An Enchanting Read

The Enchanted April
by Elizabeth von Arnim

This delightful tale introduces four women - Lotty Wilkins, Rose Arbuthnot, Mrs. Fisher, and Lady Caroline Dester who come away on holiday to Italy for the month of April. None of them had spoken to each other before making these plans to rent San Salvatore. They are together out of convenience, merely to share expenses. All of them have their own private reasons for coming to San Salvatore. Their internalized thoughts, dreams, and loneliness make up the majority of the plot, as their stay in Italy works its magic on them. The warm and languid tone of the writing matches their ideal Italian holiday of rest and relaxation, and is infused with humor. It made me want to take my own holiday, though spending some quiet time reading about these women and their lives was a wonderful second choice.

This book was a half-planned, half-whim choice because the LibraryThing group Monthly Author reads decided to read Elizabeth von Arnim in November. This was a bit of a whim for me because I knew absolutely nothing about the author, had never read any of her books before, and just picked The Enchanted April on a whim because there were several copies available on interlibrary loan. It was a truly enchanting introduction to this author, and I'm looking forward to reading more of her works.