Mr. Skeffington

Three years ago, in December of 2016, I discovered the work of Elizabeth von Arnim. I had been reading E. Phillips Oppenheim's memoir, The Pool of Memory,- in it, he drops the name of a writer, Countess Elizabeth Russell, a number of times. An internet search told me that this was the name used by Elizabeth von Arnim after her second marriage. Finding copies of her novels was easy enough once I had the proper name.

Von Arnim's 1921 novel, Vera, was the last novel I read in 2016. Her first novel, Elizabeth and Her German Garden was the first thing I read in 2017. I would go on to read 12 of Von Arnim's novels . At the time, there was only one other available for download at Project Gutenberg - The April Baby's Book of Tunes. I had decided to skip that one as it had been described as a children's book.

I've recently learned that Von Arnim's novel, Mr. Skeffington is available at Project Gutenberg Australia. Having been written in 1940, the book is still under copyright in certain areas but the novel is in the public domain in Australia.

I'm currently reading Mr. Skeffington and it will be the first book I'll have read in 2020. I've also given The April Baby's Book of Tunes another look and will be reading it soon.

In 1944, Mr. Skeffington was made into a film, starring Bette Davis and Claude Rains. I'll be watching it at ok.ru, when I've finished reading the novel.