Elizabeth von Arnim (1866-1941), born Mary Annette Beauchamp, was an Australian-born British novelist. By marriage she became Countess von Arnim-Schlagenthin, and after her second marriage she was styled Elizabeth Russell, Countess Russell. Although known in her eary life as Mary, after the publication of her first book she was known to her readers, and eventually to friends and family, as Elizabeth, and is now invariably referred to as Elizabeth von Arnim. She also wrote under the pen name Alice Cholmondeley. She married her first husband, a Prussian aristocrat, in 1891 and the couple had five children before the Count's death in 1910. Elizabeth then spent her time between London and Switzerland, entertaining literary and society friends, and became the lover of H G Wells from 1910-13. In 1916 she married John Russell, 2nd Earl Russell, elder brother of Bertrand Russell, but the marriage ended in acrimony with Elizabeth fleeing to the US. The couple separated in 1919 but were never divorced. After living in London, France and Switzerland, she returned to the US at the outbreak of WWII, where she died of influenza aged 74 in 1941. Her literary career was launched during her first marriage, after she sought refuge in writing to escape the unhappiness of an incompatible partnership. She created the pen name 'Elizabeth' and published her semi-autobiographical, satirical novel Elizabeth and Her German Garden in 1898. Detailing her struggles both to create a garden on the estate and to integrate into upper-class German society, it was such a success that it was reprinted 20 times in its first year and has remained popular ever since. Further books featuring 'Elizabeth' followed, including The Ordeal of Elizabeth which is reprinted from the US Grosset & Dunlap edition of 1901, including a frontispiece portrait of 'Elizabeth.' Von Arnim was also the author of many other novels separate from the 'Elizabeth' series, several of which, including The Enchanted April (1922) and Mr Skeffington (1940), have been adapted into films.

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