The Enchanted April in Retro Chapter Chicks

Jul 01, 2017 Brina rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, romance, 500-great-books-women, classics

Elizabeth von Arnim strikes me as an interesting character. A writer brought up in influential circles, she married no less than five times in her life, and also enjoyed an affair with writer H.G. Wells after he ended his own affair with Von Arnim's rival Rebecca West. When one of von Arnim's disastrous marriages ended in 1921, she decided to spend a month at Italian castello Portofino as a way to clear her head. The idea for her classic book The Enchanted April has been born. Von Arnim had the Elizabeth von Arnim strikes me as an interesting character. A writer brought up in influential circles, she married no less than five times in her life, and also enjoyed an affair with writer H.G. Wells after he ended his own affair with Von Arnim's rival Rebecca West. When one of von Arnim's disastrous marriages ended in 1921, she decided to spend a month at Italian castello Portofino as a way to clear her head. The idea for her classic book The Enchanted April has been born. Von Arnim had the book published in 1922, and today it merits inclusion in Erica Bauermeister's book 500 Great Books by Women. This book is as charming as the spell cast by Portofino castle, and is still widely read today.

Lotty Wilkins and Rose Arbuthnot lived a life of relative obscurity in the Hampstead section of London. Both were virtually ignored by their husbands and had the longing to get away from it all. One day, Lotty Wilkins noticed an advertisement in the Times to rent an Italian villa named San Salvatore in April for £ 60. Mesmerized by the idea but not wanting to spend her entire nest egg on the castle, she recruits Arbuthnot to join her. Later, the women ask Lady Caroline Dester and a Mrs Fisher to join them as well, making the pair into a foursome, and, more importantly, making the castle rental into an affordable getaway.

Even though Wilkins and Arbuthnot made the initial arrangements, Mrs Fisher and Lady Caroline shrewdly arrive at the castle first to claim the better rooms for themselves. The latter two women enjoy a higher standard of living than the former and want to ensure that they have an enjoyable holiday. Almost instantaneously, San Salvatore works its magic on all four women. An air of happiness overtakes them and rather than being bitter with their station in life, they talk of love being in the air. Wilkins and Arbuthnot originally came to the castle to get away from their husbands, but within a week, both women write their husbands asking them to join them in this enchanting setting.

Within the month, all four women are the best of friends, although this takes time, especially with Mrs Fisher. I thought the writing was basic yet descriptive and the plot to be straightforward with few twists and turns along the way. Von Arnim was writing from personal experience and recreated the Portofino castello where she enjoyed a monthlong holiday. This book was originally published within a year of her excursion, so the memories were fresh, especially the descriptions of the sea air and ever changing flowers. These descriptions of time and place ended up working for me much better than the plot developments.

While Von Arnim's novel is considered her greatest book, it did not captivate me completely. I enjoyed the seaside setting of the Italian castle, but I enjoy a complex plot of intrigue as well as multilayered character development. The ladies here while pleasant do not pack the punch for me as protagonists, although I give them much credit, especially in their era, for desiring a holiday independent of their husbands. The Enchanted April was a pleasant read for a lazy summer afternoon. I am sure the castle itself would have cast its spell on me as it did the ladies in this book, but the novel will not be an all time favorite for me. Still, The Enchanted April is a worthwhile read, which I rate 3.5 stars. ...more

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Mar 27, 2015 Candi rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics-shelf

This was a delightful little story! Four women, previously unknown to one another, leave a dreary winter in England behind to take a one month April holiday in a small, charming Italian castle after responding to an advertisement in a newspaper. The descriptions of the landscape are very lush and made me wish that I could make such an escape myself after a seemingly never-ending winter.

“By the end of the week the fig-trees were giving shade, the plum-blossom was out among the olives, the modest This was a delightful little story! Four women, previously unknown to one another, leave a dreary winter in England behind to take a one month April holiday in a small, charming Italian castle after responding to an advertisement in a newspaper. The descriptions of the landscape are very lush and made me wish that I could make such an escape myself after a seemingly never-ending winter.

“By the end of the week the fig-trees were giving shade, the plum-blossom was out among the olives, the modest weigelias appeared in their fresh pink clothes, and on the rocks sprawled masses of thick-leaved, star-shaped flowers, some vivid purple and some a clear, pale lemon.”

The novel is also sprinkled with humor throughout as the four very different personalities either bluntly clash with one another or surreptitiously try to avoid one or another of the group. I often found myself smiling at some of their little antics and remarks. Each woman begins with her own struggle, discontent, and preconceived notions of what is expected of her as a female member of society.

Lotty Wilkins, who is the first to embrace the charms of Italy and is the quintessential transformed spirit in the novel, begins her journey as one who really has very little confidence in herself. “Her clothes, infested by thrift, made her practically invisible; her face was non-arresting; her conversation was reluctant; she was shy.”

Rose Arbuthnot, the religious and charitable but lonely wife, is initially described: “Steadfast as the points of the compass to Mrs. Arbuthnot were the great four facts of life: God, Husband, Home, Duty… Frederick had been the kind of husband whose wife betakes herself early to the feet of God. From him to them had been a short though painful step.”

Mrs. Fisher, the elderly widow, who leaves England for Italy with the notion that “Hardly anything was really worth while, except the past… She had not come away from these friends (in London), these conversable ripe friends, in order to spend her time in Italy chatting with three persons of another generation and defective experience; she had come away merely to avoid the treacheries of a London April.”

And finally, the beautiful, unattached Lady Caroline, never without a suitor to her own exasperation, believes “Worse than jokes in the morning did she hate the idea of husbands.” She wishes to be left completely alone and yet she seems to attract everyone to her; and her coldness and biting remarks towards others is unnoticed due to her overwhelming beauty. “People were exactly like flies. She wished there were nets for keeping them off too. She hit at them with words and frowns, and like the fly they slipped between her blows and were untouched.”

Ultimately, no one is immune to the enchantments of Italy and companionship and each undergo their own individual transformations. They learn the value of friendship and that “Beauty made you love, and love made you beautiful.”

Perhaps one would say that this book was too neat and tidy, maybe a bit unrealistic. However, I felt it was a breath of fresh air and a great reminder that a little respite and new acquaintances can help immensely to renew a dampened spirit.
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Jun 06, 2011 Book Concierge rated it really liked it

Shelves: concierge, library, italy, movie, love

Mrs Wilkins (Lotty) is spending a February afternoon at the Women’s Club when she happens to see an advertisement in the newspaper – a “castle” to let for the month of April in sunny Italy. This very proper British wife of an up-and-coming solicitor would never dream of doing anything so rash as going on holiday without her husband. And yet … who could blame her for desiring “wisteria and sunshine,” and she does have that little nest egg saved. Oh, but she couldn’t possibly … As she turns from h Mrs Wilkins (Lotty) is spending a February afternoon at the Women’s Club when she happens to see an advertisement in the newspaper – a “castle” to let for the month of April in sunny Italy. This very proper British wife of an up-and-coming solicitor would never dream of doing anything so rash as going on holiday without her husband. And yet … who could blame her for desiring “wisteria and sunshine,” and she does have that little nest egg saved. Oh, but she couldn’t possibly … As she turns from her reverie she sees that Mrs Arbuthnot (Rose), a woman she knows only by sight and with whom she’s never spoken, is now looking at the same page of the paper. Could she possibly be looking at the same advertisement? Could they manage it if they did it together, perhaps with one or two other women as well?

Thus begins a delightful adventure for four women who really do not know one another but agree to share the unique property. It is not quite what they were expecting, but somehow everything they dreamed of; friendship and love bloom along with wisteria in the Italian sunshine.

This is a gentle read. The story moves with the languorous pace of a day spent relaxing in the sun, with nothing more to worry about than what time lunch will be served. Von Arnim really gives us just a snapshot of these four women during one month spent in Italy; the reader learns about them in dribs and drabs … much as you would discover a new acquaintance (and hoped-for friend).

I found Lotty’s enthusiasm infectious; in fact, it is she who brings the others to a sense of peace and happiness. Rose and Lady Caroline Dester are perhaps the least happy with their lives in London, but each begins to flower as she relaxes and sheds her anxieties and worries. And Mrs Fisher has possibly found a true friend to comfort her in her old age. We get to know a little about their lives before they came to San Salvatore, but we are left to imagine what will happen once they leave.

One thing that surprised me was Lotty’s seeming ability to “see” what will happen. In that respect there was a bit of “magic” to the tale, and the story reminded me of modern works by Sarah Addison Allen.

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Aug 26, 2013 Tasha rated it really liked it · review of another edition

A very enjoyable read with some laughs and some wonderful descriptions of the gardens in a castle in Italy. I'd like to see the movie now...one of these days. ...more

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