Elizabeth

“May 7th—There were days last winter when I danced for sheer joy out in my frost-bound garden in spite of my years and children. But I did it behind a bush, having a due regard for the decencies....” Indoors are servants, meals, and furniture. There, too, is The Man of Wrath, her upright Teutonic husband, inspiring in Elizabeth a mixture of irritation, affection, and irreverence. But outside, she can escape domestic routine, read favorite books, play with her three babies…and garden to her heart's content. Through Elizabeth's eyes and unique wit, we watch the seasons come and go, each bringing with it new events, friends, and neighbors.

Elizabeth von Arnim, who is best known for her later novel The Enchanted April, married a Prussian aristocrat and, with their five children, lived in Nassenheide, Pomerania. Elizabeth and Her German Garden is a semi-autobiographical novel about the joy that the protagonist finds in the delights of her Pomeranian garden, which provides relief from the stifling environment of her household. The novel was originally published anonymously because von Arnim feared that her husband, whom she satirised in the book, would disapprove. Each season of the year is wittily recorded, bringing new events and visitors, conveyed through von Arnim's idiosyncratic perspective, while the 'kingdom of heaven' of the garden provides a calm place where the author finds solace.