Elizabeth von Arnim

Biography

Elizabeth von Arnim (1866–1941), born Mary Annette Beauchamp in Sydney, Australia, was a British-born novelist who spent much of her life in Germany, Switzerland, and England. Her debut, Elizabeth and Her German Garden (1898), was a bestselling semi-autobiographical account of her life on a Prussian estate. She wrote over twenty novels characterized by sharp wit, feminist undercurrents, and vivid natural settings. The Enchanted April (1922) became her most enduringly popular work. She was a cousin of Katherine Mansfield and was briefly married to Francis Russell, 2nd Earl Russell (brother of Bertrand Russell). Her novels are celebrated for their humor, intelligence, and quietly subversive portrayal of women’s lives.