Elizabeth von Arnim 
The Enchanted April 

First published in 1922, “The Enchanted April” by British author Elizabeth von Arnim is the story of four very different English women who spend a month vacationing together in Italy at the Tuscan Villa, San Salvatore. Each finding themselves in need of a holiday from their dreary lives back home, the four women rent an Italian castle on the Mediterranean coast and experience a reawakening in life through their shared realizations and experiences there. While the women vary widely in temperament and taste each struggle with relationships in their lives. Rose Arbuthnot and Lotty Wilkins think they have little in common, but discover they are both doing their best to make their unhappy marriages work. The beautiful but remote Lady Caroline Dester is reexamining the value of her upper crust life in London after losing her only true love in World War I and the elderly and emotionally distant Mrs. Fisher rediscovers the value of friendship and human connection. “The Enchanted April” has remained a popular and heart-warming tale concerning the struggles of life and the rejuvenating power of beauty, hope, and love, in facing those struggles. This edition includes a biographical afterword.