The host:  Now it's time for our You Must Read This program.  Today we'll hear from Lauren Groff. She came across a book when she was going to have her first child and was worried about the future. Lauren Groff: Staring into darkness, I wanted to read about happiness.1n fact, books full of joy are hard to find because happiness is nearly impossible to write about. So, when I found Elizabeth and Her German Garden, by Elizabeth Von Arnim, I felt as if someone suddenly opened a curtain and revealed a window where I had thought there was a wall. Elizabeth and Her German Garden feels as if it rose out of Von Arnim's deep unhappiness in  the way she was supposed to fit into her world Still, what a cool drink this novel is. It has a few characters: the narrator,  a countess    named Elizabeth,  her husband,  her three tiny daughters, various servants and some visitors.  There is also Elizabeth's garden. whick we see in all its seasonal richness. That is only the book's surface, however. There are great things hidden in the book. Eliza- beth is always comparing herself and the women around her and finding their fixed social roles disappointing. Her happiness, when it comes, arrives as an act of will. She has fought hard to achieve delight and I think it is more valuable for her struggle. I appreciate Elizabeth for showing me a way through my darkest time, by revealing that an act of focused attention can lift a person out of a long, dark period in their lives. Anyone can get a little happiness from living, even by reading a few pages of a book. The host :  That's Lauren Groff.   Her latest novel is Arcadia.  The book she recommended  is Elizabeth and Her German Garden. What can we learn about Arcadia?
It is the next novel to be recommended. It is a novel written by Lauren Groff. It is Elizabeth Von Arnim's latest novel. It is recommended in the last program.