Riassunto
Riassunto di The Enchanted April
A chi è rivolto
For readers who love gentle comedy, gardens, travel and well-drawn women, or anyone who needs a cheerful story in a grey season.
Che cos’è questo libro
The Enchanted April is a comic novel by Elizabeth von Arnim, published in 1922. She wrote it after the First World War, when many people in Britain were tired, grieving and short of colour. It follows four English women who rent a small medieval castle on the Italian coast for the month of April, and what the sun, the sea and the flowers do to them.
Von Arnim knew Italy well, and she knew gardens even better. She also knew how a marriage can go quiet and cold. The book is light on its feet and often very funny, but it is serious about one question: what do people owe to their own happiness? It asks whether a woman who spends her life being useful, polite or admired has ever stopped to ask what she wants.
From this book you get a charming story, a set of sharp portraits and a good deal of warm, sunny description. You also get a gentle argument that rest and beauty can change a person from the inside. It all starts with a dull afternoon in a London club, an advertisement in the newspaper and two women who have never spoken before. Let us begin there.
In questo riassunto
- 1A grey February in LondonFree
- 2Two strangers decide to run away
- 3Two more women join the plan
- 4The journey south to San Salvatore
- 5Sun, sea and the first small changes
- 6Four women under one roof
- 7How love and marriage are tested
- 8What the story is really about
- 9How the book is told
Punto chiave 1 di 9
A grey February in London
The story opens on a cold, wet afternoon in February, in a London women's club. Mrs Lotty Wilkins is a shy, anxious young woman who lives in Hampstead with her husband Mellersh, a solicitor. She is always eager to please, and she has a habit of doing what others expect of her. Her days are full of small duties, thrift and worry about what people will think.
At the club she picks up a newspaper and reads a short advertisement. It offers a small medieval castle on the shore of the Mediterranean in Italy, furnished, to let for the month of April. The notice mentions wistaria and sunshine. Lotty is struck by it as if she had been called by name.
She cannot say why the notice pulls at her so hard. She only knows that she has not felt this kind of longing for years. Von Arnim describes it as a sudden private thirst, the way a person in a dry room might suddenly want water. The ordinary life Lotty leads seems, for a moment, unbearable.
Across the room she sees another woman reading the same paper. Lotty knows her only by sight, from church and from parish circles. She is Mrs Rose Arbuthnot, who is tall, quiet and serious. Rose also seems to have fixed her eyes on the same little notice.
This opening matters because it shows the author's method. Nothing grand happens, yet a whole life tips in a new direction. The ad is small, the weather is miserable and the two women are ordinary. Von Arnim trusts that a single honest wish can start a story.
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
- Lotty Wilkins
- A shy Hampstead wife, Lotty longs for beauty and companionship beyond her anxious life with Mellersh.
- Rose Arbuthnot
- A devout woman devoted to charitable work, Rose feels distant from her husband Frederick and joins Lotty's holiday.
- Lady Caroline Dester
- A young beauty known as Scrap, Lady Caroline joins the other women seeking solitude and relief from admirers.
- Mrs Fisher
- An elderly widow sharing the castle, Mrs Fisher values Victorian manners and expects the younger women to respect her.
- Mellersh Wilkins
- Lotty's husband is a conventional solicitor whose concern for money and social position makes her anxious.
- Frederick Arbuthnot
- Rose's husband is a charming writer of fashionable books whose interests have drawn him away from his wife.
- Domenico
- An Italian servant at San Salvatore, Domenico patiently attends to the English guests despite their difficulties communicating.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 80,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 5 h 20 min
- Listening time8 h 55 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary; paperback, hardcover and large print at cost
- LanguagesEnglish and 14 other languages
Questions about The Enchanted April
What is The Enchanted April about?
It follows four English women who rent a medieval castle on the Italian coast for April. Away from London's grey routines, the sun and flowers loosen their defences and make them rethink their lives and marriages.
Who are the four women in The Enchanted April?
They are Lotty Wilkins, Rose Arbuthnot, Lady Caroline Dester and Mrs Fisher. Lotty and Rose plan the trip, and the other two join them to share the cost of the castle.
When was The Enchanted April written and is it a true story?
Elizabeth von Arnim published it in 1922. It is a work of fiction, though the Italian coast setting draws on the author's own knowledge and love of Italy and gardens.
Is The Enchanted April hard to read?
No. The language is clear and the plot is simple. It is a light, easy read with a lot of humour.
What is the main message of The Enchanted April?
The book suggests that people need beauty, rest and freedom to be happy and kind, and that hiding behind duty, pride or fear costs more than it protects.