Arnim Elizabeth von Knihy

Lucy Entwhistle's beloved father has just died, and aged twenty-two, she finds herself alone in the world. Leaning against her garden gate, dazed and unhappy, she is disturbed by the sudden appearance of the perspiring Mr Wemyss. This middle-aged man is also in mourning - for his wife, Vera, who has died in mysterious circumstances. Before Lucy can collect herself, Mr Wemyss has taken charge: of the funeral arrangements, of her kind Aunt Dot, but most of all of Lucy herself, body and soul. Elizabeth von Arnim's masterpiece, VERA is a forceful study of the power of men in marriage - and the weakness of women in love.

First published in 1899, The Solitary Summer picks up where Elizabeth and Her German Garden left off. Instead of a year's diary of the previous book, this sequel relates a summer in the life of Elizabeth in her patterings about the garden, care of her "babies", various escapades with servants and towns-folk, and several appearances of her husband, "The Man of Wrath".