The Enchanted april, by elizabeth von arnim

Two unhappy wives lease an exotic Italian castle for the month of April, with happy results.

Mrs Lotty Wilkins is stuck in a rut, dissatisfied with her marriage to Mellersh, a narrow minded solicitor only interested in money. When she runs into Rose Arbuthnot at her ladies' club, she notices she is reading an advertisement for a place to be let, an exotic castle in rural Italy. The furnished castle is on offer for the month of April, its owner the Englishman Thomas Briggs. The two ladies, who are shy of each other, boldly decide to lease the castle and leave their husbands behind (the devout Mrs Arbuthnot is married to Frederick, who to her displeasure writes racey biographies for quick bucks.) They both feel they need a break from their emotionally exhausting work as devoted wives.

To minimise expenses, the women decide to advertise for two more ladies to join their group. Lady Caroline, a twenty-eight year old heiress with zero interest in men, or anything in particular, signs on for the April holiday. And lastly there is Mrs Fisher, an older, imperious woman, whose claim to fame is a long list of important literary connections.

Upon arrival, all goes to plan. Lotty and Rose find themselves transformed, just as they'd wished, by the beauty of the castle, with its fragrant gardens and sensuously warm weather. The disinterested Lady Caroline mostly keeps to herself, observing the company from afar and making ironic observations. Mrs Fisher remains a hard nut to crack, reserved and difficult, until nearing the end of her stay when events cause her to drop her stony exterior.

British writer Elizabeth von Arnim (she was born in Sydney, Australia, moving to England aged three) wrote The Enchanted April (1922) while staying at Castello Brown, a medieval castle located in northern Italy. The book is rich with atmospheric descriptions, of flowers in bloom and delicious, balmy warm weather. Indeed, the castle works like a spell – on the women and reader alike. One longs to stay at the castle, to be also transformed, and feels envious of von Arnim's characters. 

Despite the text's light, hazy, hallucinatory quality, The Enchanted April is essentially a comedy. It pokes gentle fun at the unfulfilled women, Rose and Lotty, who are divorced from reality, but also gives them a sort of feminist triumph as they manage to subordinate their husbands to their wishes. The impenetrable Lady Caroline and Mrs Fisher, who seem determined to remain unaffected by their surroundings, eventually succumb to the castle's magic too. If there's a writer that comes close to being Jane Austen “light” it's von Arnim. She creates a hypnotically feminine place in the castle and traps everyone within it, passing gentle commentary on her characters with a light, yet sly humour. And like all Jane Austen novels, it ends with happy romantic couplings.
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A strange yet satisfying mix of comedy and escapism.

The Enchanted April, by Elizabeth von Arnim. Published by Penguin. $22.99

Review by Chris Saliba

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