April in Italy is "enchanting"

Italy burnishes the spirit with its earth-tones and sense of timelessness
(Picture: Thomas Cole -- Public Domain) 

ITALY — As April unfolds with its promises of seasonal rebirth, Italy emerges from its brief winter slumber and erupts into an explosion of spring.

Italy is the perfect blend of earth,
sea and sky ( Photo: Taylor)

Author and poet Erica Jong once described Italy as "one of the few places that tolerates human nature with all its faults.  Italy is the past, but it is also the future.  It is pagan, but it is also Christian and Jewish.  It is grand and tawdry, imperishable and decay.  And it is still, for all its layers of musty history, a place that enhances existence, burnishes the moment.”

In 1922, British novelist Elizabeth von Amin expressed similar thoughts in more detail in a book inspired by her month-long holiday in the Italian Riviera.

Italy is a garden (Photo: Taylor)

Many critics say The Enchanted April is von Amin's best work. Whether or not that is true is of little consequence because the author's greatest contribution to literature was capturing the true essence of Italy.

The Enchanted April tells the story of four unhappy British women with dissimilar backgrounds who decide to share expenses to escape the dreary, cold, dampness of England in order to bask in the sunshine of Italy.

Shimmering Tyrrhenian Sea (Photo: Taylor)

Two of the women, Mrs. Arbuthnot and Mrs. Wilkins, who belong to the same ladies' club but have never spoken to each other,  simultaneously read an ad in a London newspaper that offers to rent a small furnished medieval castle for the month of April.

Both women, who are seeking a break from unhappy marriages, come together and decide to find two other female companions to help defray expenses. After interviewing various candidates, the newly formed  partnership reluctantly adds an elderly curmudgeon named  Mrs. Fisher and a beautiful, self-centered loner who seeks privacy from the advances of male suitors, Lady Caroline Dester.

The 15th century Castello Brown was the set location for the movie Enchanted April  (Photo: Randreu -- licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.)

Set in the 15th century Castello Brown, which became the set for the 1991 film version of the novel, the charming story begins as a comedy of errors that is gradually transformed by the rejuvenating "pixie dust" charm of Italy's magic.

Mosaic artifact  (Photo: Taylor)

Von Anim described it this way through the observations of Lottie Wilkins:

"All the radiance of April in Italy lay gathered at her feet.  The sun poured in on her.  The sea lay asleep in it, hardly stirring.  She stared.  Such beauty; and she there to see it."

Original Roman sign dates to he time of Augustus Caesar
(Photo: Taylor)

As the story progresses, so too do the personalities of its characters who become transfixed by the healing power of their surroundings. Each woman, in her own way, is in the process of rediscovering love. Again, Lottie Wilkins:

"Lovely scents came up to the window and caressed her.  A tiny breeze lifted her hair.  How beautiful, how beautiful.  Not to have died before this…to have been allowed to see, to breathe, feel this…What could one say, how could one describe it?"

No other country has been more written about than Italy. It's captivating ambiance washes over you like some grand elixir of life. Erica Jong discovered that “The seven deadly sins seem somewhat less deadly in Italy; the Ten Commandments slightly more malleable.  This is a country that not only accepts contradictions; it positively encourages them.”

Even hotel interiors are works of art  (Courtesy: Hotel Palumbo)

To which Elizabeth von Anim concurs through her main character, Lottie Wilkins:

"According to everybody she had ever come across she ought to at least have twinges.  She had not one twinge.  Something was wrong somewhere.  Wonderful that at home she could have been so good, so terribly good, and merely felt tormented.  Twinges of every sort had there been her portion; aches, hurts, discouragements, and she the whole time being steadily unselfish."

Typical Italian scene (Photo: Taylor)

From the moment visitors cross the border into Italy, no matter from what direction, there is a spirit of human freedom that overtakes them and presents the world for all of its faults and scars in a showcase of natural optimism that unleashes inhibitions.

I

Italy has its own style of
hedonism and decadence
(Courtesy: Ravello.com)

Lottie Wilkins:

"Now she had taken off all her goodness and left it behind her like a heap of rain-sodden clothes, and she only felt joy.  She was naked of goodness, and rejoicing in being naked.  She was stripped.”

The intangible magic of Italy has been sought after by writers, poets and musicians for centuries. Everyone knows what it is, yet no one can quite seem to harness its energy.

As Erica Jong observes, “What do we find in Italy that can be found nowhere else?  I believe it is a certain permission to be human that other countries lost long ago.”

In the end, the early depression and sadness is washed away like an outgoing tide to bring about renewed joy and anticipation of life. So much so, in fact,  that George H.W. Bush watched the film to cheer himself up after losing the presidential election in 1992.

At the end of the day, there is nothing better than a glass of Chianti  (Courtesy: Chianti.com)

April is with us. Elizabeth von Anim realized it a century ago and captured the essence of Italy in a glorious literary symphony. Don't try to analyze it. Just accept it as Ms. von Anim did in nine simple words, “Beauty made you love, and love made you beautiful.” 

That's Italy. That's Amore.