Virago Modern Classics discussion

Anybody game to read and discuss The Enchanted April with me?

I was thinking of reading it again soon, it's one of my favourite books. When were you thinking of starting?

Whenever you wish. It will be a read-again for me too. I have the book ready as I thought there was a whole group here and I would only have added my French self! So, at your pleasure and with pleasure really! :)

Great stuff! I can start on Wednesday, I have the book too, but happy to wait if others want to join. I know it is available free on kindle so it's not hard to get hold of.
Look forward to it. I know I loved it, but I've forgotten the details.

All right for me. Now,

1- do you think we may invite people to read with us? And how?
2- do we make a reading schedule and comment or discuss accordingly, or do we go along as we wish?

Whatever you choose.

I remember the beginning and the end. I remember the genral outline but, like you, I have forgotten the details - and more! :)

I wouldn't know how to invite people, but I imagine if someone sees the discussion, they might wish to join in.
I'd find it easier to read and comment as I go without a schedule, but happy either way.

Would love to have an excuse to re-read it!

Ellen, of course we would love to have you reading along with us. And Tania, let us read as you wish.

The more the merrier. Thank you Camille for suggesting it, I probably wouldn't have got around to it for a while if you hadn't.

Tania and Ellen, I would not have read it either should not have been here: I would have toyed with the idea, bring down the book from the shelves and postpone the actual reading indefinitely. So thank you to both of you.

I will start it on my commute into London tomorrow...

I will start tomorrow morning when I awake - always early with the chorus of birds at dawn - and I shall mention it on my Facebook page: perhaps other people will join us.

I will be starting tomorrow morning too.

I've started. I'm glad the sun is shining here or the descriptions of drab London could be a bit depressing.
Love her description of Mrs Wilkins 'Her clothes, infested by thrift, made her practically invisible'

Some elements of biography

Elizabeth von Arnim (31 August 1866 – 9 February 1941), born Mary Annette Beauchamp, was an Australian-born British novelist. By marriage she became Gräfin (Countess) von Arnim-Schlagenthin, and by a second marriage, Countess Russell. Although known in her early life as Mary, after the publication of her first book, she was known to her readers, eventually to her friends, and finally even to her family as Elizabeth and she is now invariably referred to as Elizabeth von Arnim. She also wrote under the pen name Alice Cholmondeley.

She was born at her family's holiday home in Kirribilli Point, Australia. When she was three years old, the family returned to England where she was raised. Her parents were Henry Herron Beauchamp (1825–1907), merchant, and Elizabeth (Louey) Weiss Lassetter (1836–1919). Arnim had four brothers, a sister, and a cousin from New Zealand, Kathleen Beauchamp, who later married John Middleton Murry and wrote under the pen name, Katherine Mansfield.

In 1891, Elizabeth married Count Henning August von Arnim-Schlagenthin, a Prussian aristocrat, whom she had met during an Italian tour with her father. They lived in Berlin and eventually moved to the countryside where, in Nassenheide, Pomerania, the Arnims had their family estate. The couple had five children, four daughters and a son. The children's tutors at Nassenheide included E. M. Forster and Hugh Walpole.

In 1908, Arnim left Nassenheide to return to London. Count von Arnim died in 1910, and later that year she moved to Randogne, Switzerland, where she built the Chalet Soleil and entertained literary and society friends. From 1910 until 1913, she was a mistress of the novelist H.G. Wells. In 1916, she married John Francis Stanley Russell, 2nd Earl Russell, elder brother of Bertrand Russell. The marriage ended in acrimony, with Elizabeth fleeing to the United States and the couple separating in 1919, although they never divorced. In 1920, she embarked on an affair with Alexander Stuart Frere Reeves (1892–1984), a British publisher nearly 30 years her junior; he later married and named his only daughter Elizabeth in her honour.

After leaving Germany, she lived, variously, in London, France and Switzerland. In 1939, on the outbreak of the Second World War, she returned to the United States, where she died of influenza at the Riverside Infirmary, Charleston, South Carolina, on 9 February 1941, aged 74. She was cremated at Fort Lincoln cemetery, Maryland and in 1947 her ashes were mingled with her brother Sydney's in the churchyard of St Margaret's, Tylers Green, Penn, Buckinghamshire. The Latin inscription on her tombstone reads, parva sed apta (small but apt), alluding to her short stature.

Arnim would later refer to her domineering first husband by the Biblical title the "Man of Wrath" and writing became her refuge from what turned out to be an incompatible marriage. Arnim's husband had increasing debts and was eventually sent to prison for fraud. This was when she created her pen name "Elizabeth" and launched her career as a writer by publishing her semi-autobiographical, brooding, yet satirical Elizabeth and Her German Garden (1898). Detailing her struggles both to create a garden on the estate and her attempts to integrate into German, high-class, Junker society, it was such a success that it was reprinted twenty times in its first year. A bitter-sweet memoir and companion to it was The Solitary Summer (1899). Other works, such as the The Benefactress (1902), Vera (1921), and Love (1925), were also semi-autobiographical. Other titles dealing with protest against domineering Junkerdom and witty observations of life in provincial Germany were to follow, including The Princess Priscilla's Fortnight (1905) and Fraulein Schmidt and Mr Anstruther (1907). She would sign her twenty or so books, after the first, initially as "by the author of Elizabeth and Her German Garden" and later simply "By Elizabeth".

Although she never wrote a traditional autobiography, 'All the Dogs of My Life', her 1936 account of her love for her pets, contains many glimpses of the glittering social circle of which she was part.

Her 1921 novel, Vera, a dark tragi-comedy drawing on her disastrous marriage to Earl Russell, was her most critically acclaimed work. It was described by John Middleton Murray as "Wuthering Heights by Jane Austen".

Her 1922 work, The Enchanted April, inspired by a month-long holiday to the Italian Riviera, is perhaps the lightest and most ebullient of her novels and has regularly been adapted for the stage and screen: as a Broadway play in 1925; a 1935 American feature film; an Academy Award-nominated feature film in 1992 (starring Josie Lawrence, Jim Broadbent and Joan Plowright amongst others); a Tony Award-nominated stage play in 2003; a musical play in 2010; and in 2015 a serial on BBC Radio 4.

Terence de Vere White credits The Enchanted April with making the Italian resort of Portofino fashionable. It is also, probably, the most widely read of all her work, having been a Book-of-the-Month club choice in America upon publication.

Her 1940 novel, Mr. Skeffington, was made into an Academy Award-nominated feature film by Warner Bros. in 1944, starring Bette Davis and Claude Rains; and a 60-minute "Lux Radio Theater" broadcast radio adaptation of the movie on 1 October 1945.

Since 1983, the British publisher, Virago, has been reprinting her work with new introductions by modern writers, some of which try to claim her as a sort of feminist, although 'The Reader's Encyclopedia' reports that many of her later novels are 'tired exercises'. Perhaps the best example of von Arnim's mordant wit and unusual attitude to life, is provided in one her letters: 'I'm so glad I didn't die on the various occasions I have earnestly wished I might, for I would have missed a lot of lovely weather'

Select bibliography

Elizabeth and Her German Garden (1898) -
The Solitary Summer (1899) -
April Baby's Book of Tunes (1900) (Illustrated by Kate Greenaway)
The Benefactress (1901) -
The Ordeal of Elizabeth (1901; draft of a novel, published posthumously)
The Adventures of Elizabeth in Rugen (1904) -
Princess Priscilla's Fortnight (1905) -
Fräulein Schmidt and Mr Anstruther (1907) -
The Caravaners (1909)
The Pastor's Wife (1914) -
Christine (1917) (written under the pseudonym Alice Cholmondeley) -
Christopher and Columbus (1919) -
In the Mountains (1920) -
Vera (1921) -
The Enchanted April (1922) -
Love (1925)
Introduction to Sally (1926)
Expiation (1929)
Father (1931)
The Jasmine Farm (1934)
All the Dogs of My Life (autobiography, 1936)
Mr. Skeffington (1940) -

The four first chapters are located in London except for the end of the the fourth one, which takess us from London to Italy. We meet the four protagonists: Mrs Wilkins (and her husband), Mrs Arbuthnot (and her husband), Lady Caroline Dester and Mrs Fisher.
We are first introduced to Mrs Wilkins who discovers the advertisement in The Times of the castle to rent in Italy. Soon, Mrs Arbuthnot is snared. The two women are described in chapters one and two in relation with their respective husbands, and characterised by their clothes and their attitude to life. Mrs Arbuthot is a Church militant in order to atone for her husband's books which she thinks licentious (the husband is hinted as lientious himself) with her own direct line to God (and the vicar). Her efforts towards the relief of the poor are full of good will but she senses their narrow-mindedness encouraged by the Church and society. Mrs Wilkins defers or tries to defer to all her husband's wishes but her efforts fall off the mark. Both are defined by their status as wives (we do not know their first names); Mrs Wlikins is even encouraged by her huband to take his full first name and name and to become Mrs Mellersh-Wilkins (the woman is owned by the man). Both are housewives belonging to the middle-class, living in Hampstead (hint at Bohemianism).
Lady Caroline Dester is briefly sketched in an off-hand manner that can well define her (the style characterises the personality). A young woman wihing a month abroad where she will know nobody and nobody will know her.
Mrs Fisher is a widow - proud of her childhood connections, now in her old age, walking with a cane - wishing things proper and to her tastes (she wats references for Mrs Wilkins and Mrs Arbuthnot. It seems that her name alone is guarantee eough when it comes to Lady Caroline Dester (snobbishness?).
The "owner" of the castle is briefly met and described when money for the rent is given to him.
Chapters three and four are filled by the preparations for departure - whih means the avowal (or not) of the intended holidays to the husband. We see M Wilkins mollified after church and his Sunday lunch offering to go to Italy with his wife when she is trying to tell him that she is going on her own.
Chapter four ends with the actual travel from London to Italy through France on 30/31 March.
The pace is brisk, the tone ironical but gentle (or vice versa). Good antithetic exposition of the characters.
Do not forget the importance of the weather, rainy in London with hope of sunshine and flowers in Italy -British.

Thanks for all the info, I hadn't realised Katherine Mansfield was her cousin.
I have got to where they arrive at the Castle. I agree that the weather is important, I think one of the reasons I love it is that when I first read it, it seemed to be raining non stop here, the news was full of floods, and yet I was transported to sunny Italy. I could almost smell the Wisteria.

I agree: there is a sharp contrast between the rainy weather in London and the sunshine in Italy - like a metaphor for a bubble of happiness among a dreary life. Or is it a bubble or a promise of a better life? We shall see it develop during the novel until the end gives us the solution.
The arrival through the shadow(s) of the garden is another image of a threshold to another kind of life.
I had to stop reading because of a pounding headache but will resume with the book as soon as I feel better.
It is a true pleasure to read with you. :)

I hope the headache gets better and you can get back too enjoying it. It's great to be reading with you too.
I think sunny weather will nearly always give us hope, especially when it follows bad weather. I hope it's a promise of a better life, as Lottie says, think how much nicer they will be as people, for the holiday. I love how she justifies it. I think she's right.

Headache turning into migraine - for the worst. But I have medicine for this and they should squash it. I hope to resume reading quietly this weekend. I am still stuck at the beginning of chapter five. I do hate to stop in the middle of a book!
It is also great and encouraging to read with you. A true pleasure. :)

Sorry to hear that. I've slowed down and picked up something else so I don't get too far ahead. I always have more than one on the go anyway. I'll pick it up when you're ready. Hope it eases off soon.

The worst of the migraine is gone. I am going back to our common and cross-reading of "The Enchanted April". I stopped at the end of chapter four and shall try to read four more chapters today.
By the way, I live in South-Western France and we have the glorious weather the ladies from the novel would have expected, except for the sea! We have golden days, small finger leaves on the oak trees which are almost the last trees to put them on. Grass is growing with wild primroses and dog violets. Lilacs are in blossom as is the rambling wisteria. Daffodils and narcissi are on the wane but tulips start their show as do the irises. The cherry trees are shedding their petals and apple trees replace them with their small pink hues at the heart of their flowers.
It should be a time for redemption, resurrection and joy. With an air of alacrity and a springness in our walks.
Let's see what happens in our novel!
Ellen and other readers, we are not far within the book: do join us. We only read for pleasure.

Glad too hear it!
South West France sounds glorious, it's many years since I have been there. I'm in the Cotswolds, (South West England) and it has been a wonderful April here so far, though it sounds as though we are a little behind you, Cherry blossom is stiil in full bloom, and the apple trees are yet to blossom, there are only hints of leaves appearing on the trees here at the moment. I seem to remember the flowers in bloom and the fragrances from them were being described all through the book as the month advanced.
I have read a few of the chapters set in the castle, and love Lotty's almost child-like enthusiasm for heaven, which feels quite infectious, (to me, at least), not everyone has warmed to her yet, as I have.

You are right, Tania: Mrs Fisher does think her "soft in her head" and strange. As to Lady Caroline Dester, she flees from both Mrs Wilkins and Mrs Arbuthnot. Only Rose Arbuthnot has melted towards Lotty Wilkins.
I read four chapters yesterday night and I shall try to write down some organised thoughts later.
The Costwolds are one of the loveliest parts of the UK. You are lucky to live there. Yes, spring and summer there are always a little behind spring and summer in South-Western France. British friends of mine have bought a house not far from mine and they come in early spring when it is still winter in England. But they hate our high summer season. It is too warm (well, it often is too warm for me too!)

Tania, Ihave read from chapter 5ubtil chapter 12 included. I post the bare bones of how I read them.

In chapter 5, Mrs. Arbuthnot and Mrs. Wilkins arrive in Italy and more precisely in San Salvatore, under a pouring rain. It is the evening of the 31st of March and it is dark. Their fly leave them at the entrance of the castle but cannot drive them till the door. They start a tramp up to the said castle without seeing anything but among trees, bushes and generally flowers. All is sieved through touh, hearing, and scents. This reminded me of Sleeping Beauty in her own castle in the middle of a thick forest. The English ladies have come to awake. But will they awake the castle or will they awake themselves? It seems a long track among the flowers with a fear that their local Italian guides will lead them not to the castle but to some other place.
Misplaced fear as they reach the castle and fall in other's arms with a warm hug. Mrs. Wilkins spontaneouly hugs Mrs Arbuthnot, calling her by her first name: Rose. She is rewarded by Rose hugging her as Lottie.
They seem to have braken into a closer acquaintanceship.

I hadn't thought of Sleeping Beauty, but it is an apt comparison.
The two ladies are ready to fall under the castles spell here, and cast away the drabness of London.

In chapter six, we are on the morrow and Lottie awakes from sleep inyo morning light. She enjoys the fact that she is alone in her bedroom and not with Mellersh. She luxuriates in her new freedom in the light, the room, the vista (this another room with a view), and mostly in the fact that she has become herself at last and not only Mrs. Wilkins, Mr. Wilkins' wife. She is Lottie and her husband recedes in some kind of shimmering gauze, somewhat undistinglishable.
Rose is still firmly Mrs. Arbuthnot and fears something bad will happen. Lottie takes her on a tour of the castle. Exploring, they discover lady Caroline Dester taking the sun. Instead of arriving on the 1st of April as planned, she travelled one day earlier in order to avoid Mrs. Fisher... who had thought the same. Therefore they had arrived together and have chosen their rooms and planned their first day.
Lady Caroline is lovely and because of this loveliness, which is a curse, she cannot be left alone but is petted and loved. Even when she tries to scowl and snub. She came to San Salvatore to be alone but not lonely. She wishes peace to think. She dubs Rose and Lottie as "originals" and Mrs. Fisher as directive with "her stick".
But it is now time for breakfast.

Camille & Tania,
Thanks for triggering this thread, reading choice as well as a vivid and interesting discussion. I am intrigued and will try to join in as soon as I can. The Virago classics series has lots of literary gems and I suspect that this is one of them!

Haaze, it would be great to have you join the discussion, this is a gem in my opinion, as I mentioned earlier in the thread, it is in the public domain, so available from Project Gutenberg and free on kindle.
Camille,I wonder if one of the reasons she refuses to be known as Mrs Mellersh Wilkins is that she feared she would lose even more of herself. Rose seems slightly less willing to let herself go and enjoy herself.
I am also reading A Room With A View at the moment, one of the characters in that is also described as an original, though it seems more derogatory in that book.

Would either of you mind if I joined you in reading/discussing this novel? I didn't mean to budge in on your conversation.

Not at all, it'll be good to have you on board.

Hazel, of course we are glad that you join! This is a little gem, you are right and we do it leisurably.

Tania, "A Room with a View" is one of my favourite novels and I thought of it when I read about Lottie being so happy and carefree on the arrival at the castle. Lucy Honeychurch is similarly in search of herself when she goes to Florence. I thought also about another novel by EM Foster, "Where Angels Fear To Tread", where Italy is the country of exotism and freedom with a tinge of danger where propriety is concerned. Both books were adapted as films. "A Room with a View" is beautiful. Have you seen it? There are riots of colours and flowers in all these novels.
I agree with you that Mrs Mellersh Wilkins has utterly swallowed Lottie and that when she turns back to first names she is recovering her personality. She is in awe of her husband.
And yes again for Rose being more unwilling to let go her own self. But she does not have the same issue. She is really in love with her husband who has let her go and she clings to the remnants of her marriage. I feel she is too free in a way when Lottie is not. Two conceptions of marriage and married life, don't you think?

I have seen it. I was planning to watch it again when I have finished that book, also planning on watching the Film version of The Enchanted April. I have yet to read Where Angels Fear to Tread.
I think it is easier to cast off the trappings of respectability when in a foreign Country especially when amongst strangers, so I can see why Italy is seen as a country of freedom to the English at a time when respectability amongst their peers is seen as so important. Maybe this is why both books have a slightly Bohemian feel too them.

This sounds very British to me. There was the "grand tour" that young men were doing in the 18th and 1th centuries but I can find no equivalent of it in literature (French fiction) at the beginning of the 20th century. It seems that the atmosphere was utterly different between our two countries and thus that fiction was different.

Tania wrote: "I've started. I'm glad the sun is shining here or the descriptions of drab London could be a bit depressing.
Love her description of Mrs Wilkins 'Her clothes, infested by thrift, made her practically invisible' "

That is indeed beautifully put- hmm, infested by thrift...
So much said in so few words about Mrs. Wilkins.

Camille wrote: "Some elements of biography

Elizabeth von Arnim (31 August 1866 – 9 February 1941), born Mary Annette Beauchamp, was an Australian-born British novelist. By marriage she became Gräfin (Countess) vo..."

Thanks for the wonderful biography post, Camille. I must admit that this is my very first book by this author. I had heard about the film adaptation, but was unfamiliar with the author. I also had no idea that she was so prolific in her writing. Have either of you read any of her other works by any chance? Reading about her life/career makes me interested in her novels. In particular "Elizabeth and Her German Garden" that seems to have been such a hit when it was published back in 1898.

I see that all her early work is in the public domain:
https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/v/von_...

A few photos of Elizabeth von Arnim:

Thank you for the photos, Haaze, they make Elizabeth von Arnim closer.

Yes, I read other books by her: "Elizabeth and Her German Garden", "Vera", The Solitary Summer, "Love", and "Mr Skeffington". I have an array of Virago green spines that belonged to my mother.

Ah, I wish I had more of Virago's green spines on my shelves. I am impressed with the number of books of hers that you've already read. I will see how The Enchanted April goes, but have a feeling that I will need to explore more of these works later on this year.

Chapter seven shows the four women at breakfast on their first morning at San Salvatore, attended by Francesca. Mrs Fisher is at the head of the table and pours tea and coffee, acting hostess to the disgust of Rose Arbuthnot. I really enjoy the way she answers Mrs Fisher's questions by another question. Lottie is extatic about the spring, the flowers and colours. Mrs Fisher thinks her "soft in her head" and "to be curbed".
They discuss the distribution of rooms as Lady Caroline and Mrs Fisher have taken the best ones. They have got rid of beds that wereput in Rose's and Lottie's bedrooms. There is only another spare room now.
I quite like the image of Lottie with an orange in her hand at the end of the chapter: a splash of colour certainly far from the drabness of London.
And we have not mentioned that von Arnim uses a wry humour to paint her characters.

I have read 'Elizabeth and her German Garden' too, I loved it, another book full of descriptions of flowers. I've also read 'Princess Priscilla's Fortnight' but 'The Enchanted April remains my favourite, so far.

In chapter eight we first follow Rose and Lottie in their discovery of San Salvatore, its gardens and the sea. Lottie feels so carefree that she discards her stockings and puts her naked feet in the sea. They both have regained the sight they had lost because of the rain and the darkness when they arrived and Lottie is the most vocal about the beauty of the place and the "view".
At the same time, Lady Caroline, commonly called "Scrap"(which surely she is not) has retreated to a seat in the upper garden and is enjoying her "aloneness" while Costanza, the cook, comes to ask for orders as to the lunch. Scrap is irritated to be disturbed and tries to snub her while saying she is not mistress there and that Mrs Fisher is certainly not her mother. She sheds reponsibility as Rose and Lottie have shed their stockings. Scrap attracts people like a magnet when she only wants "to be left alone". Even the gardener, Domenico, comes close by to water the plants. But Scrap tries to shoo him away - not very conclusively.
If the castle is like the Sleeping Beauty of the tale, the women are now acting as if they were not the Prince but the Sleeping Beauties who have been awoken by beauty that they drink. They are awaking from the routine of their days be they wives in Hampstead or a Society beauty. Only Mrs Fisher is still soldiering on.

Camille wrote: "The four first chapters are located in London except for the end of the the fourth one, which takess us from London to Italy. We meet the four protagonists: Mrs Wilkins (and her husband), Mrs Arbut..."

Slowly got started last night...
Chapter 1
I was quite enchanted with Arnim's ability to capture the "confrontation" between two strangers (both of which were caught up in the dream triggered by the advertisement). Obviously the social norms of the time are somewhat hidden from me, but the overall awkwardness and conversations were beautifully shaped. It certainly allowed me to participate as a reader. Perhaps one can argue that powerful wishes and dreams have the ability to break down social barriers between people. Nicely written and quite engaging!

Camille wrote: "Thank you for the photos, Haaze, they make Elizabeth von Arnim closer.

Yes, I read other books by her: "Elizabeth and Her German Garden", "Vera", The Solitary Summer, "Love", and "Mr Skeffington"..."

I, too, like photos of times and places as they "transport" me. They bring a different dimension to the author and her times. Ideally one gets submerged in history books and biographies...ah, time..

Mrs Fisher certainly seems to be the toughest nut to crack, probably because she is older than the other 3, she has shut herself away in her 'sarcophagus' in Prince of Wales Terrace for so long. She clearly wants the others to show her the respect she feels she is due, and disapproves of unseemly behaviour in the other ladies and, as it turns out, herself, It will get to her eventually, no doubt.

I really enjoy this book even though I am reading at a snail's pace at the moment. Just arriving in Italy with the ladies. Delightful! And such good timing with the month of April! :)

I have it and wish I had the time to join in. I've watched the movie three times. Yes it's month appropriate!

I wanted to signal I'm here with you.

And cite another author we might like: Penelope Lively: recently I read her _How it All Began_ and thought it might be one we over here could enjoy. Barbara Pym's Quartet in Autumn another thought. Cheers to all, Ellen

Thank you, Ellen. It is good to know that you are here. We are reading as we wish and discussing along. Haaze joined us not long ago. We are a tiny group reading and commenting at leisure.

I have never read any book by Penelope Lively. Have you, Tania and Haaze? I read "Quartet in Autumn" some years ago. I do not remember it clearly but a feeling of sadness remains. They might be good books to read BUT are they published by Virago? We are on a Virago page!!

Tania and Haaze, I must explain that Ellen is a friend to whom I have told we are reading "The Enchanted April".