Elizabeth and Her German Garden by Elizabeth von ArnimMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
"The stillness of an eternal Sunday lay on the place like a benediction."
Every teacher spends Sundays preparing for several classes the following week.
The morning and early afternoon is spent luxuriating in "me time," although as often as not, this is time taken over by chores and Real Life concerns.. * heaves a sigh * Oh, Adulting...
The late afternoon is taken over by urgent work that can't wait til Monday. It is part and parcel of every busy person's life, which is why Elizabeth von Arnim is a good author to read on Sundays.
She reminds us of a better, slower time a century ago. This one makes you want to go outdoors and smell the neighbor's flowers (if you haven't any of your own), and analyze the song of the birds and write them down in musical notation (she does so in the book!).
This novella, however, isn't her best work. For the first time, she writes about a rich lady, and her first-world concerns. And although I was predisposed to liking her heroine based on my previous wonderful experiences with her other books, I found myself disliking this spoiled rich matron more and more as the book progressed.
Verdict: Go ahead and skip it. "The dullest book takes on a certain saving grace if read out of doors," von Arnim writes, and similarly, this book's saving grace was its cover, displayed to its full beauty when contrasted against different flowery cloth backgrounds.
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