Elizabeth von Arnim (31 August 1866 - 9 February 1941), born Mary Annette Beauchamp, was an Australian born British novelist. By marriage she became Gräfin (Countess) von Arnim-Schlagenthin, and by a second marriage, Countess Russell. Although known in her early life as May, "after the publication of her first book, she was known to her readers, eventually to her friends, and finally even to her family as Elizabeth." and she is now invariably referred to as Elizabeth von Arnim. She also wrote under the pen name Alice Cholmondeley.
She was born in Kirribilli Point (today part of Sydney), Australia. When she was three years old the family returned to England where she was raised. Her parents were Henry Herron Beauchamp (1825-1907), merchant, and her mother Elizabeth (Louey) Weiss Lassetter (1836-1919). Arnim had four brothers, a sister and an adopted cousin from New Zealand, Kathleen Beauchamp, who later married John Middleton Murray and wrote under the pen name Katherine Mansfield.
In 1898 she started her literary career by publishing Elizabeth and Her German Garden, a semi-autobiographical novel about a rural idyll published anonymously and, as it turned out to be highly successful, reprinted 20 times within the first year. Von Arnim wrote another 20 books, which were all published "By the author of Elizabeth and Her German Garden".
The Enchanted April is a 1922 novel by Elizabeth von Arnim. It was made into an RKO Radio movie in 1935, and a second adaptation, directed by Mike Newell, was released in 1992. The 1992 release received several Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations. A Tony Award-nominated stage play by Matthew Barber, also adapted from the novel, was presented on Broadway in 2003.
Elizabeth von Arnim's novel tells the story of four dissimilar women in 1920s England who leave their damp and rainy environs to go on a holiday to a secluded coastal castle in Italy. Mrs Arbuthnot and Mrs Wilkins, who belong to the same ladies' club but have never spoken, become acquainted after reading an advertisement for villas for rent in a newspaper. They find some common ground in that both are struggling to make the best of unhappy marriages. Having decided to seek other ladies to help share expenses, they reluctantly take on the waspish, elderly Mrs Fisher and the stunning, but aloof, Lady Caroline Dester. The four women come together at the castle and find rejuvenation in the tranquil beauty of their surroundings, rediscovering hope and love. (wikipedia.org)
