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The Enchanted April (Unabridged)
 
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The Enchanted April (Unabridged) [Audio Download]

by Elizabeth von Arnim (Author), Nadia May (Narrator)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
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Product details

  • Audio Download
  • Listening Length: 8 hours and 4 minutes
  • Program Type: Audiobook
  • Version: Unabridged
  • Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.
  • Audible Release Date: 12 July 2002
  • Language: English
  • ASIN: B002SQ7QGK
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)

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Product Description

Four very diverse women, all seeking revitalization and escape from the dreary February rains of 1920s London, rent the small medieval castle of San Salvatore, nestled high above the bay of Portofino, Italy. Arriving at San Salvatore, they find it awash with the scent of flowers, its olive groves terracing down to the sun-warmed sea.

Mrs. Wilkins and Mrs. Arbuthnot are glad to leave their insipid duties and unresponsive husbands behind; the elderly Mrs. Fisher wishes only to sit in the sun and replay her youthful memories; and the bewitchingly beautiful Lady Caroline Dester desires to have seclusion from all adoring suitors. A month of blissful privacy at San Salvatore promises to be the remedy each of them is looking for. Amid the canopies of fragrant wisteria, in the sweet sunshine and melodious silence, four lives are transformed and resuscitated by the magic of San Salvatore.

©1922 Elizabeth von Arnim; (P)1994 Blackstone AudioBooks
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
43 of 43 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Much like the film this book by Elizabeth Von Arnim inspired, there is something peaceful here on these pages. This is a gentle novel about the gradual internal changes brought about by the beauty of our surroundings. It is a book that reads itself as much as it is read, the author writing with the flow of the characters thoughts and feelings as their hearts are changed by the suprise of beauty.

An ad to rent a castle in San Salvatore on the Italian Riviera will prompt two British women, Rose and Lottie, with only a passing acquaintance, to inexplically leave their husbands behind for a summer that will change their lives and their marriages forever.

Joining Rose and Lottie for this holiday is Mrs. Fisher, an older woman living in the past, and Lady Caroline Dester, a grey-eyed society beauty tired of being gawked at like a majestic statue, not allowed to be human. Diverse in nature and temperment, not to mention background, they interact uneasily together until the flowers and the sea bring about a change in their souls.

Surrounded by fig and olive trees, plum blossoms and Tamarisk daphnes, and the scents of fortune's yellow rose and blooming acacia, the women slowly find their roles at this castle by the sea, and in doing so find themselves as well. New insights will prompt Rose and Lottie to send for their husbands. Lady Caroline, or 'Scrap' as she is known, will find love in spite of her wish to be alone and her great beauty. Mrs. Fisher will form a friendship with Lottie and her husband, and discover a renewed zest for creativity in this heaven by the sea.

This is a novel about life and love, told gently through the emotions of these women, as the the suprise of beauty and the warmth of being suddenly admired and seen as beautiful, when they had not been before, changes their simple lives, which were not so simple at all. You will definitely enjoy this novel if you enjoyed the film. It is about love restored, and love discovered, along the wistaria covered steps leading down to the sea.

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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I love this book. I've read it several times and it's as lovely each time. Last time I read the whole book on a long train journey and I didn't mind the long delays because I was enjoying myself! I think it's a happy, dreamy, magical book, full of flowers, sunshine and emotion. The characters become more and more truly themselves as the book progresses.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By booksetc TOP 1000 REVIEWER
Format:Paperback
Normally, I far prefer to read a book before seeing any movie version; but, unusually, I think in this case I might have enjoyed the book rather more if I'd seen one of the films (which I haven't).
The descriptions of the castle garden really are enchanting and make you long to be there and remember every ravishing holiday you've ever had. But the book as a whole ... oh, it all gets a bit repetitive and maybe it would have worked better as a longish short story or slim novella. The first few pages seemed so promising, when the women encounter each other in their dreary London club and see the ad in The Times promising wistaria and sunshine - but the wry wit isn't sustained over 300 pages. Occasionally, it flickers back to life. But mostly, by the end, I felt I had been pushed into the holiday company of strangers for two weeks too long! and would be quite glad to wave them goodbye and go home.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Slightly Disenchanted April
This is a story about Lotty Wilkins, a slightly mystical albeit miserable woman, who escapes London to be magically transformed by the beauty of the castle San Salvatore. Read more
Published 23 days ago by Adam Clarke
An Enchanting Escape
If anyone wants to escape to an Italian castle, can I come too? The idea of such a lifestyle for a month is quite wonderful, even if it never rains (once you arrive) and you cannot... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Fennie Somerville
Excellent Pick-Me-Up
I read Enchanted April during a very busy and stressful time and it was a real tonic; a nice light read. The characters come to life and are interwoven very well. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Tallulah du Pres
How lovely.
I loved this book. What a very pleasant read that I couldn't wait to recommend to friends.

Sue D
Published 7 months ago by Sue D
Two of the three reviews refer to a different edition
Confusion reigns! Evidently two of the above three reviews are of a completely different edition to the hardback listed. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Saramis
The Enchanted April
I really loved The Enchanted April .It was a gentle easy book to read and I coyuld smell the flowers from the discriptions.I wanted to go to this castle in Italy. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Veronica
pleasant read
A pleasant change from the doom and gloom books that we had been reading at Book club. the characters were well depicted and one could associate with them. Read more
Published 14 months ago by scottish reader
As enchanting as the title suggests!
The Enchanted April, first published in 1922, is the story of four women who rent a castle in Italy together one April. Read more
Published 15 months ago by H. Skinner
Delightful, and not just for women
Virago has a reputation for republishing 'forgotten' books by women. Often they have been forgotten for a good reason, but not The Enchanted April. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Patrick Neylan
A great read!
The original novel, by Elizabeth von Arnim, on which the film "Enchanted April" was based. Von Arnim wrote with great delicacy and humour, and a terrific ability to create and... Read more
Published 21 months ago by J Z O
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