Elizabeth von Arnim Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Collections

Publication Order of Elizabeth von Armin Children's Books

Publication Order of Elizabeth von Armin Plays

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Elizabeth von Arnim otherwise known as Mary Annette Beauchamp is a literary fiction author from Australia. The author was born in Sydney Australia to a wealthy family that at that made its home in the exclusive Sydney suburb of Kirribilli Point.
Henry Heron Beauchamp her father was born to a cultured and artistic family in London. He would then move to Australia where he became very wealthy as a shipping merchant based in Sydney.

Arthur and Craddock his two younger brothers also followed him to Australia but they lived in Melbourne before they moved on to New Zealand.

While his brothers were not very successful, Harold Beauchamp the son of Arthur would become the father to Katherine Mansfield the well-known author.

In 1855, Henry Beauchamp got married to Elizabeth Weiss Lesseter who was born in Australia but also had English roots.

In 1870, Henry and Louey Heron moved to London where they believed their family would benefit from the education and culture.

Elizabeth who was then known as Mary Annette was just three when her family moved to Europe and never returned to Australia again.

For a few years, Elizabeth von Armin’s family moved to the Swiss city of Lausanne on the shores of Lake Geneva. The mountain meadows and the beauty of the place particularly during the spring would leave a lasting impression on Elizabeth.
Back in London, she went to the Royal College of Music where she was found to be a musically gifted and intelligent child. She was so good under Sir Walter Pratt that it was not long before she was thinking of one day becoming a professional musician.
However, her parents believed that the beautiful and petite twenty-two-year-old’s chances at marriage were diminishing. She was sent to Europe where she met a member of Prussian nobility named Graf von Arnim-Schlagenthin whom she married.
It was when she got married that she would become Elizabeth von Arnim, a member of the Berlin-based Prussian aristocracy.

Her career took a turn from music toward literary pursuits when she visited her husband’s country estate and was so enchanted that she began living there permanently.

It was at that time that she published her debut bestselling title “Elizabeth and Her German Garden.” Over the years, she would go on to make her name as she penned all manner of bestselling literary fiction works.

When Elizabeth von Arnim’s husband died in 1910, she left Prussia and made her home between her homes in Montana Switzerland, and several houses in London.

During this time, she made friends with some notable people including Hugh Walpole, EM Foster, Nassenheide, and HG Wells.

When World War I broke out in 1914, Elizabeth became a British citizen and got married to Bertrand Rusell’s older brother Earl Francis Russell.

After losing several close family members and friends during the war years, she moved to her home in Switzerland during the 1920s, where she reconnected with her cousin Katherine Mansfield.
Looking for a warmer climate she moved to France in 1930 but moved to the United States in 1939 due to the threat of war breaking out in Europe.

She published Mr. Skeffington her last critically acclaimed novel while living in the US and this made her very popular among American audiences.
But it was soon after this that her health began to deteriorate and she died in 1941 while living in South Carolina.

“The Enchanted April” by Elizabeth von Arnim is a work that tells the story of four different women who could not be any more different in attitude and age.

They had responded to an ad in the paper asking for women who appreciate sunshine and wisteria to rent a tiny castle from medieval-era Italy for a month.

Mrs. Arbuthnot and Mrs. Wilkins are the two original respondents who are joined by Lady Caroline whose melodiousness and beauty have recently become burdensome.

They are also joined by the grouchy Mrs. Fisher who soon warms to the pleasant environment comes out of her shell and begins imposing her will on the others. Each of the women is to some extent dissatisfied with their lot in life.
Mrs. Arbuthnot and Mrs. Wilkins are living in marriages of quiet English unhappiness but things are about to change. They have decided that they need to invite their husbands to join them and the reunion results in a deeper love.
This newly refreshed love charges and opens up something very warm in all of them.

It is an intriguing story that feels like a sun-kissed fairytale that is also an ode to the transformative power of travel.

Elizabeth von Arnim’s novel “Elizabeth and Her German Garden” is a work that shows a woman ahead of her time. Something of a memoir and penned in loose diary format it covers a little more than a year.

Elizabeth the main character was never the typical mother or housewife of the time in which she lived. What she loved best in her life were her garden, her books, her solitude, and her three little girls.

With a lot of charm, the author showcases the progress in the garden the sounds of the creatures in it, and the beauty of the forest all around it. What you will love best are the tongue-in-cheek humor and the sharp wit that Elizabeth so effortlessly uses.
It is not all about her garden as she sometimes also writes of mundane things such as visitors coming to her home and how happy she is when they leave.

This is particularly relatable as it is common for many people to feel that sense of relief when guests leave and they can take back their home.

With hardly any plot to think of, it is more like spending time with Elizabeth and her family over the course of at least a year.

Elizabeth von Arnim’s novel “Vera,” tells the story of a young woman named Lucy who just lost her father. But she has now met a self-confident and older man who offers the refuge of an advantageous marriage and his love.
Soon enough she learns that her husband is an abusive and self-centered man who has many secrets from his past. Vera his first wife had died in mysterious and uncelar circumstances and this makes Lucy even more afraid.
She has been compared to Daphne du Maurier’s Rebeca, even though it is clear that the author does not intend to entertain but rather to put the history of her failed marriage to Frank Russel in the past.
It is also an expose of psychological abuse from the first-hand experience of a victim.