Fraulein Schmidt and Mr Anstruther – Elizabeth Von Arnim
This novel was highly recommended by a friend and it didn’t disappoint – it is charming.
Here is the blurb …
What on earth could have induced Mr Anstruther to fall in love with Fraulein Schmidt? He is an eligible English bachelor from a good family with great expectations; she is the plain, poor, ‘spinster’ daughter of a German scholar. But Rose-Marie Schmidt is also funny, intelligent, brave and gifted with an irrepressible talent for happiness. The real question is, does Mr Anstruther know how lucky he is?
This is an epistolary novel and a one-sided one – we only have Rose-Marie’s (Fraulein Schmidt) letters. But don’t let that put you off – the plot is easy to follow. In fact this book is about Rose-Marie: her zest for life, her joy in nature, her determination to be herself no matter the external circumstances (financial, cultural and social).
I thought this novel was a joy to read – light-hearted, but serious, optimistic, but never cloyingly so.
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