This book was so lovely. It was recommended to me because it was supposedly very similar to 'A Room of One's own' (one of my favourites). Throw in a garden and I'm sold. I can definitely see the similarities it has to Woolf's work, although it is also very unique. I loved this one a lot, but it didn't quite touch me as much as 'A Room of One's Own' did back when I read it, so I had to give this one 4/5 stars.

Nevertheless, I loved Elizabeth's wittiness and how she seemed to love her garden and books more than her children. It is a work very much about what is expected of women at the time (and maybe even today), but it shows the reader how it's main character struggles with this gender-based identity that is bestowed upon her. Reading this just at the beginning of spring was really a great choice. It's short and sweet and a great read.

This is the second of two library books which I took out recently, not having read the author’s work before, and as much as I loved Fraulein Schmidt and Mr Anstruther, I found this read so much less enjoyable. I acknowledge the satirical tone, but even so, I found it hard to get on with the account of the life of a lady of leisure, whose ‘pin-money’ covers a very large number of rose bushes etc being purchased. Although it must have been stifling for a woman living the upper class life in 1890s, with all the limitations imposed on them by society, surely it must have been even harder for the ‘menials’?

Maybe my reaction has been coloured by reading the book at this particular moment in time, when the Labour Party is fighting for the life of the many, not the few, in Britain, with so many suffering from the cruelty of the Tories’ policies over the last ten years. While I loved the charming comments made by Elizabeth Von Arnim’s babies, I think with sadness of those many children, both in Germany and Britain, who were living in dreadful poverty in the 1890s, and all those going hungry again today in 2019 Britain.

I see other reviewers have mentioned Virginia Woolf, and I have to say that she and Vita Sackville West leave me cold. I recall reading once that Sackville West once complained that the soldiers billeted on her at Sissinghurst in World War 2 were stealing onions from her attic. I guess since she had spent her childhood at Knowle, with its 365 rooms, she felt offended by their cheek ...

Es una auténtica delicia, creo que no hay una palabra mejor para describirlo.
Al principio pensé que iba a hablar demasiado para mi gusto de flores y plantas, no es que no me gusten pero sólo sé distinguir las más conocidas y temía perderme, pero no. "Elizabeth y su jardín alemán" es eso pero es mucho más que eso. Lo que más me ha encandilado es la fina ironía y el sentido del humor de la autora y... ¡Me he sentido tan identificada con algunas de sus reflexiones! que no puedo dejar de recomendar este libro a todo aquél que sabe disfrutar de su soledad elegida.

3,5 ⭐️

Oh, Elizabeth. Words cannot express the solidarity I feel with you! I need to get my own copy of this. Because this is a book I want to always have nearby, so I can read over its lovely passages, nodding my head because she understood. Or read over so I can laugh, because there are so many parts of this book so humorously told one can't help but at least snicker a little.
I wish I could write more about this wonderful book but I've spent the afternoon being social and am so beaten down I'm having trouble even getting these words out coherently. A solitary German garden of my own sounds like perfection right now.

3.5 stars

A late 19th century small book set in Germany. Billed as a novel, it reads only as a memoir. I found no story arc to speak of. Instead, these are pleasant and sometimes insightful ponderings and sketches featuring the protagonist’s love of countryside and garden, solitude and study.

Her genteel snark is amusing, her frustration with common culture and social expectations is relatable, and her feminist-flavored perspectives are interesting from the rear view mirror of more than a century.

This is classified as a piece of semi-autobiographical literature and a classic. It was published in 1898, when Elizabeth von Arnim (1866-1941) was still married to her first husband Henning August von Arnim-Schlagenthin, a Prussian aristocrat. Married in 1891 she became known as Elizabeth von Arnim, although she was born Mary Annette Beauchamp. This is a woman who came to be known under several names, but Elizabeth von Arnim became her most used pen name and by which she is known to family and friends. She was British, but born in Australia. Soon after marriage, she came to live at her husband’s family estate in Nassenheide, Pomerania, now in Poland.

So why have I told you all this? How is this related to the bok? Elizabeth and Her German Garden, written in loose diary format, is about Elizabeth's garden and life there on the estate in Nassenheide. Gardening was her favorite pastime. Gardening and writing became her means of escape while struggling to find a foothold in the foreign culture of the high-class German society to which her husband belonged. Moreover, her husband’s lifestyle soon proved to be incompatible to her own. Arriving in Pomerania she had three little girls, three, four and five years of age, who in the book she amusingly refers to as her June, May and April babies, respectively The diary covers a little more than one year, starting in March and ending the following April. It covers not only what she does in her garden but what she does over the winter months too—the Christmas holiday when two women visit for three weeks. Only through polite persuasion, do they then finally depart. Ice-skating and sleigh rides and winter picnics occupy them. One woman is a friend. The other she invites at the request of a friend.

There is one other I have yet to speak of—Elizabeth’s husband. He goes by the name of “The Man of Wrath”. What does that imply?

There is humor woven into the lines, all the way through. It is for the humor one picks up this book. Do you see the humor in how Elizabeth speaks of her children and husband? To enjoy the book and its humor one must perceive the inherent satire. The satirical tone is not made blatantly evident at the start. Instead it is hinted at and has you thinking, has you wondering what the author is up to. Is the author serious? Is she joking? This is a large part of the nook’s charm. In the beginning you are not quite sure what is intended or how to interpret what is being said. By the end, in a “speech” voiced by Elizabeth’s “oh so sage” husband, the satirical message becomes crystal clear. Actually, I preferred the beginning where the reader is kept wondering, postulating and considering what is meant. The writing n  isn amusing all the way through. You will see it, if it is the kind of humor that speaks to you.

Humor takes a zillion different forms. The humor here is best described as self-deprecating wit. Elizabeth is a woman of her era. Open confrontation is out of the question. She is a woman of high social standing and remains always polite. Even in her diary she bridles vituperative musings. Yet the reader comes to understand exactly what Elizabeth is thinking.

I like her. I like the standards she sets for her own deportment. She does not mope or complain. She is aware of the advantages life with her husband afford her. She appreciates what she has and makes the best of it. I like her positive attitude.

The book will appeal to those who see the satire and enjoy Elisabeth’s self-deprecating wit. It will appeal to those comfortable out in nature, those who see the beauty of nature, those who enjoy being alone, those not particularly drawn to social gatherings, those who easily envision a delightful landscape if told there are marigolds or poppies and nasturtium or other flowers, snow covered firs, twinkling stars or hoarfrost. Flora and fauna are spoken of, but you must be able picture them in your mind’s eye. The closer you are to Elizabeth’s way of being the more you will enjoy this book.

Nadia May reads the audiobook. Her accent is British. It fits perfectly here. She pauses at all the right places. A delightful narration worthy of four stars.

*********************
The Enchanted April 2 stars
Elizabeth and Her German Garden 4 stars
Love TBR

I enjoyed the first 10 or 20 percent of this book, with the description of the gardens; there were a few sarcastic comments made by the main character that I took to be cheeky jokes, and could relate. However, it quickly became apparent that they weren't jokes, and the main character (along with all the other characters) was a selfish, entitled jerk.

Also, the characters are nominal Christians, so reading about them going to church and being "Christian" alongside all their unbiblical beliefs and practices was frustrating.

Since this is a piece of "semi-autobiographical" fiction (my guess is it's closer to completely autobiographical), I don't think I'll be reading more from this author.

Very charming memoir/autobiographical fictionalization of a year in Elizabeth's life. It starts in May, which is the month in which I read it, and I fully agree with Elizabeth's desire to stare at/be in/soak up every sunny day to the exclusion of all pesky and tedious tasks such as laundry and dusting. (Although, I listened to the Librivox recording by ashleighjane while doing those things.) Later, there's a hilarious scene where she goes to visit her childhood estate, and a fairly snarky description of the winter hosting of a young female guest. All would be quite enjoyable to read while sitting in the sun on a lovely May afternoon.

"I parenti, mia cara, sono come le spezie, utili e persino piacevoli a volte, se presi di rado e a piccole dosi, ma nel complesso tremendamente pericolosi, tanto che le persone veramente sagge li evitano."

Gorgeous. A wonderful example of a novel not needing to be plot-driven to be engaging. This really is a woman's love letter to her garden - and it is beautiful.

I am a bit at a loss with this book.

I enjoyed it, but towards the end the tone of the writing and the 1st-person narrator started grating.

In the beginning I found her eccentric, but charming, but the more I read, the stronger was the feeling that her tone switched from funny to flippant and patronising either somewhere along the line or it had always been so. I simply could not decide and that made me feel uncomfortable.

Anyways, concerning the gardening and change of seasons part -for which I took up the book in the first place- I give it 3 stars and just try and ignore the rest.