This is a memoir/journal from 1898 by the author of The Enchanted April which is a wonderful novel as well. Elizabeth begins this memoir by stating that in her fifth year of her marriage she and husband sort of realized or remembered that they owned a farm in Germany and why not go and live there.
Seems reasonable. So the book is a series of different journal entries that take on a number of different subjects including discussing the flowers and birds and plants and surroundings that she finds in her new climes. She also experiences the nosiest of nosy neighbors who refused to believe that she has chosen to live in the countryside with her husband, as opposed to moving to the city for the winter and she is repeatedly told that what she feels is not what she feels.
The book also takes turns dealing with her children, who she refuses to name, but instead refers to them by their birth month — the April baby, the March baby etc. There’s a lot more conversations with her neighbors and especially dealing with the difference between men and women and the ESSENTIAL difference being one of biology and faculty.
The book is very funny and very charming. The subjects, being somewhat serious throughout, are treated lightly and really do hit at the ways in which people talked and of course, the ways in which boy still talk in some situations. It’s not timely by any stretch of means, but it is really curious and interesting.
(Photo: https://www.amazon.com/Elizabeth-Her-German-Garden-Arnim/dp/1449506402/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=6A5M4KTUGYZG&dchild=1&keywords=elizabeth+and+her+german+garden+by+elizabeth+von+arnim&qid=1585519705&s=books&sprefix=elizabeth+and+her%2Cstripbooks%2C139&sr=1-1-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEzOE1JQ1ZPNlNYMkRWJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMDY2NjU2M0RYUFpRT04zV0oySyZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwMTM1MDM4MVI5SU9GV01UTjBSQyZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=)
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