Episode 272: Best of Series – “The Enchanted April” by Elizabeth von Arnim, Ch. 1-11

The Literary Life Podcast

Angelina Stanford

Education, Selfeducation, Classicaleducation, Reading, Literature, Homeschool, Arts, Books, Charlottemason, Homeeducation, Homeschooling

4.6 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 15 April 2025

⏱️ 103 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Welcome back to The Literary Life podcast with Angelina Stanford, Cindy Rollins and Thomas Banks. This week we are bringing you another episode from the vault, this time part one of our series on The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim. Thomas gives some interesting biographical information about von Arnim, and Angelina shares some perspective on appreciating the art and the life of artist. Cindy highlights the fact that we see only caricatures of the women in England, and it isn’t until they get to Italy that we begin to see their real selves. Angelina also points out that all the women are on identity quests in this story. Angelina unpacks some of the metaphors in this book and the Dante-esque images, in addition to the key place beauty has in the story.

Don’t forget to sign up for this year’s Literary Life Online Conference coming up later this month! Register today for “Living Language: Why Words Matter” at HouseofHumaneLetters.com for full live or later access.

To view the full show notes for this episode, please visit our website at https://theliterary.life/282.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the Literary Life Podcast.
0:03.0	We've grown quite significantly since our debut in 2019,
0:07.3	and we've had many requests to highlight older episodes that new listeners may have missed,
0:12.8	as well as revisit listener favorites.
0:15.2	To honor that request, I present to you this episode of the best of the Literary Life podcast.
0:20.9	This is not just the literary life podcast.
0:28.9	This is not just another book chat podcast. Lifelong reader Cindy Rollins joins teachers Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks for an ongoing conversation about the skill and art of reading well.
0:36.4	Explore the lost intellectual tradition and discover how to fully
0:40.2	enter end to the great works of literature. Learn what books mean while delighting in the sheer joy of
0:47.3	imagination. Each week we will rescue story from the ivory tower and bring it to your couch, your kitchen, and your commute.
0:56.8	The literary life is for everyone because in the words of Stratford Caldecott, to be enchanted
1:02.1	by story is to be granted a deeper insight into reality. Join us for an ever-unfolding discussion
1:09.6	of how stories will save the world.
1:12.9	This is The Literary Life Podcast. Hello and welcome back to the literary life podcast.
1:35.9	We are returning after a short break from our very exciting and I must say successful
1:42.3	Literary Life conference. We had our fourth annual one. And so we just
1:46.9	finished that up. And now we are back with a three-part series on a lovely book, The Enchanted April,
1:53.9	which we are so excited to introduce you to today. So with me, I'm Angelina Stanford and with me
1:59.2	are my usual cohorts.
2:04.6	I'm not going to say who of these four ladies, I think each of you are.
2:09.5	But I do want to assure people I am in no way married to either Merlurch or Frederick.
2:17.1	So with me are the mysterious Mr. Banks and Cindy, the Farrah Fawcett of Charlotte Mason, Rollins.
	...

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