She also – perhaps not surprisingly, given her famed German garden – revels in the descriptions of the castle grounds and their beauty and colour. She is perceptive about the way people misread one another's good (and not so good) intentions, and the early chapters read like a comedy of miscommunication. Von Arnim has an eye for small human failings, the little acts of pettiness and selfishness in which most people indulge. Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library a series of stunning, cloth-bound, pocket-sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. Each one is vaguely unsatisfied with their lot and Mrs Wilkins and Mrs Arbuthnot both have marriages of quiet English unhappiness. Originally published in 1922, The Enchanted April is a charming and light-hearted novel about unlikely female friendships and the power of a blissful escape. Mrs Wilkins and Mrs Arbuthnot, the original two respondents, are joined in their act of escape by the youthful Lady Caroline, whose beauty and general melodiousness have become something of a burden to her, and the formidable Mrs Fisher, who insists that everyone think of her 'just as an old lady with a stick' as she sets about imposing her will on the rest. Discover the latest buzz-worthy books, from mysteries and romance to humor and nonfiction.

Four very different women respond to an advertisement in the Times appealing to 'those who appreciate wisteria and sunshine' to rent a small medieval Italian castle for a month. Four Englishwomen, strangers to each other, rent a villa for a month near Portofino for a vacation at an Italian castle. But it's also a paean to the transformative power of travel. In narrative terms, it's fairly slight: a sun-washed fairytale, delicious in its contrivance.

The Enchanted April, written in 1922, is Elizabeth von Armin's most charming novel in every sense: it casts a spell.

Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim