Enchanted April [Paperback]

Elizabeth von Arnim (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1991

A discrete advertisement in The Times, addressed to "those who appreciate wisteria and sunshine," is the prelude to a revelatory month for four very different women. High above a bay on the Italian Riviera stands the medieval castle San Salvatore. Beckoned to this haven are Mrs. Wilkins, Mrs. Arbuthnot, Mrs. Fisher, and Lady Caroline Dester, each quietly craving a respite. Lulled by the gentle spirit of the Mediterranean, they gradually shed their public skins, discovering a harmony each of them has longed for but none has ever known. First published in 1922, this captivating novel is imbued with the descriptive power and lighthearted irreverence for which Elizabeth von Arnim is renowned.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Four Englishwomen vacation together at an Italian castle in von Arnim's novel, a film version of which is now a popular art-house attraction.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 8 Up-Four English ladies, strangers to each other, rent a villa for a month near Portofino. By Elizabeth Von Arnim. Narrated by Flo Gibson.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 263 pages
• Publisher: Virago Press (November 1, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0860685179
• ISBN-13: 978-0860685173
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #625,034 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

75 of 75 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A castle in Italy, September 27, 2000

By 

Krista - See all my reviews

This review is from: The ENCHANTED APRIL: THE ENCHANTED APRIL (Paperback)

The lure of Italy, particularly during a dismal, rainy day elsewhere, is hard to resist. For four British women, the attraction brings them to San Salvatore, a Tuscan villa, for an entire month of vacation.

The women are very different. Lotty Wilkins, nervous and talkative, is treated like a child by her husband and is starting to chafe from his oppression. Rose Arbuthnot, with a "face like a disappointed madonna," is pious, sweet, and desperately unhappy. Margaret Fisher, stern and demanding, lives in a past peppered with famous literary encounters. And Caroline Dester, striking beautiful and popular, is lonely and bored with her whirlwind social life.

The four rent San Salvatore together, and immediately begin to change. Lotty loses her nervous demeanor, and becomes a self confident, mature woman. Rose blossoms when she realizes that she does possess beauty, and wins back the love of her formerly indifferent husband. Margaret thaws out and begins to smile and relax, even conversing with the other tenants, living in the present instead of the dusty past. And Caroline re-opens her heart to love and friendship by recognizing the emptiness of her life before she left for Italy.

What is it that changes these women? Sun and rest in a beautiful place? Yes, partly, but mostly it is the friendship of three extraordinary people.

I'd love to see this enjoyable novel brought back into print.

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars DO NOT BUY THE Echo Library EDITION, October 26, 2008

By 

Annilita "annilita" (AZ, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Enchanted April (Paperback)

I am 1/3rd of the way through this book. If you enjoy Austen and the like, as I do, you will enjoy this novel. However, I encourage you to buy a different edition. This edition of the book is riddled with typos. "r" instead of "n", "her" instead of "he", etc. And it's not just occaisionally. Sometimes it's several on a page. It interupts the flow of the story and I'm about ready to chuck this copy and check a different edition out of the library.

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enchanting Read, September 5, 2003

By 

Megami (Darwin, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Enchanted April (Paperback)

For the start of this book I was a bit worried I wouldn't finish it, as it felt in the beginning like a terribly earnest `ladies' book; but I soon found out what a lovely book it is - I would call it charming if that wasn't so twee.

Four women - all strangers - spend a month sharing a house in Italy. Slowly but surely they slough off their old, grey skins and discover happiness. Much of this happiness comes simply from a change in their perceptions. Lotty, slightly fey, is the first to fall for the house's charms, and soon begins to act like the person she really is, rather than the quiet mousy woman her life has made her. When her husband comes to visit he realises what a wonder his wife is, and though his motives for visiting were less than pure, he falls back in love with the woman he first married. Rose, who constantly battles to square any enjoyment in life with her conscious, has the same effect when her husband accidentally arrives near the end of her holiday - he realises that his wife is still the woman he first married.

The other two women also have their epiphanies - old Mrs Fisher realises that living in the past, her only enjoyment being memories of the good and the great she met in her youth, is not as enjoyable as she thought; she lightens up and moves on to let happiness in to her life. And beautiful Scrap - Lady Caroline - realises how empty her life is. Slowly through the book we see her formulate a future life, and though she hasn't reached it by the novel's end, you feel she will.

This is a clever book - it makes you question how your perceptions flavour your life, and it also makes you question your perceptions of others. If only we all had a house in Italy to spend time reflecting on these issues.....