer is 33 years old and has been dutifully, diligently serving him since her Mother's death 12 years earlier. She is stifled and bored until Father suddenly remarries. Seizing upon her new found freedom, Jennifer is like a bird let out of a cage. I found myself savoring her freedom alongside of her, enjoying the roses in the tea kettle and the mattress pulled out of doors under the apple tree. The author has a pert, light humor but underneath that is a perceptive grasp on how duty is restrictive but love is freeing. I'll be seeking out more books by this author.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I understand the seriousness of the exploration of single women/spinsters during the interwar period, and the relationships they were expected to maintain in order to live day to day, the five stars from me is for the writing.

I loved The Enchanted April. When I read it as a teenager it became one of my favorite books immediately. Last year, I attempted to read Elizabeth and her German Garden, but it did not have the same feel to me. So I was left thinking The Enchanted April one of a kind for this author.
I am so glad I read this for a book club this month, or I would have never found it. The writing is fantastic and the author is funny, I mean, really funny. There is so much wry tongue-in-cheek humor and situational hilarity. It’s the kind of writing that makes you pause to appreciate what she has done. I’m thankful to have a new book to add into my all-time favorites.

[Squeak2017 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t like a single character in this book. Jen would have been a worthy character until she capitulated to the guilt inflicted by her bullying manipulative father. Rather than seeing this as a noble sacrifice I considered it a sell-out. She would have had nothing to reproach herself with had she continued her single life. Her return to Gower Street was like a withdrawal into her subservient state and a huge disappointment, notwithstanding her father’s death finally and definitively releasing her from it.

Other than that, the comedy was expertly handled, with Jen musing to herself dryly how many people appeared at her isolated cottage as visitor after unwanted visitor trooped up to her door with their problems and demands. The tribulations heaped upon the more odious characters were enjoyable and that two of them agreed to marry each other was a nice touch - their harsh and unyielding personalities can’t be inflicted on anyone else.

Von Arnim writes with her usual flair and verve, though the ending felt flat and downbeat. The upbeat ending of a marriage of two lost souls was left to the imagination.

[Peggy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful read, published in 1931 and recently reprinted as part of the British Library Women Writers series.
The heroine is one of the many post-WWI “surplus women,” bound to care for her rather awful father. When the unexpected happens, she bolts for the country, where she finds joy reminiscent of Lolly Willowes. Complications ensue, but so does humor and happiness. Highly recommended.

[Camille · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! Jennifer Dodge is part of the generation of "surplus women" who find themselves unlikely to marry after WW1. When her widowed father remarries, she decides to live an independent life and finally experiences freedom. The novel deals with serious issues - women's emancipation, patriarchy - with a very humorous tone.

[JacquiWine · Rating 4 out of 5]

First published in 1931, Father has recently been reissued by the British Library as part of their excellent Women Writers series – my thanks to the publishers for kindly providing a review copy. While it isn’t as well-known as some of von Arnim’s other novels, there is much to enjoy here, not least the author’s skills in exploring the limitations of women’s lives with humour and compassion. In essence, it is a story of domestic tyranny revolving around two oppressive relationships – one between a thirty-three-year-old spinster and her dictatorial father, the other between a mild-mannered clergyman and his selfish older sister.

The novel’s central character is Jennifer Dodge, who at thirty-three has devoted much of her adult life to keeping house for her widowed father, the successful writer Richard Dodge (referred to throughout as ‘Father’). In addition to her domestic duties, Jennifer also acts as Father’s unpaid secretary, diligently typing his manuscripts in their claustrophobic Gower Street home. Right from the very start of the novel, von Arnim leaves the reader in no doubt about the nature of Father and his attitudes towards his daughter. He is a selfish prig, content for Jennifer to pander to his every whim while simultaneously viewing her as something of a burden.

It was her duty to make the best of herself, if only because his eyes so frequently were obliged to rest on her face. Besides, it was every woman’s duty to make the best of herself, and Jennifer’s not doing so no doubt accounted for the fact that she was still on his hands. Off those hands she ought, of course, to have been long ago; yet if some man had reft her from him before he was ready, as now, for her to go, it would have been extremely awkward, father knew; he couldn’t have run his house without her; his work would have suffered considerably; In fact he was unable to imagine what would have become of him. (p. 8)

When Father suddenly marries a much younger woman in secret, Jennifer sees an opportunity to escape from his clutches, envisioning a new life for herself in the freedom of the countryside. With Father and the nineteen-year-old Netta safely packed away on a month-long honeymoon, Jennifer travels to Sussex, determined to rent a cottage to establish her new life. There is a previous inheritance of £100 a year for Jennifer to live on – not much, granted, but just about enough if she is prudent and resourceful.

She was, she was sure, infinitely flexible, able to fit into the humblest little corner and enjoy herself in it, if only she could she be in it alone. Freedom, personal freedom, the right to be alone, was what she wanted, and what she now so miraculously had got; the power to behave naturally, to make one’s own arrangements, to decide (it seemed a little thing but was, she was certain, the whole difference between vigour and wilting) what one would do next. (p. 22)

To read the rest of my review, please visit:
https://jacquiwine.wordpress.com/2021...

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

he didn’t love her at all. And she smiled because, if he had, she wouldn’t now be free, for love, she judged, must be a great imprisoner, a great cutter-off of liberty.

Father is an early twentieth century story of a 33 year old woman who has been tasked with taking care of her father ever since her mother died 12 years before. Jennifer has watched her life pass her by as she has helped her cold and undemonstrative father write his books. She has experienced no love since her mother passed away and made Jennifer promise to take care of her father and infrequent to no social calls at her home.

Out of the blue, Jennifer's father returns home one day presenting his new wife, who is younger than Jennifer! Jennifer is elated because a stepmother represents freedom for herself, freedom from endless drudgery and the invitation to start a new life. Her father is astounded and angry because he thought she would have to stay, being a single woman raised to be a gentlewoman and single women stayed with their families until they married or died. Her father sets off on his honeymoon immediately and Jennifer begins looking for a home of her own at once. Thereupon, she meets several characters that have definite opinions about her unmarried status and how a proper woman in her position should behave.

This book addresses spinsterhood and a single woman's worth at a time where wifedom and motherhood reigned supreme.

[Tanya · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this book years ago when I found it as an old paperback book from my dad's bookstore whose every page fell out as I turned it and whose author I had never heard of. I became enchanted with not only the story but her style of writing. She is very much like Jane Austen with her long and winding sentences and subtle humor. I have since become a fan and have collected and read many Elizabeth books, including The Enchanted April which has been made into one of my favorite movies.

Father is about an unmarried woman in her thirties, Jennifer, who is bound by a promise made to her dying mother that she would always take care of her father. When the domineering father unexpectedly announces that he has just been married and is leaving on a honeymoon, she is secretly ecstatic and immediately begins to make plans to find a cottage and garden of her own but doesn't dare to tell him. The unassuming Jennifer becomes an unwitting troublemaker in the lives of several characters including Father who had previously led peaceful, if not satisfying, lives.

[Niki (nikilovestoread) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Father is my first novel by Elizabeth Von Arnim, though many of her books have been on my tbr for quite awhile. I've heard some people say Father is one of their least favorite books by Von Arnim. In light of that, I'm looking forward to reading more because I quite enjoyed Father, the story of a woman finally having a chance to live for herself when her overbearing, tyrannical father unexpectedly remarries late in life and she finds herself gloriously free. Along the way, Jen by chance meets James, a young man ruled by the domineering ways of his older, spinster sister. When he finally decides to overthrow his chains, the ensuing battle is so much fun to watch. One can't help but to root for these two selfless people, completely controlled up until now by their respective family members, finally finding themselves and each other.

[Audrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed all the characters (and enjoyed hating some of them). You really root for Jennifer and her search for independence, and end up rooting for the side characters along the way (you go Netta!). The character writing is so insightful. There was less nature writing than the other books I've read and loved by Von Arnim, but the way she depicted human relationships made up for it, especially the scene that sees the birth of the two main characters friendships, which I found simply enchanting.

[Emma Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Father" uses wisdom combined with humour to convey the challenges placed on unmarried women in the early 20th century, when there was a shortage of eligible men and many women who remained single were left dependent upon their relatives . In short, this is a story of domestic tyranny revolving around two oppressive relationships, one a 33 year old spinster and her dictatorial father, the other about a mild mannered clergyman and his older controlling sister.

Elizabeth von Arnim has created engaging characters and has a writing style which is very descriptive heavy. Whilst descriptive heavy books are not my usual preference, with this book I became transported into the thoughts of the characters as they question decisions and actions of others which had me turning the pages to find out their next move. It is a testament to the authors skill in making this descriptive heavy book so engaging combining both light humour and poignancy to tell a story of unmarried women reliant upon men, it was a real tonic.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

There should be more novels with protagonists who are "taciturn, undecorative" thirtysomething spinsters. I really enjoyed Jennifer's initial ventures into freedom, detailed in the perceptive, charming style that made Elizabeth and Her German Garden such a delight. Some of the less sympathetic characters (namely Cyprian [!] Devenish and Alice) were almost too satirically drawn for my taste, but their hilarious, oddly touching resolution redeemed them for me a bit.

Didn't love the ending of this one, but, altogether, Elizabeth von Arnim continues to offer pleasant on-the-train reading.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really good novel by Elizabeth von Arnim—a story and an author that I feel both have layers of complexity. My reading of Father was more for the enjoyment of reading it but I believe that’s just as valuable. Father is quite an interesting story, one ultimately of families and relationships, that manages to both be a representation of these possibly tumultuous experiences and a lovely description of the beauties of life and nature. The main character Jennifer’s philosophy on life that possessions often bring naught but grief and pain, and that a simple life with much time outside is one I consider too.

4.5 stars

[Carolyn F. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved The Enchanted April, and I keep thinking I'm going to love the author's other books as much as that book. It's not happening. This is the 2nd book by this author where I've been less than impressed. A chance, semi-violent (he made her eyebrow bleed) encounter leads to all this? I found it unbelievable that Jennifer's feelings would change so quickly and from pretty much no other encounter. And what's this about Alice, I don't understand her ending either. This book was trying hard to be fun, quirky and ended up depressing.

[Gwynplaine26th · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deliziose, ironiche descrizioni di società in cambiamento. La sagacia della Von Armin è imperdibile, anticonvenzionale e lungimirante.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars! Reading classics is like medicine 😂 not always my favorite reading experience but I know it’s good for me. I did really enjoy the light, funny tone of this book and I loved the cast of characters!

[tortoise dreams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wry, arch comic style that enriches a story about women with little control over their lives and what they do in response. Full of clergymen, bullies, and the small moments and thoughts that define everyday life. The story is mostly interior with the characters endlessly vacillating about what to do and their own insecurities. Von Arnim finds this a rich trove of humor, though I grew impatient. In its last quarter the book seemed stretched and repetitive and could've been shortened. Still, an excellent read with serious ideas under the humorous writing on social and economic issues in 1931 even as it delves into romance. The second biggest bully in the book is only that way as she's afraid of being thrown into poverty. Von Arnim can be frustrating and perverse, denying the reader's expectations and hopes. She'll arrive at the same destination but will take a longer and more difficult route. A charming and enjoyable writer.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

"He had always known she was sensible, but not that she was astonishingly sensible" (13-14).
"He was like Dr Johnson in his affection for pavements" (24).
"Made differently from him, Alice could and did say no, and she said it with decision and finality, sweeping objections, entreaties and laments out of her way with the thoroughness of a broom vigorously wielded" (65).
"...it was really rather useless of him to mind. It had always seemed to James, other considerations apart, that to allow oneself to be upset because something has been done which one considers a pity, or even considers disastrous, is to double the misfortune. Why throw after what is already gone one's own good temper and serenity?" (71).
"...if this was lovemaking, then she didn't think much of it. But it wasn't lovemaking. It was gobbling--just gobbling, she said to herself, outraged, thumping her clenched fists on the mattress; as if one were a plate of food, with no say in the matter, and no wishes, and bound to be gulped down, whether one wanted to be or not" (115).
"Sleep had held her in its arms, and smoothed out all yesterday's furrows" (117).
"...next year's April jewelled with tulips...Jasmine-muffled lattices..." (123).
*A weird occurrence. I've borrowed this book from the library and found two blacked out passages. It took a while, but I finally deciphered that both passages related to the main character smoking. I do not smoke and do not like being around it, but it bothered me that some reader took it upon him/herself to prevent others from reading the author's words. I ended up penning the missing words above the blacked out sections for future readers, few though they may be considering the title. This incident caused me to think more deeply about censorship and redactions.
"Not, she explained to that other part of herself which was always having to have things explained to it..." (169).
"So she dug; and discovered there is much virtue in a spade.
"Perseveringly used, it does wonders for the mind...Indeed, the simple efficacy of spades in restoring one to reason astonished Jennifer" (182).
"If a girl isn't enthusiastic on her honeymoon, when will she be? Jen asked herself, who knew little about honeymoons, but had certainly been led to believe that they included enthusiasm" (197).
"...but being so much alike, both of them having so much of that bony quality which burised softer people, and bones not being able to bruise other bones, they would probably get on wonderfully, and perhaps even produce a little bone to carry on their name--" (224).
*Largely enjoyed this book. My estimation of Jen Dodge did go down when she littered. Bosh!

[Dana Loo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sempre elegante, pungente, ironica, a tratti comica e quasi surreale la penna della von Arnim che descrive le peripezie di due protagonisti e non solo che, dopo anni di indiscriminata sottomissione ad un padre dispotico e una sorella zitella possessiva, provano a spiccare le ali e realizzare il loro sogno di libertà. Jennifer dopo l’inaspettato matrimonio del padre con una donna molto più giovane di lui, abbagliata dalla suo allure di scrittore, quasi ci riesce. Abbandona la casa paterna, si rifugia in un piccolo cottage di campagna, assapora per pochi giorni quel senso di benessere, di piena consapevolezza e realizzazione di sé, delle sue azioni, dei suoi sentimenti, del tempo che adesso le appartiene e può gestire e usare a suo piacimento. Qui si imbatte nel timido e remissivo James che riconosce come anima affine, assoggettato alla terribile sorella, come lei al padre. James rimane quasi travolto dalla solarità e leggerezza di Jen, galeotto un bacio sotto un melo al chiaro di luna che innesca il lui una sorta di ribellione ingestibile. I temi trattati in realtà sono più seri di quanto non sembrino: l’indipendenza delle donne, il loro desiderio di affrancamento da figure genitoriali oppressive, nel caso di Jennifer, l’istituzione del matrimonio che in questo singolare romanzo si rivela quasi una lama a doppio taglio nel caso rispettivamente del padre di Jen e della sorella di James. Il primo ne rimane travolto, abbandonato e poi nauseato: la seconda lo coglie come una miracolosa opportunità, un affrancamento dalla miseria e dalla solitudine che incombono minacciosi dopo l’abbandono di James al suo destino di donna sola,e senza rendita. In entrambi i casi l’amore c’entra poco.
Colpi di scena, peripezie, fughe, equivoci, un finale poco scontato rendono questa storia piuttosto godibile...

[Gina House · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Elizabeth von Arnim's writing. Her books are some of my all-time favorites. Sadly, this book was hard for me to read and I can't say that I enjoyed it very much.

I gave this book 3 stars (instead of 2) only because I am such a huge fan of EVA's other books. There hasn't been one (until now) that I didn't like. It's so disappointing to dislike any story written by one of my most beloved authors. Especially in the British Library Women Writers series, which have all been wonderful so far.

Here are the reasons why I this book wasn't for me:

1. This story is primarily told through the thoughts of 5 people. There is very little conversation throughout the story, while there is an overwhelming amount of inner dialogue consisting of worry, anger, assumption and fretting.
2. 'Father' is a story with a great deal of tension (which is hard for me), misunderstanding (directly linked to lack of outer communication), and injustice to characters who are generally of a good and kind type (injustice is something I abhor and dislike reading about).
3. Jennifer is only one semi-likable person and she is the main character of the novel. And even Jennifer is not a 100% sympathetic character. Sometimes, the reader feels like shaking some sense into her. Or, at least, I did.

This is not a badly written or horrible book. It's just not the type of book that I enjoy reading. If you enjoy books with misunderstandings, unfair thoughts and actions, unlikable characters, and almost 300 pages of frustration, then I think you would really like this book. It just wasn't my type of book.

It was a relief to finish the book and I hope I will enjoy the rest of Elizabeth von Arnim's books in the future.

[Sharonb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am slowly working my way through Elizabeth Von Arnim's work. This is my 8th so far and after an Enchanted April, my next favourite. I love her writing, her descriptions and obvious love of the peace, beauty and solitude of nature and gardens and her immense wit. All this whilst tackling serious themes relating to the lives and expectations of women in times past.

This is about Jen, a 33 year old spinster in 1931, one of the so called 'surplus women' of the inter war years. Due to the war there weren't enough men to marry and women were dependent mostly on men in one way or another. Jen has been dutifully looking after her father since her mother's death 12 years earlier. He suddenly and unexpectedly comes home with a new younger wife so yay! Jen is free! She uses a small inheritance from her mother to rent a small cottage in the country with a garden that she has always wanted and intends to live an independent life. Well that's her plans anyway but of course there are lots of tribulations along the way.

There were some really horrid charecters and I couldn't bear Alice and Devenish but I can sort of understand Alice in a way. She was a 'surplus woman' aswell. Not a nice personality but protecting herself as best she could.

I would highly recommend.

[Jenny King · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, so I did like this and it was certainly better than a 3 star. Generally I love these vintage style re-published books and although I have not yet read any Elizabeth von Arnim, I am aware of her other books. I really loved the overall premise, and I really enjoyed the idea of a single woman choosing to live a simple and independent life. I also really enjoyed reading the frankly hysterical scenes of outrage by her atrocious father who was utterly despicable to her. Some of the other characters too were laughable in their behaviour - the vicar being utterly horrified that she was wearing his winter coat and putting slugs and snails in the churchyard!

The only main issue that I had at times was the writing - for the most part the story flowed really well and was well told, but I just found it overly descriptive at times. There were points where, in the middle of a dialogue between characters, the writer would go off on introspective ramblings for pages and pages before coming back to the dialogue, so I just got a bit ratty as I wanted to skip to the next line of conversation. But other than that the book was great!

[Xenja · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uno dei più bei romanzi della Von Arnim. Intelligente, malinconico, umoristico, arguto, amaro, delizioso, si legge d'un fiato perché oltretutto è dotato di una trama densa e vertiginosa, di un fitto intreccio che si capovolge ad ogni capitolo, e non si può mollare fino ad aver letto, col fiato sospeso, l'ultima riga.
E anche dopo aver finito il romanzo, la protagonista e il suo piccolo cottage, luogo e simbolo della libertà femminile, ti restano nel cuore ancora a lungo, forse per sempre.

[Chrystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this a lot. It's in my top three favorite von Arnims after "The Enchanted April" and "Vera." It tells the story of Jen, a spinster in her thirties who has spent her youth as a veritable slave to her father. The action begins when she meets James, a young clergyman who has lived his whole life under the thumb of his domineering sister.

Will these two unfortunate characters be set free and will they find happiness? This is a very funny, and surprisingly fast-paced novel.