VERA

ELIZABETH AND HER GERMAN GARDEN

Elizabeth von Arnim creates and immortalises that place so perennially dear to an Englishwoman's heart - her garden. Through her eyes we watch the seasons, each bringing new events as friends and neighbours come and go. There too is her upright Teutonic husband, inspiring in her a mixture of irritation, affection and irreverence.

THE ENCHANTED APRIL

The discreet advertisement in The Times, addressed 'To Those who Appreciate Wistaria and Sunshine', offers a small medieval castle for rent, above a bay on the Italian Riviera. Four very different women - the dishevelled and downtrodden Mrs Wilkins, the sad, sweet-faced Mrs Arbuthnot, the formidable widow Mrs Fisher and the ravishing socialite Lady Caroline Dester - are drawn to the shores of the Mediterranean that April. As each, in turn, blossoms in the warmth of the Italian spring and finds their spirits stirring, quite unexpected changes occur.

THE ENCHANTED APRIL

Four very different women rent the small medieval castle of San Salvatore in Italy to escape February in England and find their lives transformed by the magic of the place.

EXPIATION

First published in 1929, this is the story of a respectable middle-aged lady, in an equally respectable south London suburb, struggling with the revelation of her long-term extra marital affair. When Millie is suddenly widowed, the whole edifice of her daily life is kicked open wide to the world. Was she wronged or was she dealt her just deserts? Secrets tumble out and sureties are questioned.

FATHER

Since her mother's death Jennifer has devoted her life to her father, managing the family home and acting as his secretary. After the sudden announcement that he has taken a new wife, Jennifer, at 33, seizes the opportunity to lead an independent life. She secures the lease of Rose Cottage and turns her attention to her own needs and interests. With a humorous tone, this novel explores the familial and societal expectations placed on single women during the interwar years.

FRAULEIN SCHMIDT AND MR ANSTRUTHER

Enchanting love affair between a determined young woman and an improverished well-born Englishman;

THE PASTOR'S WIFE

Ingeborg Bullivant returns from a tour to Lucerne engaged. Her subsequent life as a rural pastor’s wife is just as restrictive as her old one, then a dashing artist appears with tales of wondrous Italy and her wanderlust returns.