{"product_id":"the-enchanted-april-elizabeth-von-arnim","title":"The Enchanted April — Elizabeth von Arnim","description":"\u003cp\u003eFour very different women leave a grey English spring for a month in an Italian castle. Amid wisteria, Mediterranean sunshine and unexpected companionship, old disappointments begin to give way to fresh possibilities.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eElizabeth von Arnim’s warm, witty novel of friendship, marriage and renewal, first published in 1922. This is the complete, unabridged English text: all 22 chapters, with 78,159 words.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eReflowable EPUB with selectable, searchable text, adjustable type, embedded fonts and linked contents. New AI-assisted cover by Nile Book Store. English source: Project Gutenberg ebook 16389, digitized by Manette Rothermel. Original novel public domain in the USA; full source credits and licence included.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"nile-free-epub-download\" href=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0802\/4798\/0280\/files\/the-enchanted-april-en-complete.epub?v=1792429851\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" download\u003eDownload the complete English novel — free EPUB\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003csection id=\"nile-opening-preview\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"border:1px solid #dfdacb;border-radius:12px;padding:20px;margin:20px 0;background:#fffdfa\"\u003e\u003ch2\u003ePreview — opening of the book\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eChapter 1 — first six paragraphs\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"line-height:1.85\"\u003eIt began in a Woman’s Club in London on a February afternoon—an uncomfortable club, and a miserable afternoon—when Mrs. Wilkins, who had come down from Hampstead to shop and had lunched at her club, took up The Times from the table in the smoking-room, and running her listless eye down the Agony Column saw this:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"line-height:1.85\"\u003eTo Those who Appreciate Wistaria and Sunshine. Small mediaeval Italian Castle on the shores of the Mediterranean to be Let Furnished for the month of April. Necessary servants remain. Z, Box 1000, The Times.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"line-height:1.85\"\u003eThat was its conception; yet, as in the case of many another, the conceiver was unaware of it at the moment.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"line-height:1.85\"\u003eSo entirely unaware was Mrs. Wilkins that her April for that year had then and there been settled for her that she dropped the newspaper with a gesture that was both irritated and resigned, and went over to the window and stared drearily out at the dripping street.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"line-height:1.85\"\u003eNot for her were mediaeval castles, even those that are specially described as small. Not for her the shores in April of the Mediterranean, and the wistaria and sunshine. Such delights were only for the rich. Yet the advertisement had been addressed to persons who appreciate these things, so that it had been, anyhow, addressed too to her, for she certainly appreciated them; more than anybody knew; more than she had ever told. But she was poor. In the whole world she possessed of her very own only ninety pounds, saved from year to year, put by carefully pound by pound, out of her dress allowance. She had scraped this sum together at the suggestion of her husband as a shield and refuge against a rainy day. Her dress allowance, given her by her father, was £100 a year, so that Mrs. Wilkins’s clothes were what her husband, urging her to save, called modest and becoming, and her acquaintance to each other, when they spoke of her at all, which was seldom for she was very negligible, called a perfect sight.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"line-height:1.85\"\u003eMr. Wilkins, a solicitor, encouraged thrift, except that branch of it which got into his food. He did not call that thrift, he called it bad housekeeping. But for the thrift which, like moth, penetrated into Mrs. Wilkins’s clothes and spoilt them, he had much praise. “You never know,” he said, “when there will be a rainy day, and you may be very glad to find you have a nest-egg. Indeed we both may.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca id=\"nile-preview-epub-download\" href=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0802\/4798\/0280\/files\/the-enchanted-april-en-opening-preview.epub?v=1792429851\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" download\u003eDownload the opening EPUB preview\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"font-size:.85em\"\u003eThis eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook. \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.gutenberg.org\/license\"\u003eFull licence\u003c\/a\u003e · \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.gutenberg.org\/ebooks\/16389\"\u003eSource\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/section\u003e\u003cstyle\u003e#MainProduct-template--27612128411896__main .nbs-digital-trust,#MainProduct-template--27612128411896__main .nile-digital-note,#MainProduct-template--27612128411896__main .product-form__buttons,#MainProduct-template--27612128411896__main .product-form__quantity{display:none!important}\u003c\/style\u003e\u003cscript data-nile-preview-placement=\"under-cover\"\u003e(function(){function place(){var s=document.getElementById(\"nile-opening-preview\");if(!s)return;var p=s.closest(\"product-info\");if(!p)return;var g=p.querySelector(\"media-gallery\");if(g\u0026\u0026s.parentElement!==g){g.appendChild(s);s.setAttribute(\"data-placement\",\"under-cover\");}}if(document.readyState===\"loading\"){document.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",place,{once:true});}else{place();}})();\u003c\/script\u003e","brand":"Nile Book Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67734738174200,"sku":"NILE-ENCHANTED-APRIL-EN","price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0802\/4798\/0280\/files\/the-enchanted-april-en-cover.png?v=1792429787","url":"https:\/\/nilebookstore.com\/ar\/products\/the-enchanted-april-elizabeth-von-arnim","provider":"Nile Book Store","version":"1.0","type":"link"}