Tag: Britain

The Enchanted April Book

The Enchanted April book is a 1922 fictional novel by Elizabeth Von Arnim. It takes place in 1920 between England and Italy. The main characters are four different English women who organise a holiday in Italy because they want to have a break from their dull life. Elizabeth was a British novelist who was born in Sidney, Australia. This book is the tenth novel in my second list of books.

The Enchanted April Book

In the Enchanted April book, the main characters are four English ladies: Mrs Lotty Wilkins, Mrs Rose Arbuthnot, Lady Caroline “Scrap” Dester and Mrs Fisher. All four ladies lived a dull life in the “rainy” Hampstead, and they decided to flee from their families and friends for a period. In particular, Lotty and Rose didn’t enjoy their arid, monotone and cold marital relations. Mrs Wilkins had found an advertisement about a holiday in Castello Brown, an Italian 16th-century castle in Liguria. Lotty was fascinated by the advertising with the following captivating description: “to those who appreciate wisteria and sunshine in a small medieval Italian castle on the shores of the Mediterranean”. Shortly, Lotty Wilkins met Rose in the Woman’s Club in London. In the following days, Lotty and Rose arranged their journey. And they involved two other ladies in sharing the expenses because of their precarious financial situation.

The Beginning Of The Italian Journey

The owner of the mediaeval castle is an Englishman, Mr Briggs, who was living in London. Lady Caroline Dester and Mrs Fisher join the Italian trip. Indeed, both of them are determined in their desire to break for a month away from their families and friends. Caroline is a single beautiful and enchanting socialite, and Mrs Fisher was an elderly widow with memories from the Victorian era. The beginning of this trip to Italy was not as they expected because of the weather. It rained, but the rain was Italian, after all! Indeed the Italian straight rain was far better than the British one! San Salvatore was on the top of a hill. April was the best month to enjoy the Italian weather, and the ladies started their journey among delightful landscapes and nature. Indeed, in the book, there are many descriptions of this beautiful place.

The Castle’s Life

San Salvatore beauty relied even on the small details such as small gardens on different levels. The ladies were attractive and pretty in their bright clothes. Each one of them was pretty different and in particular, Caroline was the most independent one. Scrap spent as much time as she could by herself. She used to seek solitude lying senseless in the sun because she intended to be somewhere away from her family and friends, forgetting everything. Caroline was committed to meeting the other ladies only on the occasion of the meals. In the beginning, Rose and Lotty enjoy the absence of their husbands. However, with the time they sent invitations to their spouses. Scrap feels the future invasion of those men as a potential danger for her peaceful stay, and she cannot understand the feelings of affection and love. Indeed, during all the journey, she gets more acquainted with Lotty Wilkins whose kindness and goodness is contagious.

Love And Enchantments

The ladies are not indifferent to this magical place’s effect, and since the first day, their temper and disposition change. Lotty misses her husband, and she pushes Rose to invite her husband as well. The two men don’t miss this occasion, and they accept the invitations of their wives. The amiability and harmony permeate the group of visitors. Mrs Fisher changes her temper and inclination becoming amiable and sweet. Caroline is the last person to surrender to love being used to reject every admirer who fell in love with her. Lady Dester learns to open herself to the emotions and lose her fears of loving and being loved. She finally stops “getting rid of things”. The splendour and the exquisiteness of nature overwhelmed the “blank emptiness” of Caroline’s heart.

The Scent Of The Acacias

The Enchanted April book has a happy ending with the scent of the acacias. The tones of this novel are sweet as the fragrance of the garden flowers which saturated the castle. It is full of beauty and descriptions of the beauty of nature. Flowers and gardens influence human feelings with their beauty and fragrances. In this novel, nature casts a spell on everybody. And everyone is powerless in front of such enchantment. “Indeed, the whole garden dressed gradually towards the end in white pinks and white banksia roses, and the syringe and the Jessamine, and at last the crowing fragrance of the acacias. When, on the first of May, everybody went away, even after they had got to the bottom of the hill and passed through the iron gates out into the village they still could smell the acacias”. This book is a virtual voyage to an enchanting Italy. I’ve read this digital version of the Enchanted April book.

December 31, 2020
A Tale Of Two Cities Book 2 – The Golden Thread

A Tale of Two Cities Book 2 – The Golden Thread is the second book by Charles Dickens in A Tale of Two Cities. The title refers to the golden Lucie Manette, the gold strand, because she connects some of this book’s characters, brightening their life.

The Golden Thread

The golden thread refers to Lucie Manette, the only daughter of Dr Manette. Her father spent eighteen years in the prison of La Bastille. She has golden blond hair, and she is beautiful. Miss Manette is sweet and kind, and she cares about her father very much. Lucie marries Charles Darnay, the nephew of the cruel and cynic aristocratic Monsieur Evrémonde. She represents a precious girl, as she is very compassionate and full of love for others. Her golden soul is brimful of virtues and far from vicious sins. The Golden Thread is the second book of A Tale of Two Cities and the continuation of the first book – Recalled to Life.

Knitting And Revolutionary Women

In Paris, revolutionary people recognized the couple Defarge as leaders. In particular, Madame Therese Defarge supported this movement to remove the Crown from France. The plan includes the execution of all the nobility and aristocracy. In the same way as Lady Macbeth, in Shakespeare’s tragedy, Madame Defarge is cruel and plans which person must die. Furthermore, at the same time, she is the head of a group of women who knit mostly during the executions. They have a cold, detached, and ruthless mind. The knitting recalls the Greek myth of the Moirae, the three Fates who ruled each human’s life. Indeed, knitting is a metaphor for human fate and destiny, which unexpectedly ends up.

Women In The Golden Thread

In The Golden Thread, women have a central role, and they are not mere passive figures. Lucie Manette and Madame Defarge differ in appearance, manners, and spirit. Lucie is beautiful, delicate, feminine, and flawless. The wine shop owner, Madame Defarge, is a woman who seeks revenge. In the novel, she is burly, cold-minded, and pitiless.

We could think she is a human monster, but we understand her behavior when we proceed to the end of the third book, The Track of a Storm. After the rape of her sister and the murder of her brother, she is hurt and full of grief. The Marquis St. Evrémonde was the man who committed such ferocious acts when he was young. He is the uncle of Charles Darnay, the husband of Lucie Manette, and he is also guilty of the murder of a child.

As ingenious as she is, Lucie does not know all these past events that connect Therese Defarge and her husband, Charles. Nonetheless, her innocence does not move Madame Defarge because she is determined to exterminate all the Evrémonde family, including Charles Darnay. Madame Defarge never stops knitting and never ceases to plan and organize her vengeance against those aristocrats, including their descendants.

Family And Loyalty

In The Tale of Two Cities, the family is essential in every type of society, among ordinary people and aristocracy. Some families have a strong connection and love, such as between Lucie and her father. Nevertheless, sometimes the family links are unwelcomed and rejected, like in Charles Darnay’s case with his noble uncle, the cruel and abusive Marquis St. Evrémonde.

Loyalty and family do not always walk together; there is no connection between some families’ components. For example, Charles burns all the bridges with his aristocratic and wealthy family. He cannot bear the atrocities that stained his family; hence, he builds a new life in England, renouncing all the privileges coming from his birth and changing his surname. Lucie and Charles married and had a child, little Lucie.

The French peasants formed a secret society, which created a big family where people shared the same principles and helped each other with equality. Moreover, they were loyal to their common doctrine of liberty, equality, and fraternity, leading the French Revolution.

I cannot avoid recommending this book because it is an authentic masterpiece in its style and content. It is rare to find all these qualities in a novel, and I must confess that it is one of my favorite books.

March 23, 2020