Wilkins revels in the Italian countryside, believing that her marital woes would disappear if she lived there she decides to invite her lawyer husband to join her at the villa. Fisher proves to be a solitary person, and Lady Caroline uses Italy as a meditative and spiritual experience.Īs their vacation progresses, the four women learn more about themselves and of each other. Arbuthnot despairs, revealing that she has not even informed her husband of her travels. Quickly enamored with the beauty of Italy, Mrs. Fisher and Lady Caroline have taken the villa’s two finest rooms. When they arrive at the villa, they find that they are the last to reach it, and are irritated that Mrs. Wilkins travel together to Italy, while the other two women make their own arrangements. Wilkins agree to go with them despite their initial judgments.

Fisher, a controlling woman, and the extremely wealthy Lady Caroline Denston. Their petition draws in two other women, Mrs. Realizing that the rate is higher than they expected, the two women resolve to find other female boarders to split the cost. Briggs, the owner, who becomes infatuated with her. Arbuthnot’s dissatisfaction with life and resonates with her. Each woman considers the other an acquaintance, but not a friend by any means. Wilkins, who is more spontaneous, to discuss an advertisement they found listing the lease of a villa in Italy the next April. Arbuthnot, a reticent and traditional woman, meets up with Mrs. The Enchanted April begins on an ordinary day in England. It also addresses themes such as self-fulfillment, love, the intrinsic value of the natural world, and the texture of memory. Famous for being a relatively early text to feature a solidarity of women as protagonist figures, the novel inaugurated later feminist British literature. Eventually, realizing they have a number of commonalities, the women reach the moralistic conclusion that it is prudent and wise to seek social connection rather than exclusivity. It ties together the narratives of four unique women living in Arnim’s present-day England, who somewhat reluctantly band together to vacation in Italy. A light and pastoral novel compared to her other works, British author Elizabeth von Arnim’s historical fiction The Enchanted April (1922) was inspired by her experience touring the Italian Riviera.

An enchanted april book