In the Mountains by
Elizabeth Von Arnim

“In the Mountains” is a novel written by Elizabeth von Arnim that is narrated in the form of a diary. The narrator is an English woman who seeks refuge in the Swiss Alps after experiencing personal problems shortly after World War I.

In July 1919 the narrator goes back to the house in the Swiss Mountains where she used to spend the summer months before the War. This book is her diary. At first she is alone, getting over some (never clearly specified) sorrows. One day two middle-aged English ladies appear, Mrs Barnes (Kitty) and Mrs Jewks (Dolly). They are invited to lunch, and stay, first for the night, and eventually for weeks. Kitty, the elder, dominates the younger, who seems to have some shameful secret. This is not a book of dramatic incident, but of subtle observation as the relationship between the three women develops in complex ways, as the diarist discovers more about the pair of visitors (but does not reveal everything about herself). The resolution is unexpected.