Books by Elizabeth von Arnim

Meet Elizabeth and discover there is no greater happiness to be found than when lost in a wilderness of a garden, with bird cherries, lilacs, hollyhocks and lilies crowding the vision. This is her sanctuary from a host of unreasonable demands, whether from the Man of Wrath (husband), babies, servants and (worst of all horrors) house guests.

The Enchanted April, a captivating novel penned by Elizabeth Von Arnim, transports readers to the lush landscapes of Italy. Originally published by Vintage Publishing in 2015, this book has since become a beloved classic within its genre. The Enchanted April unfolds a tale of self-discovery and transformation, as its characters find solace and renewal amidst a charming villa in Italy. This book offers a delightful exploration of the human spirit, making it a timeless piece of literature. Get ready to be enchanted by Elizabeth Von Arnim's The Enchanted April, a publication of Vintage Publishing.

Priscilla, figlia del granduca di Lothen-Kunitiz, si sente oppressa dai continui obblighi sociali a cui il proprio rango la costringe. Etichetta di corte, protocolli e vuote convenzioni non le interessano nel modo più assoluto. Così, quando si profila all'orizzonte la prospettiva – tutt’altro che agognata – di dover sposare un lontano cugino, la giovane granduchessa prende finalmente una decisione che matura da tempo: ritirarsi in un tranquillo cottage nella campagna inglese e dedicarsi soltanto alla beneficienza. Al suo seguito solo il bibliotecario Fritzing e la cameriera Annalise. Elizabeth von Arnim, col piglio arguto che l’ha resa celebre, ci trascina in una vicenda tragicomica, in cui l’ottusa volubilità umana si scontra con il muro insensibile della dura realtà fattuale. A volte, forse, ambire alla bontà non è sufficiente. E poi – come sembra suggerirci l’autrice – che cos’è, a conti fatti, questa tanto decantata bontà?

Con uno straordinario esercizio di agrodolce ironia, Elizabeth von Arnim ci trasporta nell’universo "très chic" e al contempo estremamente ipocrita dell’alta società inglese. Sospeso fra l’atmosfera soffocante di Londra e i variopinti giardini della Provenza, "La fattoria dei gelsomini" prende le mosse da uno scandalo. Terry, la giovane figlia della rispettatissima lady Daisy, ha infatti avuto un’avventura con Andrew, scatenando le gelosie della moglie Rosie e, soprattutto, la perfidia di lady Belle, che non esiterà a ricorrere a un vile ricatto...

Luglio 1919. Dopo una lunga passeggiata, Elizabeth raggiunge il suo chalet in montagna, con ancora negli occhi gli orrori della guerra appena trascorsa. Le montagne svizzere rappresentano una meta sicura dove il silenzio e la bellezza possono offrire il conforto e la pace a lungo agognati. Ogni cosa, tuttavia, sembra ormai cambiata e la casa, un tempo piena di amici, si è fatta ora vuota e silenziosa. Proprio il giorno del suo compleanno, però, Elizabeth riceve un regalo inaspettato: due donne giungono per caso allo chalet in cerca di un luogo dove poter riprendere fiato dalla camminata. Dal piacevole incontro nasce un'amicizia che porta le tre donne a trascorrere insieme le seguenti settimane estive, tra incontri, amori e vergognosi segreti sepolti nel passato.

Nel suo folgorante esordio letterario – che contò ben ventuno riedizioni nel solo 1899 – Elizabeth von Arnim riporta, sotto forma di diario e in prima persona, le impressioni semiautobiografiche della sua vita in Germania. Per sfuggire alla frenesia urbana, Elizabeth chiede al marito, un nobile prussiano, di trasferirsi nella tenuta estiva di Nassenheide, in Pomerania. Circondata soltanto dalle tre figlie, e visitata occasionalmente dalle amiche Irais e Minora, la donna riscopre ben presto sé stessa, il valore della solitudine e quella libertà che il marito (l’Uomo della Collera) sembra volerle negare ad ogni costo. Impegnata a leggere e a sorseggiare tè, all’ombra dei suoi amati lillà, la protagonista ci trascina con sé in un’oasi di pace: ma anche in una prigione dorata della quale, con estrema modernità, Elizabeth von Arnim ha saputo cogliere le più sottili implicazioni sociali... Elizabeth von Arnim (1866-1941), pseudonimo di Mary Annette Beauchamp, nasce a Sydney da un’agiata famiglia britannica. Trascorrerà gran parte della sua vita fra l’Europa e gli Stati Uniti. Esordisce nel 1899 con "Il giardino di Elizabeth", primo di una serie di romanzi a sfondo autobiografico. Dall’infelice matrimonio col conte Henning August von Arnim-Schlagenthin, durante il quale vive in Germania, nasceranno cinque figli. Dopo la morte del marito (1910), ha una relazione con H.G. Wells, per poi sposarsi in seconde nozze con John Francis Stanley Russell, fratello del filosofo Bertrand. Dal 1919 vive separata da Russell, pur non divorziando mai, abitando in Svizzera, sulla Costa Azzurra e infine negli Stati Uniti. Fra i suoi ben ventuno romanzi – che conobbero tutti una grandissima fama anche all’epoca – si possono citare "Il circolo delle ingrate", "Vi presento Sally" e "Vera".

Una mattina estiva del 1920 la giovane Lucy perde il padre improvvisamente ritrovandosi sola e disperata, senza speranze. È uno sconosciuto a risvegliarla dal torpore che il lutto le ha causato: il legame con Everard Wemyss, quarantenne rimasto vedovo da poco, è immediato, e la condivisa sofferenza per la recente perdita dà origine a una confortante intimità. Ma il matrimonio con Wemyss sarà diverso da come Lucy aveva sognato: le mura di casa diverranno quelle di una tetra prigione dove i giorni sono scanditi da rituali irrazionali; un luogo in cui Lucy non si sentirà mai davvero accolta e dove la prima moglie, Vera, morta in circostanze misteriose, si rivelerà un'entità ancora presente e tangibile.

"Der Gärtner ist seit einem Jahr hier und hat mir regelmäßig gekündigt, bis jetzt ist er aber zum Bleiben bewegt worden. Ich glaube nicht, daß er viel vom Gärtnern versteht, zumindest aber kann er graben und gießen." Also muß Elizabeth selbst Hand anlegen und den verwilderten Garten auf dem Landgut ihres Mannes in Schuß bringen. Der Zauber der Natur wird für sie zum Lebenselixier. Mit spitzer Feder und britischem Humor beschreibt die junge Frau alle Eindringlinge in ihr Idyll: den „Grimmigen" (ihren Mann), eine „beste" Freundin mit ihren „guten" Ratschlägen und eine Engländerin, die offenbar gar nichts nach Hause zieht ...

London in den 20er Jahren: Vier höchst unterschiedliche englische Damen entfliehen dem tristen Alltag und reisen gemeinsam an die italienische Mittelmeerküste. Sie quartieren sich in ein kleines mittelalterliches Castello ein und entdecken zwischen Pinien und Glyzinien die Kraft des mediterranen Frühlings und der Liebe. Elizabeth von Arnims bekanntestes und erfolgreichstes Buch, gelesen von der preisgekrönten Sprecherin Doris Wolters, sprüht vor Witz.

Elizabeth betror sin dagbog alt, både frustrationer og glæder. Igennem et år følger vi den unge frue, som har sat sig for at lave den forsømte have på sit preussiske gods om til et paradis på jord. Med masser af gåpåmod, og absolut ingen erfaring, kaster hun sig ud i arbejdet. Men med mand, børn, uforstående tjenestefolk – herunder en vanvittig gartner, en uduelig kohyrde og en obsternasig guvernante – samt ikke at forglemme gæster, der nægter at tage hjem igen, er det ikke nogen let opgave.​Elizabeth von Arnims debutroman veksler mellem melankolsk poesi og sprudlende satire. Dels en charmerende kærlighedserklæring til havearbejdet med alle dets overraskelser, dels et selvportræt af en kvinde, som ikke rigtig kan finde sig til rette, hverken som preussisk herregårdsfrue, veninde eller mor – og da slet ikke som hustru til Den harmfulde Mand.​Elizabeth og den tyske have udkom i 1898 og foreligger nu for første gang på dansk, oversat af Jens Pedersen.

​Da stakkels lille Milly Bott efter sin mands pludselige død efterlades arveløs, står familien målløs tilbage. Hvad i alverden kan den kære, lille, dueblide Milly dog have gjort, siden Ernest har valgt at testamentere hele sin formue til et Redningshjem for Faldne Kvinder? Milly selv kender svaret og rødmer bag sit enkeslør. Hvad skal der nu blive af hende?Med Bodsgang kaster Elizabeth von Arnim sit berømte satiriske blik på en snerpet og snæversynet middelklasses indgroede hykleri.Elizabeth von Arnim (1866-1941) var en af sin samtids litterære superstjerner. Hun skriver om kvinder og kvinders syn på verden, bramfrit og uden at vende blikket bort. Med lige dele skarp satire og varm medmenneskelighed viser hun os tingene, som de er. Bodsgang udkom i 1929 og foreligger nu for første gang på dansk, oversat af Jens Pedersen.

Elizabeth von Arnim's much-loved novel about four women sharing a castle in the Italian Riviera.

This new scholarly edition of von Arnim's popular novel will tease out the interplay between seriousness and comedy as a response to war trauma and the wider historical context, while engaging with notions of literary fashion, popularity, and film in the period.

Elizabeth von Arnim’s novel "Elizabeth and Her German Garden" was first published in 1898. It was instantly popular and has gone through numerous reprints ever since.This story is the main character Elizabeth’s diary, where she relates stories from her life, as she learns to tend to her garden. Whilst the novel has a strongly autobiographical tone, it is also very humorous and satirical, due to Elizabeth’s frequent mistakes and her idiosyncratic outlook on life. She comments on the beauty of nature and shares her view on society, looking down on the frivolous fashions of her time and writing "I believe all needlework and dressmaking is of the devil, designed to keep women from study."The book is the first in a series about the same character. Elizabeth von Arnim (1866–1941), née Mary Annette Beauchamp, was a British novelist. Born in Australia, her family returned to England when she was three years old; and she was Katherine Mansfield’s cousin. She was first married to a Prussian aristocrat, the Graf von Arnim-Schlagenthin, and later to the philosopher Bertrand Russel’s older brother, Frank, whom she left a year later. She then had an affair with the publisher Alexander Reeves, a man thirty years her junior, and with H.G. Wells. Von Arnim moved a lot, living alternatively in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Germany, Poland, before dying of influenza in South Carolina during the Second War. Elizabeth von Arnim was an active member of the European literary scene, and entertained many of her contemporaries in her Chalet Soleil in Switzerland. She even hired E. M. Forster and Hugh Walpole as tutors for her five children. She is famous for her half-autobiographical, satirical novel "Elizabeth and her German Garden" (1898), as well as for "Vera" (1921), and "The Enchanted April" (1922).

Four very different women, all wanting to escape cold and dreary London for different reasons, come together to share a month's holiday in an Italian medieval castle. There’s timid Lotty Wilkins, terrified of her domineering husband; sober and religious Rose Arbuthnot; rigid and judgemental Mrs Fisher; and the breathtakingly beautiful but disillusioned and unhappy Lady Caroline Dester. They are lured to the castle by the advertised 'wisteria and sunshine', but they end up finding there so much more than they had bargained for. The place transforms them and their lives are unexpectedly changed. Von Arnim's story of their metamorphosis under the Italian sun is warm, witty, intelligent, and as enchanting as the title suggests.Elizabeth von Arnim (1866–1941), née Mary Annette Beauchamp, was a British novelist. Born in Australia, her family returned to England when she was three years old; and she was Katherine Mansfield’s cousin. She was first married to a Prussian aristocrat, the Graf von Arnim-Schlagenthin, and later to the philosopher Bertrand Russel’s older brother, Frank, whom she left a year later. She then had an affair with the publisher Alexander Reeves, a man thirty years her junior, and with H.G. Wells. Von Arnim moved a lot, living alternatively in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Germany, Poland, before dying of influenza in South Carolina during the Second War. Elizabeth von Arnim was an active member of the European literary scene, and entertained many of her contemporaries in her Chalet Soleil in Switzerland. She even hired E. M. Forster and Hugh Walpole as tutors for her five children. She is famous for her half-autobiographical, satirical novel "Elizabeth and her German Garden" (1898), as well as for "Vera" (1921), and "The Enchanted April" (1922).

"... Why, it would really be being unselfish to go away and be happy for a little, because we would come back so much nicer."Lottie and Rose belong to the same London women's club, but they don't know each other very well. They both see the same advertisement for a castle in Italy, which is available for rent for a month. For different reasons, these women want to get away from their husbands for a while and they put out an ad and find two more women in need of vacation. And so, the four vastly different women head to Italy. But when they invite their husbands, the trouble begins...Light-hearted and witty, 'The Enchanted April' is the ultimate comfort read. It has been adapted to stage and film several times, notably in 1991 with the Oscar nominated movie starring Joan Plowright.B. J. Harrison started his Classic Tales Podcast back in 2007, wanting to breathe new life into classic stories. He masterfully plays with a wide array of voices and accents and has since then produced over 500 audiobooks. Now in collaboration with SAGA Egmont, his engaging narration of these famous classics is available to readers everywhere.Elizabeth von Arnim (1866-1941) was an Australian-born British novelist, who started writing to escape her first husband. She is especially known for her novel 'The Enchanted April' (1922) and the semi-autobiographical 'Vera' (1921).

Since her mother's death Jennifer has devoted years of her life to her father, managing the family home and acting as his secretary. After the sudden announcement that he has taken a new wife, Jennifer, at 33, seizes the opportunity to lead an independent life.

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. It reveals the lost world of European crusted assumptions that disappeared forever with the First World War, and is one of the funniest feminist novels ever written.