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kcrouth's review against another edition
4.0
After reading the article https://indyweek.com/culture/page/page-frances-mayes/ in @indyweek about @francesmayes new book, and being a fan of the movie Under the Tuscan Sun, I finally picked up and read the original book for the first time and loved it. Under the Tuscan Sun: At Home in Italy has the rich feel of a great travelogue, yet is really a book about a place and it's people and way of life, and then that place becoming home. The story is wonderfully told, the account of finding and buying a house in Tuscany, restoring it from disrepair into a beautiful and rich villa, and then setting up housekeeping, and of it becoming Home. The intimate details of the people, the customs, lifestyle, and of course, the food, are rich and real. Reading this book has me wanting to go back to Italia ASAP!!!
biankatoth's review against another edition
1.0
This book is almost as bad as Eat, pray, love. I'm debating myself about finishing it, or not, but it just makes me so mad that it's nothing about. Thanks for the recipes chapter so I could skip some pages. I'm only sad because I bought this book so I normally feel bad that I threw money out on this...
book_concierge's review against another edition
2.0
I expected an Italian "Year in Provence," but Mayes is not Peter Mayle. Here is the rare instance where the movie is much better than the book.
nikki_booknook's review against another edition
2.0
First, I should admit I did not read this one all the way through. I read this one for about 30 pages. Perhaps it is because I saw the movie before reading the book, or maybe it was just the authors style (but probably that first reason), I just could not get in to this story. "Who is Ed and why is he in this book?" "Why is she buying a home with her husband in Tuscany when she is supposed to be doing this on her own?"
I was expecting a story about a woman who had had enough of the life she was leading and decided to make a big change ON HER OWN and re-invent her life. This book is not that type of story from what I could tell in the little bit of the story I made it through.
I am not giving the book a bad star rating because I did not read it through, but I am placing it middle of the pack because if you were expecting to read a book that the movie was adapted from, this is not that story.
I was expecting a story about a woman who had had enough of the life she was leading and decided to make a big change ON HER OWN and re-invent her life. This book is not that type of story from what I could tell in the little bit of the story I made it through.
I am not giving the book a bad star rating because I did not read it through, but I am placing it middle of the pack because if you were expecting to read a book that the movie was adapted from, this is not that story.
claireh6's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
3.75
a_person_thing_exists_here's review against another edition
It has served its purpose.
mtomchek's review against another edition
4.0
"There's a life in old places and we're always passing through."
"Sometimes we can't truly see ourselves or those we care about because the background absorbs us into it. To leap out of all that changes you. Drastically. And perhaps it allows you to graze truths you did not know you knew."
So overjoyed to have finally read Under the Tuscan Sun. The film is a special one for me, so I thoroughly enjoyed reading Frances Mayes's words. Her description of her Italian dream home was exquisite. I felt as if I were there, tasting the food, sipping the wine, and feeling the sun. I admire her, she is a strong and beautiful person with so much zeal to learn about this amazing world we live in.
The book made me wish to be in Italy, to indulge, to feel the air, to meet people, and to write.
"Sometimes we can't truly see ourselves or those we care about because the background absorbs us into it. To leap out of all that changes you. Drastically. And perhaps it allows you to graze truths you did not know you knew."
So overjoyed to have finally read Under the Tuscan Sun. The film is a special one for me, so I thoroughly enjoyed reading Frances Mayes's words. Her description of her Italian dream home was exquisite. I felt as if I were there, tasting the food, sipping the wine, and feeling the sun. I admire her, she is a strong and beautiful person with so much zeal to learn about this amazing world we live in.
The book made me wish to be in Italy, to indulge, to feel the air, to meet people, and to write.
tkeeley's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
4.0