“And there they were, arrived, and it was San Salvatore, and their suitcases were waiting for them; and they had not been murdered.”

I was quite “enchanted” with my first experience reading Elizabeth von Arnim. Her subtle wit was sprinkled throughout this excellent 1922 novel published shortly after von Arnim herself stayed for a month at Castello Brown in Portofino. Four ladies from London, strangers with different backgrounds, decide to pool their resources and rent a medieval castle named San Salvatore on the coast of Italy for a month in April. And given this era of almost nonexistent female empowerment, I admired their pluck. Each woman has her own reasons for desiring a long getaway: depressing London weather, insensitive husbands, time to remember, time to think. As you can imagine, problems are bound to arise when four females of dissimilar personalities, ages and expectations are thrust together under one roof - everything from who gets which rooms to who plans the meals to who is allowed to invite “extra” guests. In the end, these women become friends and find what they each are seeking, but not exactly in the ways they’d planned.

If you’re not a fan of multiple POVs and a healthy dose of stream-of-consciousness, you probably won’t enjoy this book. But if you like meticulous character development, flora and wry humor, you probably will. Elizabeth von Arnim’s funny bone and her perfect grasp of the female psyche of this time period earned ‘The Enchanted April’ a solid four stars. Now to try another book by this interesting British author.

A brilliant novel where the core of its brilliancy are complex (not black and white), ordinary and marvelously chosen characters.

Caroline, Lotty, Rose, Mrs. Fisher - four different women. Each one tried to run away from something she wanted and needed the most.

As Emilia Barnes wrote it was n  calm, gentle, prettily written, thoughtful, wistful, with a comprehensive happy endingn novel. I have also doubts, like Emilia Barnes. I worry a bit about Lotty and Caroline but I hope they managed after all.

The especially interesting thing in the book was that one can see it just as a charming romance or one can see (what I saw) also the second level. To me, there were stories of being a woman (not only then...). Their places in a marriage, the confrontation between dreams (needs) and reality.

I am enchanted by the book and by the belief that such happy endings are possible.

Loved this book, first published in 1922 and re-published in 2007 by the New York Review Of Books.

San Salvatore in Italy, as well as all the characters in the book, stole my heart.

Will write a review later.

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 developing the inner strength and calm to face the future.

For a classic, the book surprised me, for it didn't have the diction one would expect from a classic. The writing was pretty basic and the flow was not smooth, nor graceful. Yet the story drew me in. I was enchanted by the descriptive setting and the wonderful choice of characters. The four females, three young and one old come from different backgrounds and has different problems. The young Mrs. Wilkins has led a restrained life and was overtaxed in her domestic duties; the young Mrs. Arbuthnot was ignored and abandoned; the beautiful and young Lady Caroline Dester was tired of admirers and pursuers; the old Mrs. Fisher needed a change in her monotonous life. It was interesting to read these different characters and their different problems. The characters were so true and real and their problems, their heartaches, all too relatable. This made it easy to connect with the characters and feel for them. There were so many expressions in these characters that I could personally relate to. And this made the reading touching and emotional.

One could call this book, light and sentimental, and perhaps, it is so. But the honest and truthful account of the lives and problems of young and old women of her time, and their relevance for the modern-day, made the read appealing. I honestly enjoyed the read and could recommend it without reservation.

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 away for a while, each with her own pre-conceived ideas of how life should be lived, each of whom came under the spell of the gardens and magic of San Salvatore. This was also a novel for which the phrase "comedy of errors" surely was invented. I laughed my way through each chapter at the dialogue and thoughts of everyone involved, from visitors and husbands and servants, to the ladies themselves. A delightful respite for readers "who appreciate wistaria and sunshine".

For those who have never read Elizabeth von Arnim, do yourself a favor and pick up one of her books. This is the third one I've read, and she is a balm to the soul.

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 acquaintance named Rose and Lottie to inexplicably leave their husbands behind for a summer that will change their lives and their marriages forever. Joining Rose and Lottie for this holiday is Mrs. Fisher, an older woman living in the past, and Lady Caroline Dester, a gray-eyed society beauty tired of being gawked at like a majestic statue. Diverse in nature and temperament, not to mention background, the three women interact uneasily together until flowers and the sea bring about a change in their very souls.

Surrounded by fig and olive trees, plum blossoms and Tamarisk daphnes, and the fragrance of fortune's yellow rose and blooming acacias, the women begin to discover their roles at this castle by the sea and, in doing so, find themselves as well.

This is a novel about life and love, told gently through the emotions of these women, as the surprise of beauty, and the warmth of being suddenly admired and seen as beautiful -- when they had not been before -- changes their simple lives, which were not so simple at all.

A peaceful yet breathtaking portrait of love is painted by the author, in a pleasing and gentle manner readers will find enchanting. A beautiful read on paper, one that refreshes the soul and calms the spirit. It is about love restored and love discovered, along the wistaria-covered steps leading down to the sea. You will definitely enjoy this novel if you enjoyed the lovely film it inspired.

Вълшебна история за четири твърде различни англичанки, които отиват на италианската Ривиера, за да отморят сетивата и духа си след безкрайните дъждове на Лондон. Всяка идва с багаж от любовни разочарования, семейна досада, хронична самота или пресищане от охолство. Социалният им произход и темперамент подготвят почвата за чудесни комични сблъсъци, а неразбирателството е на път да ескалира, когато започват да пристигат (не)очаквани гости.

Но никога, никога не подценявайте лъчезарната пролет! Да се пренебрегва възможността за щастие е углавно престъпление срещу душата. Радостта от живота е в споделеността и добрия разговор. Това, което храни сетивата, храни цялото същество. Не е случайно, че в оригинал заглавието е „Омагьосаният април“ („Enchanted April”), макар че и българският избор е уместен.

Въпреки че сюжетът звучи много познато и съвременно, тъй като днешната литература експлоатира до втръсване темата за трансформиращата сила на южното слънце и долче вита, книгата е написана след Първата световна война. Вероятно от нея е тръгнала матрицата на клонинги от типа на „с дъх на лимони“, „с ухание на канела“, „с аромат на лавандула“, все на идилични места, на които са попаднали екзистенциално уморени северняци. Избягвам такива книги, не от снобизъм, а от елементарното поднасяне на туристическа стръв, опакована като литература. Но „Вълшебният април“ не можах да подмина, именно заради годината на издаването й, която обещава съвсем различен културно-исторически пласт.

“Вълшебният април“ носи всички съставки на приятната литература, която няма да ви загуби времето. Образите са убедителни, сюжетът, макар и леко да наслажда, е правдоподобен, а атмосферата – пленителна; а и защото книгата не подценява интелекта на читателя. Книгата показва задълбочените познания на авторката за викторианския литературен елит и английските нрави, особено при сблъсък с чужденци.

Самата Елизабет фон Арним (фамилията идва от брак с немски аристократ) има много интересна биография, който се преплита с големите имена на нейното време – например Е. М. Фостър е бил възпитател на децата й, а в последствие се омъжва за брата на философа Бъртранд Ръсел. Клюкарски детайл, но когато става въпрос за хора на перото, се надявам, че е простено

„Имаше известна липса на достойнство в безпокойството“.

„Често бе попадала на жени, които също не искаха мъжете си, но това изобщо не намаляваше възмущението им, ако решаха, че някой друг ги иска.“

„…колко е трудно да бъдеш безсрамен, когато няма мъже.“

Published in 1922, this is the story of four women who spend a month sharing a house in Italy. They are strangers at first, but slowly they get to know each other, their perceptions change, and they each find an inner happiness. Lotty is a quiet woman whose personality has been suppressed. Her husband comes to stay with them and rediscovers her appealing qualities. Rose seems to be in constant internal struggles, feeling like she is not worthy of enjoying life. Her husband arrives toward the end of the holiday, and they reconnect. Mrs. Fisher at first seems to be the “old curmudgeon,” but she gradually realizes she has been living in the past and allows herself to open up to new possibilities for the future. Lady Caroline, called “Scrap,” comes to understand that her life is rather empty. It seems she will also (eventually) figure out how to move forward in a more meaningful manner.

This is a delightful book. I was surprised I enjoyed it so much. Even though it was written a hundred years ago, it seems like a positive message that carries forward to today – realizing how our perceptions shape our reality and being open to changing one’s mind away from snap judgments of other people. It is a good book to pick up when you feel the need for something optimistic or for a break between books with “heavy” content.

"Oh, but in a bitter wind to have nothing on and know there never will be anything on and you going to get colder and colder till at last you die of it—that's what it was like, living with somebody who didn't love one."
That’s why Lotty Wilkins decides, one day, to use her savings to take holidays in a medieval castle in Italy, near the sea, and share the rent of this wonderful place with three other English women whom she meets them by newspaper classifieds.

Of course, the castle, the view on the sea, the mountains around, the flowers of the gardens are amazing, beautiful, divine. But what makes that this place will change Lotty’s life, and the one of the other women, is that they are, at last, ready to be happy, ready to change their lives, each one at her time, it’s their will to change. One must decide to be happy, then the world around becomes beautiful:
“When Mrs. Wilkins woke next morning she lay in bed a few minutes before getting up and opening the shutters. What would she see out of her window? A shining world, or a world of rain? But it would be beautiful; whatever it was would be beautiful."

Few details bothered me, like, it’s the very beginning of April in Italy — fig fruits will be matured end of August or September — and the author writes:
“the fig-leaves were just big enough to smell of figs”
I went down in my garden, to breath the fig leaves of my fig tree: it smells nothing, at least not figs, that’s what I thought. I know I focus sometimes on tiny details…!

This said, the author has very well observed her characters’ lives. Each woman knows that something in their life goes wrong, but until they decided to go to Italy, none of them wanted to think about it: they had closed their eyes on their lives:
“For years she had taken care to have no time to think.”
But so far, see this fact is just the first step:
“San Salvatore (the castle) had taken her carefully built-up semblance of happiness away from her and given her nothing in exchange.”

The stories of these women, are stories of inner quest. But when you’ve already done it —getting rid of all what was wrong in your childhood and education; realize who you really are and what you really want — even if you still don’t have what you want yet, it’s no use reading again and again about this subject, unless…

Unless you let yourself carried by the story, the flowers fragrances, the deep blue of the Italian sea and sky, the sharp British humour, love, and some well thought quotes:
“How warm, though, things like admiration and appreciation made one feel, how capable of really deserving them, how different, how glowing. They seemed to quicken unsuspected faculties into life.”
Once again, it’s something I do for a long time now, starting with my children: I’ve always told them they’re beautiful and intelligent, so that they feel beautiful and intelligent. (Of course, I think what I say, which is easier: my children are the best! Forgive me, I’m a mother!)
Unless you wish you were in Italy, having time to do what seems nothing, but what is what we should have time to do:
“The women sat on the low wall at the end of the top garden after dinner, and watched the enormous moon moving slowly over the place where Shelley had lived his last months just on a hundred years before.”

If you've ever imagined that if you could only _______________. (fill in the blank: get something, get away from somewhere or something, etc.) all your stress would dissolve, you are likely to read about yourself in this book. If you've ever struggled to dismantle your ego but found you cannot do it in a vacuum, and others will surely test the validity of any progress you make, you may squirm as I did. There was not one character of the four ladies who go away for a retreat (in a castle in Italy in the 1920s) in whom I did not find parts of myself. Yikes! If you are a meditator, you'll understand when I say this is "monkey-mind" struggles turned into a period garden comedy (the laughs don't come until the last third of the book). The monkey-mind tirades are bearable because they're couched in flower and fauna descriptions that are so sumptuous it makes the whole story into a tasty banquet, and the lead character, Mrs. Lotty Wilkins, is always there to model the reader's goal of ongoing enlightenment and joy.

Lesson: No matter where you go, there you are. And you've got to deal with it honestly if you honestly want to change. What a smart, evolved book and writer.

This is one of those books that has a seemingly simple story but presents a lot on the layers of the story, much like The Feast or Miss Buncle's Book. Four women who need to get away from their regular lives and get their heads together rent an Italian castle with the promise of sunshine and wisteria. They don't realize why they so desperately need a change when they flee gray, raining London for sunny San Salvatore Castello in Italy. However, as they are surrounded by beauty their eyes are gradually opened.

I loved that what happened was that having four such different women together (and one suddenly blessed with profound insights) helped show them all the truth about themselves ...which was badly needed so they could choose to improve their lives by making course corrections.

This book richly rewards rereading. Thinking of it in Catholic terms, one can hardly miss that the women travel in darkness up the mountain to San Salvatore (Holy Savior) with Easter coming up. They discover immense beauty that changes them all simply from being in its presence. And this change begins to spread to others. It put me in mind of the Transfiguration.

As I said, sweetly done and yet seeming very modern in the problems they all faced.

Charming!