The Enchanted April

Marc Notes: A discreet advertisement in The Times lures four very different women away from the dismal British weather to San Salvatore, a castle high above a bay on the sunny Italian Riviera. There, the Mediterranean spirit stirs the souls of Mrs Arbuthnot, Mrs Wilkins, Lady Caroline Dester and Mrs Fisher, and remarkable changes occur. Review Quotes: "This delicious confection will work its magic on all." --"Daily Telegraph" "Extraordinarily well-written . . . It is witty, human, often very beautiful." --"Punch" "Brims with magic and laughter." --"The Guardian" "[One] of the wittiest novels in the English language . . . The ultimate renter's novel: a month in and out of a gorgeous place where extraordinary things happen; then let someone else deal with the plumbing . . . It's a confection, it's a dream, it's a fleeting April romance, but oh, how hard to get this story out of your head. . . . No one can come away from this April without thinking, even for just a moment, that the course of true love, unsmooth as it may run, is certainly worth taking." --Brenda Bowen, from the IntroductionReview Quotes: This delicious confection will work its magic on all. "Daily Telegraph" Extraordinarily well-written . . . It is witty, human, often very beautiful. "Punch" Brims with magic and laughter. "The Guardian" [One] of the wittiest novels in the English language . . . The ultimate renter s novel: a month in and out of a gorgeous place where extraordinary things happen; then let someone else deal with the plumbing . . . It s a confection, it s a dream, it s a fleeting April romance, but oh, how hard to get this story out of your head. . . . No one can come away from this April without thinking, even for just a moment, that the course of true love, unsmooth as it may run, is certainly worth taking. Brenda Bowen, from the Introduction"Biographical Note: Elizabeth von Arnim (1866 1941), a cousin of the writer Katharine Mansfield and a lover of H. G. Wells, wrote more than twenty books. Born in Australia, she spent most of her childhood in England and lived also in Germany, Switzerland, and France. She moved to the United States at the start of World War II and died in Charleston, South Carolina. Brenda Bowen(introducer) is the author of the novel "Enchanted August, "a contemporary reimagining of "The Enchanted April"set in Maine. A former children s book publisher, and now a literary agent, she has written more than forty books under the name Margaret McNamara. She lives in New York."Publisher Marketing: The charming, slyly comic novel of romantic longing and transformation that inspired the Oscar-nominated film Escaping dreary London for the sunshine of Italy, four very different women take up an offer advertised in the" Times" for a small medieval Italian Castle on the shores of the Mediterranean to be let furnished for the month of April. As each blossoms in the warmth of the Italian spring, quite unexpected changes occur. An immediate bestseller upon its first publication, in 1922, "The Enchanted April" set off a craze for tourism to the Italian Riviera that continues today. Published here to coincide with a contemporary retelling, "Enchanted August "by Brenda Bowen, it s a witty ensemble piece and the perfect romantic rediscovery for fans of Jess Walter s "Beautiful Ruins" and Elizabeth Gilbert s "Eat, Pray, Love "as well as of "Downton Abbey "and the hit movie "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. "For more than sixty-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,500titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust theseries to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-datetranslations by award-winning translators." Review Citations: Publishers Weekly 10/12/1992 (EAN 9780860685173, Paperback) School Library Journal 08/01/1998 (EAN 9781556855191, Analog Audio Cassette) Contributor Bio:  Von Arnim, Elizabeth A greatly admired literary figure of her time, Elizabeth von Arnim was born in 1866 and brought up in England. Her 1922 work, "The Enchanted April", (inspired by a month-long holiday to the Italian Riviera), is perhaps her best known work. It has been credited with making the Italian resort of Portofino fashionable. Von Arnim spent later years in Switzerland, the French Riviera and America, where she died in 1941. Contributor Bio:  Bowen, Brenda A former children s book publisher, Brenda Bowen is now a literary agent and children s book author. She lives in New York, and spends as much of her summer as she can on an island much like Little Lost Island in Maine.