' "Oh, my dear, relations are like drugs, - useful sometimes, and even pleasant, if taken in small quantities and seldom, but dreadfully pernicious on the whole, and the truly wise avoid them" '

Taking respite from the Man of Wrath, her children and her stifling household, Elizabeth discovers that the path to joy lies in having a garden, rather than a room, of one's own. This enchanting semi-autobiographical novel delighted readers when it first appeared in 1898 and has never been out of print since.

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Cousin of Katherine Mansfield and lover of H.G. Wells, Elizabeth von Arnim was at the hub of the literary and political society of her time. She was born in Australia in 1866 but grew up in England, and began her career in 1898 with the semi-autobiographical Elizabeth and Her German Garden. She was married twice and died in 1941.