Enchanted April: Classic Collection

Review ''This excellent audio production comes right on the heels of the successful British film . . . It's a somewhat old-fashioned story, but sweetly so, as was the movie. Nadia May's narration is excellent, especially in differentiating the women's voices and in reading their inner dialogues, which go on throughout. May's rendition of the mostly middle and upper-class English voices is exceedingly well done. This performance is easy to listen to, and this recording is well worth having.'' --AudioFile''[A] book for anyone who feels stiff, unloved, or used up--a restful, funny, sumptuous, and invigorating vacation for the mind and soul . . . Elizabeth von Armin portrays [the characters'] transformations in wickedly dry British humor interwoven with descriptions of the lush, soul-stirring terrain of San Salvatore. The effect is refreshing, charming, and romantic.'' --Erica Bauermeister, 500 Great Books by Women''At one level an escapist fantasy, at another a parable about the liberation of the spirit, this delicious confection will work magic on all.'' --Daily Telegraph Product Description [Cassette Edition in retail cardboard packaging][Read by Nadia May ] Four very diverse women, all seeking revitalization from the dreary February rains of 1920s London, rent the small medieval castle of San Salvatore, nestled high above the bay of Portofino, Italy. Arriving at San Salvatore, they find it awash with the scent of flowers, its olive groves terracing down to the sun-warmed sea. Mrs. Wilkins and Mrs. Arbuthnot are glad to leave their insipid duties and unresponsive husbands behind. The elderly Mrs. Fisher wishes only to sit in the sun and replay her youthful memories, and the bewitchingly beautiful Lady Caroline Dester desires to have seclusion from all her adoring suitors. Amid the canopies of fragrant wisteria, in the sweet sunshine and melodious silence, four lives are transformed and resuscitated by the magic of San Salvatore. About the Author ELIZABETH VON ARNIM grew up in England. During her first marriage, to Count Henning August von Arnim-Schlagenthin, she lived in Berlin and Pomerania, where she wrote the first of twenty-one novels. They had five children, who were tutored by E. M. Forster. After her husband's death, she moved to Switzerland, where she had a brief affair with H.G. Wells before marrying Francis, second Earl Russell, brother of Bertrand Russell. On the failure of her second marriage, Elizabeth ran away to America.