Zusammenfassung
Zusammenfassung von Elizabeth und ihr Deutscher Garten
Für wen es gedacht ist
You will love this if you enjoy gardens, country seasons, witty narrators and women who claim their own time. It suits anyone who treasures a quiet corner, a shelf of books and a good laugh at society.
Worum es in diesem Buch geht
What would you do if you found a whole kingdom sitting empty while you wasted five years in a city flat? Elizabeth von Arnim answers in this year-long garden diary, set on a sandy north German estate. A wife and mother moves into an old house that was once a convent, falls in love with its wilderness and defends her happiness against everyone who pities her. You get her wit, her blunders with roses and her sharp eye. First, the day the garden claims her.
In dieser Zusammenfassung
- 1A neglected garden becomes her kingdom of heavenFree
- 2A beginner learns gardening through cheerful mistakes
- 3Solitude is a choice, whatever the neighbours say
- 4Three little girls and a husband called the Man of Wrath
- 5A November pilgrimage takes her back to childhood
- 6Childhood memories, comic and tender, fill the old garden
- 7Winter shows the lives of the people around her
- 8Christmas guests Irais and Minora keep the wit flowing
- 9Plans for flowers brighten the winter days
Punkt 1 von 9
A neglected garden becomes her kingdom of heaven
Elizabeth spends the first five years of her marriage in a city flat, healthy and miserable. All that time the estate stands empty in the north German plain, an old gabled house that was once a convent. Weeds grow to the door, birds and squirrels rule the garden, and snakes slip into the empty rooms.
One March day she goes down for the opening of a village school and wanders into the bare garden. The smell of wet earth brings back her childhood, and she feels the five wasted years drop away like a cloak. She vows herself to nature on the spot and has been happy ever since.
That feeling carries the whole book. She ranks the garden above the house, with its servants, furniture and heavy meals. The lesson for the listener is simple: happiness may be waiting in a place you have overlooked.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Who’s who
- Elizabeth
- Elizabeth is the witty diarist, a landowner’s wife who prefers gardening to the demands of company.
- The Man of Wrath
- The Man of Wrath is Elizabeth’s husband, a Prussian landowner who regards her gardening with indulgence and impatience.
- The April Baby
- The April Baby is one of Elizabeth’s three small daughters, whose play brings life to the garden.
- The May Baby
- The May Baby is Elizabeth’s daughter, named for her birth month and growing up alongside her sisters.
- The June Baby
- The June Baby is another of Elizabeth’s daughters, observed by her mother with affection and amusement.
- Irais
- Irais is a young guest at the estate whose charm makes her company particularly welcome to Elizabeth.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 49,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 3 h 15 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 11 other languages
Questions about Elizabeth und ihr Deutscher Garten
What is Elizabeth and Her German Garden about?
It follows one year in the life of Elizabeth, who moves to a neglected estate in north Germany and finds happiness in making a garden. Her diary covers seasons, children, guests, neighbours and memories of childhood.
Is Elizabeth and Her German Garden a true story?
It takes the form of Elizabeth's personal diary, mixing garden observations, family scenes and memories. The diary itself does not establish how closely those scenes follow the author's life.
Who is the Man of Wrath?
He is Elizabeth's husband, a landowner who is practical, dry and amused. She gives him that nickname, and his speeches and quiet disapproval of her gardening give the book much of its humour.
Who are Irais and Minora?
Irais is Elizabeth's charming, teasing friend who stays at Christmas. Minora is an English art student who visits and jots down everything for a book on Germany, and the two friends enjoy teasing her.
Is Elizabeth and Her German Garden easy to read?
Yes, in the sense that matters: it is written in dated diary entries with a lively, funny voice. Each entry has its own scene, so you can read a few pages at a time and enjoy each.