The movie version of The Enchanted April was enhanced by a quality cast
Spring (sort of) arrived in August for the Tyneside Book Club as members read Elizabeth Von Arnim's 1920s classic The Enchanted April.
There were varied views of the novel, though on balance people were largely favourably disposed to this fairy tale-like transformation.
For some the book started a little slowly, but then began to take off once the women had reached Italy. There was appreciation for the wry, though sometimes pointedly sharp, humour, and for the skilful way the characters were drawn and developed.
As she was a gardener, perhaps it was not surprising that Von Arnim spent some time describing the setting, but members agreed that the descriptions of the castle and its grounds were sumptuous and atmospheric.
Some members also liked the observations of the characters by the Italian staff, and their ability to exploit the stay to their advantage.
For some the novel was rather slight, entertaining but without huge depth. There was disappointment from some that the women ultimately fell back on rekindling (or starting in one case) relationships with men. Some also felt the book did not benefit from the arrival of the husbands. Others felt they struggled to care about what happened to a set of privileged characters.
But while some thought the husbands were irredeemable, others were prepared to take a more charitable view seeing them as flawed rather than villainous. They could be seen in the end as lost and in as much need of redemption as the women.
For others though, the lightness of the author's touch did not detract from a deeper truth about the transformative power of travel, and of kindness and open-mindedness. In the end it was possible that all the characters might revert to type on return to England, but that did not detract from the impact of their enchanted month.
Some members had also seen the film of the book, and felt that might perhaps have been superior to the novel, aided by its impressive cast. But despite the odd change, that film was still loyal to the source material, proving that it did have strengths.
In the absence of summer holidays - or much sunshine - The Enchanted April - at least gave members some sort of escape from the year of Covid.
There were varied views of the novel, though on balance people were largely favourably disposed to this fairy tale-like transformation.
For some the book started a little slowly, but then began to take off once the women had reached Italy. There was appreciation for the wry, though sometimes pointedly sharp, humour, and for the skilful way the characters were drawn and developed.
As she was a gardener, perhaps it was not surprising that Von Arnim spent some time describing the setting, but members agreed that the descriptions of the castle and its grounds were sumptuous and atmospheric.
Some members also liked the observations of the characters by the Italian staff, and their ability to exploit the stay to their advantage.
For some the novel was rather slight, entertaining but without huge depth. There was disappointment from some that the women ultimately fell back on rekindling (or starting in one case) relationships with men. Some also felt the book did not benefit from the arrival of the husbands. Others felt they struggled to care about what happened to a set of privileged characters.
But while some thought the husbands were irredeemable, others were prepared to take a more charitable view seeing them as flawed rather than villainous. They could be seen in the end as lost and in as much need of redemption as the women.
For others though, the lightness of the author's touch did not detract from a deeper truth about the transformative power of travel, and of kindness and open-mindedness. In the end it was possible that all the characters might revert to type on return to England, but that did not detract from the impact of their enchanted month.
Some members had also seen the film of the book, and felt that might perhaps have been superior to the novel, aided by its impressive cast. But despite the odd change, that film was still loyal to the source material, proving that it did have strengths.
In the absence of summer holidays - or much sunshine - The Enchanted April - at least gave members some sort of escape from the year of Covid.
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