The Enchanted April is a novel that was written by Elizabeth von Arnim that tells the story of four very different women who go a vacation to Italy. von Arnim was inspired to write the book after going to the Italian Riviera for a month. The Enchanted April has been adapted to film and stage on many different occasions. Elizabeth von Arnim was a prominent British writer in the early 20th century. Born in Australia, von Arnim and her family moved to England when she was three years old. Elizabeth was married twice but both were very unhappy marriages which led to her concentrating more on writing. Some of von Arnim's best known books include The Enchanted April, Mr. Skeffington, and Elizabeth and Her German Garden.

Lucy Entwhistle and Everard Wemyss are both reeling from recent unhappiness when they meet and swiftly fall in love. Lucy is Wemyss's 'sweet girl', and to Lucy, Everard is the whole world. The only blot on Lucy's happiness is the shadowy figure of Wemyss's first wife, Vera, who died in mysterious circumstances. But it is not until the happy couple return home and begin their life of wedded bliss that Lucy really begins to wonder: what did happen to Vera?

Elizabeth von Arnim's eighth novel is a sharp contrast to the sunny optimism of her first best-seller Elizabeth and her German Garden (1898) and her later hit The Enchanted April (1922, adapted several times for screen and stage, including the 1991 film). The Caravaners (1909) is a devastating comedy about an Edwardian caravan holiday in Kent, narrated by the pompous and self-important Baron, a Prussian Major in the German army. His narrative of pained bewilderment at the bizarre behaviour of the English people with whom he has chosen to spend a month in a convoy of horse-drawn holiday caravans (they unaccountably cut the holiday short after only a week) is side-splittingly funny. We sympathise deeply with the lady whom he pursues in a platonic and very one-sided holiday affair, and even more with Baroness Edelgard, the Baron's long-suffering and much younger second wife, who discovers her own holiday freedoms, and becomes newly emancipated in her marriage, to the Baron's horror....

This enchanting novel tells the story of the love affair between Rose-Marie Schmidt and Roger Anstruther. A determined young woman of twenty-five, Rose-Marie is considered a spinster by the inhabitants of the small German town of Jena where she lives with her father, the Professor. To their homes comes Roger, an impoverished but well-born young Englishman who wishes to learn German: Rose-Marie and Roger fall in love. But the course of true love never did run smooth: distance, temperament and fortune divide them. We watch the ebb and flow of love between two very different people and see the witty and wonderful Rose-Marie get exactly what she wants.

What on earth could have induced Mr Anstruther to fall in love with Fraulein Schmidt? He is an eligible English bachelor from a good family with great expectations; she is the plain, poor, 'spinster' daughter of a German scholar. But Rose-Marie Schmidt is also funny, intelligent, brave and gifted with an irrepressible talent for happiness. The real question is, does Mr Anstruther know how lucky he is?

Romance between a middle-aged widow and a younger man scandalizes 1920s London society in this classic novel by the author of The Enchanted April.Although they thoroughly enjoy watching performances of The Immortal Hour, it is no longer the sole reason Catherine and Christopher continue returning to the theater in King's Cross. On Catherine's ninth visit, and Christopher's thirty-sixth, the two theater lovers finally strike up a conversation, and sparks begin to fly. Christopher is infatuated with Catherine and is relieved to discover that her marriage has dissipated. While Catherine appreciates the attention from the handsome, flame-haired gentleman, there is one complication: she is forty-seven years old, and Christopher is twenty-five. But she cannot resist his charms. Soon their public relationship will shock everyone, including Catherine's daughter and son-in-law—who is not much older than Catherine!

The Australian-born British novelist Elizabeth von Arnim was a member of the literary glitterati, her cousin being Katherine Mansfield, her children tutored by both E. M. Forster and Hugh Walpole and she was also a lover of H. G. Wells. Celebrated novels such as 'The Enchanted April' are notable for their mordant wit, ironic style and their unsentimental treatment of the relationship between men and women. This comprehensive eBook presents von Arnim's collected works, with numerous illustrations, rare texts, informative introductions and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 1)Beautifully illustrated with images relating to von Arnim's life and worksConcise introductions to the major novels and other textsAll 12 novels in the US public domain, with individual contents tablesAlso features the apocryphal novel THE ORDEAL OF ELIZABETHImages of how the books were first published, giving your eReader a taste of the original...

‘Ah—there they were, the words to be expected, the immemorial words. Right to freedom. Words bound, thought father watching her icily, to occur sooner or later in the speech of persons whose ambitions outran their talents—usually disaffected female relatives.’
Since her mother’s death Jennifer has devoted years of her life to her father, managing the home and acting as his secretary. After the sudden announcement that he has remarried, Jennifer, at 33, seizes the opportunity to lead an independent life. With a humorous tone, this novel explores the familial and societal expectations placed on single women during the interwar years.