Identify this book

[woodpam]

It was a book and a film about a group of women who go to Tuscany on holiday at Easter. Set in the 30s there is a character in it called Mrs Arbuthnott and a young girl who wants the best room. We're not getting much work done today trying to remember what it's called. Please help!

[boognish76]

I haven't seen either of them but both 'Tea With Mussolini' and 'Up at the Villa' are about English women in Tuscany in the 30s. I don't know if 'Tea with Mussolini' was ever a book though.

[Cetti]

"Room with a View" by EM Forster sort of fits the bill - except the setting is Florence, and there is no Mrs Arbuthnott - she isn't in "Tea with Mussolini" either. All great films, though. We'll keep trying!

[Kit]

It's "The Enchanted April", by Elizabeth von Arnim, published in 1922. The book is available online at http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/arnim/april
/april.html I loved the film (early 1990s?) with Josie Lawrence, Joan Plowright, Miranda Richardson, Alfred Molina, Jim Broadbent etc - one of my favourites. If I remember, Miranda Richardson was Mrs Arbuthnot, and Polly Walker the spoilt rich girl.

[woodpam]

Thanks for your help - it was Enchanted April we were thinking of, but interestiing to know that there are so many books with the same theme.