The Enchanted April (New York Review Books Classics)

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The Enchanted April (New York Review Books Classics)

Author: Elizabeth Von Arnim
Binding: Paperback
Published: 2007-04-03
ISBN: 1590172256

$10.17

The Enchanted April (New York Review Books Classics)
by: Elizabeth Von Arnim

Editorial Review:

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.

Customer Reviews:

Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0

DO NOT BUY THIS EDITION:

I am 1/3rd of the way through this book. If you enjoy Austen and the like, as I do, you will enjoy this novel. However, I encourage you to buy a different edition. This edition of the book is riddled with typos. "r" instead of "n", "her" instead of "he", etc. And it's not just occaisionally. Sometimes it's several on a page. It interupts the flow of the story and I'm about ready to chuck this copy and check a different edition out of the library.

Lazy vacation read:

Enjoyed this lovely period escapist light romance. Recommend you read it on your vacation or when you desperately need a restorative vacation but can only get away in imagination.
This story about a spring escape from rainy dreary London to a remote Italian villa even smells beautiful, the descriptions are so evocative.
Having seen the movie several years ago, I found the book almost identical, only one small twist in the "plot". I still can't say which twist I'd choose.
(They really need... more info

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... more info

A charming and introspective work:

This is one of my favorite books. It is a book about growth and change and the courage to recognize and face one's own defects. All of this is buried into a very warming story filled with beauty and discovery. It shows how stepping back and viewing a relationship from a different aspect can help to awaken an appreciation of it. It is a good read for a lazy day devoted to self.

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