In the Mountains

A Swiss mountain house becomes a refuge for a woman returning from London after years of loss. In dated diary entries, she records her exhaustion, the blue delphiniums outside her door, the light filling the valley, and her hope that quiet will restore her confidence in life. Antoine, who has cared for the house during the war, attends to its daily needs while she rests on the grass and watches the sky.

Elizabeth von Arnim combines these private reflections with close observation of the demands people place on one another. When Dolly and Mrs. Barnes appear as guests, the narrator longs for easy friendship but finds herself constrained by careful manners and constant gratitude. She considers how sincere concern for others can become a form of control. The novel brings together grief, mountain scenery, and the awkward duties of hospitality, offering readers a voice that notices both emotional pain and the small absurdities of social life.