Religious Rose has spent her whole life in service to the poor, trying to atone for the money her husband makes writing books about sex scandals.Oh my goodness, what an enchanting novel this turned out to be! I read it over that beautifully sunny weekend just before Easter, and I couldn’t have chosen a better time – it matched the glorious weather to perfection.įirst published in 1922, The Enchanted April, tells the story of four very different English women who come together to rent a medieval castle on the Italian Riviera for the month of April. The four main characters are precisely and humorously drawn: Lotty begins as a quivering rabbit of a woman, who always seems to say and wear the wrong thing, and lives in awe of her booming, lawyer husband. And most impressive of all, she makes it look effortless. It's a wisp of a premise, but von Arnim's brilliant writing transforms it into something much more - a satire on post-WWI British society, a sardonic rumination on human foibles, and a tale of women coming into their own. It's open for the month of April, and the notice promises "Wistaria and Sunshine." The book tells the story of how they arrive at this heaven, San Salvatore, and how their lives are changed by the month they spend there. No wonder, then, that the book's heroines find themselves bewitched by an Italian castle they see advertised. Miserable March, it might be called, and we've all been there. It's so vivid you can almost feel your nose running and hear the squelching of your ruined shoes.
Madeline Miller is the author of The Song of AchillesĮlizabeth von Arnim's The Enchanted April opens with misery - not catastrophic, but ordinary: cold rain, sodden clothes, unhappy relationships, constricted life. Your purchase helps support NPR programming. Close overlay Buy Featured Book Title The Enchanted April Author Elizabeth Von Arnim and Cathleen Schine
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