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Unique Elements
Immerse yourself into the lives of four women whose paths cross during an Italian holiday that enables them to rediscover their authentic selves and re-evaluate their personal relationships.
This celebrated female friendship novel set between the wars in Portofino Italy has a central theme of self-rediscovery. A women’s vacation story that is hard to put down.
The Enchanted April by American author Elizabeth von Arnim is a book of literary fiction first published in 1922 in the USA, one of the true classics of women fiction novels.
Sneak Peak
“This was the simple happiness of complete harmony with her surroundings, the happiness that asks for nothing, that just accepts, just breathes, just is.”
Synopsis
The central theme of “The Enchanted April” revolves around four women who share a common dissatisfaction with their everyday lives. One gloomy February afternoon, they chance upon each other and a charming medieval castle nestled in the classified ads of a London newspaper. Eagerly, the ladies embark on what promises to be a delightful vacation, but little do they realize that their time in Portofino will not only rekindle their joy but also reveal their authentic selves. The true enchantment will be complete if a similar transformation can be wrought in their husbands and lovers.
“A Stunning Reprint”. We take every step possible to ensure the original integrity of this book has been upheld to its highest standard. This means that the texts in this story are unedited and unchanged from the original authors publication, preserving its earliest form for your indulgence. This title will make an excellent gift to the classic fiction buff in your life or a fantastic addition to your current collection. Enjoy this book today by clicking the add to cart button and our team will have it shipped to you at lightning speed.
Title Details
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Terra (verified owner) –
5.0 out of 5 stars A castle in Italy works its magic on 4 British ladies, a captivating book
This book captivated me from its first page and it is on my list of 25 all time favorite books I have read. The main story is how their stay in a villa in Italy transforms the lives of four unhappy British women. Mrs. Lotty Wilkins has a sad marriage and on impulse invites an acquaintance to answer an ad in the London Times, which offers a small castle for rent for the month of April. Two other strangers also join them, to share costs. Lotty falls under the joyful magical spell of the castle and its charming sea views and lush gardens full of scented flowers. “She stared. Such beauty and she there to see it … Her face was bathed in light …Not to have died before this … She stared, her lips parted. Happy? Poor, ordinary, every day word.” A funny scene when Mr. Wilkins joins them and takes a bath and the water heater exploded. Wearing only a towel Wilkins ran in to the hall, and collided with the beautiful young Lady Caroline, to his horror. She managed not to laugh and greeted him in a very usual way, her upper class manners standing them both in good stead. Wilkins thought “What perfect tact. Mr. Wilkins could have worshiped her.” Of 28 year old Lady Caroline we read that “Nature was determined that she should look and sound angelic.” Will she ever fall in love? Mrs. Rose Arbuthnot has a broken marriage, can it be mended by the magic and sun of the castle? Will the 65 year old lonely Mrs. Fischer find new true friends and a happier way to live?
“The Enchanted April” was written in 1922, and movies were made of it in 1935 and 1992. Elizabeth von Arnim (1866-1941) was born Mary Annette Beauchamp in Australia and is a British novelist.
Browner (verified owner) –
4.0 out of 5 stars A Charming Tale of Love and Hope
On a dreary late-winter day in London, two young women spot the same advertisement in a local newspaper: San Salvatore, a castle on a hill above the Ligurian sea in Italy, is available to rent for the entire month of April. The pair, Lotty Wilkins and Rose Arbuthnot, hardly know each other but nevertheless scheme to escape their flagging marriages and disappointing circumstances by taking possession of San Salvatore for thirty days. They can only make it work financially by including two other tenants—the glamorous Lady Caroline Dester and the embittered dowager Mrs. Fisher—both of whom have their own reasons for escaping. Will the unlikely quartet learn to exist together well enough to find the idyllic holiday they are all seeking? Will the intoxicating beauty of the castle and its surroundings restore the love they all find missing in their lives back home? Learning the answers to those questions is just one of the pleasures associated with reading The Enchanted April.
Written as it was about a century ago, it would be easy to regard this novel as merely a light-hearted, romantic look at a bygone time and place. However, that would be far too dismissive for what turned out to be a very satisfying reading experience. Indeed, author Elizabeth von Anrim has crafted here an ebullient and utterly charming tale, which, apparently, is something of an outlier in her catalog of work. She is also deeply insightful with respect to the multi-layered personalities and relationships developed throughout the story, a remarkable achievement given its brief length. The only two flaws I found in the book were the sometimes bloated and overly formal sentences that von Arnim crafted and the implausible (and hardly modern) resolution to Lady Caroline’s storyline. (In fact, the novel does wrap up rather abruptly, which left every character’s storyline feeling a little unresolved.) Still, The Enchanted April is a delightful paean to the transformative power of love as well as a book whose journey outshines its destination.
marlene (verified owner) –
5.0 out of 5 stars beautiful
What a lovely story. Won’t we all need a month in April! The beginning is baffling and in Italy the story turns worrisome but while reading you understand,this can’t be all. Take you time, and discover the wonderful tale of four women in Italy.
Ruth Ann Johnson White (verified owner) –
3.0 out of 5 stars It was slow going but worth the read!
I loved the transformation of each character, a thawing of heart if you will.
The formal language fit the era and the characters but sometimes it was hard to follow. The descriptions were long and tedious.
I would recommend the book to give hope that change is always possible. Relationships can be restored. New personal insight can happen at any age.
MomofFour (verified owner) –
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful descriptions
This book was recommended to me by a friend with similar taste in books, and it did not dissappoint. What stood out to me were the beautiful descriptions of the Italian riviera in springtime and the internal growth of each character. There is little dialogue throughout, but the omnicient narrator keeps the reader aprised of the slow and steady progress of each member of the adventure. It’s a gentle read–no tragedies, nothing triggering, no rises and falls. This book is perfect for the modern reader who is tired of the modern novel and needs a little classic reading “rest.”
This Kindle edition operated as expected.
Eric S. (verified owner) –
4.0 out of 5 stars Hope you love commas.
I fell in love with the 1992 film and wanted to read these source book. The film is rather true to the book, but makes a few cinematic improvements in the storyline and character motivations. Yes, I feel it’s one of the few instances where the screenplay is superior to the book.
The 1922 novel is written very much in a romantic style, using lots of commas and semicolons to expand and elucidate a sentence into a rambling thought with lots of asides and detours. It often makes the original intent of the sentence difficult to follow; though the prose usually rewards the patient reader.
This edition has a few typos and inconsistencies: most notably, the advert that impels the story mentions the ‘wistaria,’ but most other occasions in the story, it’s spelled ‘wisteria.’ (Wistaria was original, and, through a typo, progressed to the alternate after 1919, mostly in American English.)
All in all, a nice whimsical read.
Carlos A. Padilla (verified owner) –
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful
This small wonderful novella kept my attention from the first page to the last. What a sad feeling when it ended. I will read now her other books hoping to find more wonderful descriptions of gardens and plants and also of fully developed characters like in this one.
I felt totally familiar with the castle and the gardens and I loved the full fledged characters. The lovable ones, the not so lovable ones and even the staff were all perfectly described. What a rare treat!
Amazon Customer (verified owner) –
5.0 out of 5 stars Quaint and clever
So much fun to enjoy the castle, flowers and friendship that bud in this Enchanted April! I recommend for a quiet night of reading.
Laura (verified owner) –
4.0 out of 5 stars A charming classic
In typical classics style, this book is written in flowery language that not all will like, but it was a fun story and an enjoyable read.