Under the Tuscan Sun

by Frances Mayes
Category: "Travel"
Pages:304
Year of Publication:1997
Date Added:09/01/2007
Date Read:08/24/2007
Notes:The author and her boyfriend fall in love with Tuscany and eventually buy a rundown house there.And, this being Tuscany, there's the obligatory olive grove where they learn to grow their olives. They struggle with getting work down on their villa - dealing with a different culture, and a language barrier. It's Mayes' writing that manages to make it a delicious book - full of interesting information on travelling in Tuscany and the food… oh, the food! Similar to A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle, Under the Tuscan Sun is a laid-back book introducing you to a new (maybe?) part of the world.
My Rating: 7

Reviews for Under the Tuscan Sun

Review - Under the Tuscan Sun

There’s no question that Mayes is a good author — after all, she teaches creative writing. She wove a spell with her words that, for a while, made me wish I could live in Tuscany with the slow pace, the good food, the history.

But by the time I neared the end of the book, I realized I didn’t care for Mayes much. She was just a bit too self-satisfied. And what she had done wasn’t all that impressive — nothing much really happened. And I also realized that it was the pace of her lifestyle that made the place attractive, not the place itself. Tuscany is not where I would care to spend my summers. Once I stopped reading and thought about what Mayes actually wrote, Tuscany sounded hot and dry, with claustrophobic towns and a people wrapped in religious superstition.

Give me the shores of Lake Superior, the highlands of Scotland, an island off the Pacific coast — then give me the same pace, the chance to live on the land and the locally-grown foods prepared well. I would much prefer any of them to Tuscany.

But that doesn't at all mean that I didn't enjoy the book. It's just that I'd rather read about Tuscany than live there (although if you'd care to finance a short trip, I'd be happy to visit).
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