Product Description

A recipe for happiness: four women, one medieval Italian castle, plenty of wisteria, and solitude as needed.

The women at the center of The Enchanted April are alike only in their dissatisfaction with their everyday lives. They find each other—and the castle of their dreams—through a classified ad in a London newspaper one rainy February afternoon. The ladies expect a pleasant holiday, but they don’t anticipate that the month they spend in Portofino will reintroduce them to their true natures and reacquaint them with joy. Now, if the same transformation can be worked on their husbands and lovers, the enchantment will be complete.

The Enchanted April was a best-seller in both England and the United States, where it was a Book-of-the-Month Club selection, and set off a craze for tourism to Portofino. More recently, the novel has been the inspiration for a major film and a Broadway play.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #52047 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-03
• Released on: 2007-04-03
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 376 pages

About the Author
Elizabeth von Arnim (1866—1941) was born Mary Annette Beauchamp in Sydney, Australia. Her first book, the autobiographical novel Elizabeth and Her German Garden–inspired by the grounds of the estate she shared with her husband, Count Henning August von Arnim–was an enormous success. After the death of her first husband, Elizabeth married Francis the second Earl Russell, brother of Bertrand Russell. It was a disastrous marriage and the two eventually separated. Von Arnim moved to the US at the start of World War II, and spent her final years there.

Cathleen Schine has received wide acclaim for her five previous novels: Alice in Bed, To the Birdhouse, The Evolution of Jane, and the international bestsellers Rameau's Niece and The Love Letter, both of which were made into feature films. She lives in New York City.

Customer Reviews

Enchanting
Having loved both filmed versions of this story, I came to the book not anticipating any surprises, and in that respect I was correct. What I did get, however, was a more fully-formed understanding of each of the four women who come to San Salvatore. Each has her own quest, and each is surprised in the way that her quest is resolved.

Elizabeth von Arnim can harness language in ways that few other authors are able. She is, for instance, able to display what a walking joke Mr. Wilkins is, while letting him think that he's the very model of an educated man.

I started off loathing both Mrs. Fisher and Lady Caroline Dester in a way that wasn't true when watching the films. This made their transformations that much more satisfying, in the end.

I'm now interested in reading other books from Elizabeth von Arnim and, even more importantly, visiting the castello where the story is based. She wrote The Enchanted April after her own visit, and it has continued to "enchant" travelers in the many years since the publication of her novel. I can't wait to see the "tub of love" and be surrounded by wistaria myself.

The Enchanted April
The Enchanted April. I love this book. About ladies way ahead of their time - before women's lib had come on the scene. Takes place in a rented villa in Italy for one idyllic month in April - ladies vacationing without their husbands and finding themselves.

Simply Enchanting
While waiting for this to come to dvd in the US, I purchased the book with high hopes. I fell in love with the movie and the book only enhanced that love. Elizabeth Von Arnim brings the beauty of this Italian castle to life in a way that only words can do. The charm and enchantment are palpable. It is easy to get lost in their world so that you can experience it as though you are there with the four women.