Social icons

Books Reviews: 'The Enchanted April' & 'A Room With a View'

Saturday 16 September 2017

This Summer I have been a real book worm. I read a heavy lot of books, I don't know why, I just enjoyed doing that outside in the nice weather while eating snacks, and I felt in a reading mood. Since I have started my studies in Amsterdam I really want to spend more time reading, to discover new authors, new books, to tell those amazing stories that I read to my friends, to recommend books, to lend them, to talk about them insatiably. I read a good bunch of novels this past year, and I shared a lot with you, but after all of the amazing reads I had this Summer it was hard for me to pick up only one for today's review, that is why I am here presenting you two of my favorite novels of this Summer, both related to the same topic in a sense, being happiness. 

The first book I want to talk about is The Enchanted April by Elizabeth van Arnim. This is for sure a classic of the British literature, and while reading it I instantly understood why. The story takes place in the 1920s England, four women, all of them terribly sad with the life they are living, and willing to breath in some fresh air, decide to go together to Italy, renting a house, even though they don't know each others. They leave their husbands, families and friends behind them and head there for a month, some willing to make the most of Italy, some others only willing to be by themselves in this peaceful and beautiful place surrounded by wisterias. The plot of this book looks really flat, and let me say that there is not a lot of action in here, but it is definitely not the aim of the author. This book is about happiness. How you loose it and how you can get it back just by simple things you can do in life. This book was beautiful in the sense that it does give hope, delight, and spread happiness to the reader as well. To be the witness of those four women finding felicity again was definitely a unique experience. A classic, and now I do know why. 

The second book I picked up here is A Room With a View by E. M. Forster. This book is another one from the English classic literature, and treats of a rather similar subject as the precedent novel I presented. A Room With a View is a coming-of-age type of book, a young British girl goes to Italy - it seems to definitely be the place to go if you are British - and meet a young British gentleman. The story only takes place for half of the book in Italy, then everybody goes back to the UK, but it doesn't matter, in Italy the magic had enough time to happen, and happiness is at the key. Once again, a female character as the principal actor of this book goes to the promised South of Europe and discover happiness and love in a way she wouldn't have guessed. This story is all about embracing happiness and accepting things that come to you, going for your destiny almost. A Room With a View will put a smile on your face and hope in your heart. But what really does come out of this two novels is that happiness is to be found in Italy!


xo

Amy

Post a Comment