The Enchanted April | Book Review

The Enchanted April by Elizabeth Von Arnim was my April book of the month pick. Written in 1922, it is about four women from London who rent a house together in Italy for the month of April based on an advertisement one of them found. The women are complete strangers at first and struggling in their own lives, but are transformed over the course of their month in San Salvatore (Portofino).

On the surface the book is gentle to read; the writing is beautiful and the descriptions are visual. There are many sentences spared in each chapter to describe the garden and the flowers in comparison to the rain and grey of London. The characters have their own stories, but it doesn’t seem to be profound or go very deep at first. The story picks up a little and then plateaus. There are no highs or lows in the plot. Everything appears quite stable. On the surface this book is simply charming and a delight to read, but the more you dive into the pages the more you realize how deep the characters truly do go. They each have a history, a sense of loss or grief in love or in life and are relatable. Quite unexpectedly, this book transforms the reader.

Mrs. Wilkins, later known as Lotty, is unhappy in London. She feels bored with her life and no passion with her solicitor husband, despite their comfortable life together. He cares a lot about their image and makes her dress in a way that feels bland to Lotty. To Lotty, her life is beige. When she finds the advertisement she begins to dream of an escape  from London and her husband and meets another woman looking at the same advertisement, Mrs. Arbuthnot. Mrs. Arbuthnot, only a few years older in her mid-thirties is also dreaming of an escape. this one from a loveless marriage.

Mrs. Arbuthnot, later known as Rose, is married to a writer. But she disapproves that he writes stories about famous historical men and their mistresses. Even though he has a pen name, she is ashamed of his stories, which she considers sinful and she has pushed him away. The passion they shared has faded and although young, Rose feels old. They now live two separate lives, but she also misses the love they shared. She escapes into volunteer work in her church and feels lonely. Together they cannot afford to rent out San Salvatore, so they search for two others that will split the costs with them. That is how they find the rich and elderly Mrs. Fisher, an unhappy woman trapped in her past and unable to live in the present, and Lady Caroline Dester, a wealthy young heiress looking to escape society.

There are many spoilers to follow:

The four women arrive in San Salvatore, feeling quite unhappy with themselves, and over the course of the month begin to shed their woes, as a good retreat usually does. But during this time Lotty feels joyful and immediately regrets lying to her husband about her travels and sends a letter to invite him. This shocks the other women who did not expect a man to be invited. Rose becomes more angry at her husband and lays the blame for their unhappiness almost completely on him. She is not ready to forgive, although she misses him terribly now that Lotty is expecting Mr. Wilkins to arrive.

It is at this time that we discover that Lady Caroline, known by her close family and friends as Scraps, is known for her great beauty and people in her society have trouble seeing little else. She is tired of the fawning and just wants to be herself. She is also grieved from the loss of her fiancé in the war and wishes to keep to herself in the garden. Scraps only wish is to be left alone, and finds the company of the other women a bore. Mrs. Fisher, much the same, wishes to keep to herself, but also feels that she has the right to dictate everyone else because of her age and status. She has no desire to get along with the other women and views them all as an inconvenience.

Mr. Wilkins arrives and the reader learns that his motive is not to forgive and vacation with his wife, but to use her new wealthy connections to boost his business and his reputation. The reader knows all this, but Lotty does not. Rose’s husband does eventually show up, but we learn that he was actually in the area looking for Scraps, as he knew her under his pseudonym and was looking to be unfaithful. However, unlike modern stories where drama ensues and dark intentions are discovered, these men are also changed by this place and by the women in their lives. Their wives are none the wiser as their motives change to pure love; Mr. Wilkins for adoring his wife for who she is and authentically enjoying the friendship of the other women with no ulterior motive to use them and Mr. Arbuthnot for loving his wife again and realizing his distance made things worse. He thanks Scraps for not outing his intentions to Rose. Rose also begins to build back her own self esteem and feels youthful and joyful again. This story turns to one of forgiveness, with no one none the wiser of the darker sides hidden underneath.

Completely devoid of drama, the suspense was slowly built up with no actual blowup. For a modern reader, this was surprising. I was expecting a big scene towards the end, but was actually delighted when everything worked out for the best and the story ended on a happy note.

Scraps herself has gone through a transformation, welcoming the friendship of the other women and also possibly welcoming in new love at the end of the book. Mrs. Fisher has also warmed up to the other ladies and hopes to stay friends with them, even learning to adore Mrs. Wilkins, who she once despised the most.

Overall, this is a story of female friendship, forgiveness, and about finding the joy and beauty in the present. We can learn something from each of the women in this story. This book has charmed me completely and it is one of those books that has you looking back on it fondly. A book does not have to be full of drama, a climatic climb, or have a darkness to it to be interesting or keep you turning pages. This book goes to show that a lovely story with heartwarming characters and a happy ending can be a masterpiece without having to do something unique to get attention. I believe it may actually find itself on my to-read shelf every spring.