The Enchanted April (version 2)


Read by Helen Taylor

(4.8 stars; 237 reviews)

Four very different women, with very different reasons for wanting to escape a cold and dreary London, come together to share a month's holiday in a medieval castle. They are brought there by the promise of the advertised 'wisteria and sunshine', but they find so much more than they bargained for, as the place transforms them and changes their lives in ways they could never have expected. The novel is dominated by four wonderfully drawn characters: timid Lotty Wilkins, terrified of her domineering husband; sober and religious Rose Arbuthnot; rigid and judgemental Mrs Fisher; and the breathtakingly beautiful but disillusioned and unhappy Lady Caroline Dester. Von Arnim's story of their transformation under the Italian sun is warm, witty, intelligent, and as enchanting as the title suggests. - Summary by Helen Taylor (8 hr 37 min)

Chapters

Chapter 1 33:02 Read by Helen Taylor
Chapter 2 17:22 Read by Helen Taylor
Chapter 3 22:21 Read by Helen Taylor
Chapter 4 13:20 Read by Helen Taylor
Chapter 5 21:41 Read by Helen Taylor
Chapter 6 29:18 Read by Helen Taylor
Chapter 7 17:21 Read by Helen Taylor
Chapter 8 32:09 Read by Helen Taylor
Chapter 9 23:02 Read by Helen Taylor
Chapter 10 20:40 Read by Helen Taylor
Chapter 11 19:18 Read by Helen Taylor
Chapter 12 29:58 Read by Helen Taylor
Chapter 13 36:06 Read by Helen Taylor
Chapter 14 24:29 Read by Helen Taylor
Chapter 15 25:15 Read by Helen Taylor
Chapter 16 25:55 Read by Helen Taylor
Chapter 17 19:48 Read by Helen Taylor
Chapter 18 21:47 Read by Helen Taylor
Chapter 19 24:27 Read by Helen Taylor
Chapter 20 12:51 Read by Helen Taylor
Chapter 21 21:43 Read by Helen Taylor
Chapter 22 25:36 Read by Helen Taylor

Reviews

excellent reader & book


(5 stars)

the reader did a fantastic job! good clear voice and volume, great quality recording. the book is excellent. if you have ever rented a vacation home with a group of people you will completely relate to the events of the first few days and find yourself laughing. out of strangers and estranged marriages comes friendship and renewed love in a pleasant setting. a book a woman is more likely to enjoy then a man or child.

Great reader. Great book.


(5 stars)

Beautifully read. This will go on my " Yearly " list. The following is my take on the story this year. I wonder if more women had the opportunity of getting away to a beautiful place where they could find rest, peace, and love, if perhaps there would be less chaos in the world. I think we forget just how much power we have over our own environment. "When mama ain't happy, no one is happy" Now to find my beautiful, magical place.

Brutally funny writing. Excellent reading.


(5 stars)

Helen Taylor brings to life this fabulous book by Ms Von Armin. Women who want to get out of daily life the UK for very different reasons. Von Armin’s women all have a great back story of their own. So do the men. Cultural misses by tourists haven’t changed much over the centuries. I’ve read this several times over the past couple of years because it’s a reliably good, if excruciating read.

Thank You Helen


(5 stars)

May God bless you again, for your wonderful reading of a great and beautiful story. I have listened to it before but the second listening was even better because I have come to love your voice (but please do not confuse what I say as romantic love because I am sure that any woman with a voice like yours must have a husband who loves her voice as much as I do). I guess what I loved most about the story was it's blending in of the love of God and the fact that He is with us and listening always. Many times, as I am a widower, I can hear the voices of those I love all around me, as I live alone in the home in which I grew up. Although it may not be the voices I hear but just their presence and this leaves me with a sense that when I go to God I will go to them also. I will see my grand "papa" as we used to call him for he lived to a very old age and I was 33 years old when he passed away. He taught me and my brother so much about right and wrong that I could never forget him and consider him one of the heroes of my life. I can see that I am writing too much as I type as fast as I think and could go on forever. But god bless you again, Helen and all of the beautiful voices I go to sleep with every night and sometimes wake up out of a bad dream just to listen to them again. May God Bless Librivox and those who began this wonderful project which is absolutely free and is probably the most enjoyable and place of learning as anything else on the internet could be.


(5 stars)

I love this book so much!! Came across it by accident and was somehow taken in. (And this reader is simply wonderful! She truly brings the feeling of the book and the womens feelings to life!) The beauty and perhaps woman's outlook, and back thoughts kept me drawn in. Its a wonderful story that shows so vividly 4 different women, their outside as well as inside selves! On the other hand, does just as well showing the honest yet unknown selves of the men in the story. And when I came across the movie. I was just as fastly in love if not more with the women's characters. A highly recommend read, listen or watch.

a most brilliant reader of a lovely book


(5 stars)

I so much loved listening to this book. Indeed I believe I am a better person as a result. The characters are wonderful, their interaction is hilarious at times and it has a feel good factor to it. I just cannot thank Helen Taylor enough for volunteering to read as she most certainly can narrate books professionally.

Loved it!


(5 stars)

Loved the setting. Loved the characters and their transformation. Loved the happily ever after ending. Loved the humor and the moral to the story. And I especially loved the excellent reading by Helen Taylor. I only wish that there was more to the story, so I could go on listening to Helen Taylor reading it! Thank you Helen Taylor, and thank you, LibriVox.org.

perfect spring read


(5 stars)

A charming story with a timeless message about female friendship and being happy. The reader is excellant and really makes the story come alive. I've listenned to it several times. I still have to pause it after the bit where the hot water boiler explodes and the meeting on the landing because I am laughing so hard.