Every Day in Tuscany: Seasons of an Italian Life

Written by Frances Mayes

Narrated by Frances Mayes

In this sequel to her New York Times bestsellers Under the Tuscan Sun and Bella Tuscany, the celebrated "bard of Tuscany" (New York Times) lyrically chronicles her continuing, two decades-long love affair with Tuscany's people, art, cuisine, and lifestyle.
 
Frances Mayes offers her readers a deeply personal memoir of her present-day life in Tuscany, encompassing both the changes she has experienced since Under the Tuscan Sun and Bella Tuscany appeared, and sensuous, evocative reflections on the timeless beauty and vivid pleasures of Italian life. Among the themes Mayes explores are how her experience of Tuscany dramatically expanded when she renovated and became a part-time resident of a 13th century house with a stone roof in the mountains above Cortona, how life in the mountains introduced her to a "wilder" side of Tuscany--and with it a lively  engagement with Tuscany's mountain people. Throughout, she reveals the concrete joys of life in her adopted hill town, with particular attention to life in the piazza, the art of Luca Signorelli (Renaissance painter from Cortona), and the pastoral pleasures of feasting from her garden.  Moving always toward a deeper engagement, Mayes writes of Tuscan icons that have become for her storehouses of memory, of crucible moments from which bigger ideas emerged, and of the writing life she has enjoyed in the room where Under the Tuscan Sun began.
 
With more on the pleasures of life at Bramasole, the delights and challenges of living in Italy day-to-day and favorite recipes, Every Day in Tuscany is a passionate and inviting account of the richness and complexity of Italian life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
• Release date: Mar 9, 2010
• ISBN: 9780307702975

Frances Mayes

Frances Mayes is the author of four books about Tuscany, as well as poetry and a novel, Swan. The now-classic memoir, Under the Tuscan Sun, which was an Australian and New York Times bestseller and which became a film starring Diane Lane, was followed by Bella Tuscany. She divides her time between homes in Italy and North Carolina.

Reviews for Every Day in Tuscany

[katsmiao · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Kinda slow. Not near as good as the first one

[bah195 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Need to get away from the daily grind? Then pick up Frances Mayes' new book "Every Day In Tuscany". The book transports you to Tuscany without even leaving your arm chair. Get reacquainted with the people, art, lifestyle and cuisine of the region. Also included in the book are recipes..

[morgan_mott · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I just love Frances Mayes. She can have her head in the clouds sometimes and get carried away with sharing random phrases that she wants to use in other stories, but it's all good. I love the way she puts recipes into the story as a way to clarify her experience, because in Italy food dictates your entire life.
This was a book that I picked up and put down off and on; I couldn't really read it straight through. It's nice to have some happy and easy reading to fall back on on bad days. Also, too much of her writing style can get kind of annoying.
Man, I miss Italy.

[dragonflydee1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I always feel transported to Italy when reading her books.

[harrod_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wonderful. Warm. Charming. Inspiring.

[carrieprice78 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This is pretty boring. I think we are supposed to envy her. I feel like she looked up words in the dictionary and thesaurus for the purposes of sounding intelligent.

[m4j4meeuwsen · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

An extended guide to Italian cuisine and culture, but pretty boring when it comes to Frances Mayes' life in Italy. Every young boy she sees is described as a person walking straight out of an Italian renaissance painting. When things become really interesting - she finds a hand grenade on her entrance drive - she quickly skips the subject and again takes the reader on all her magnificent walks and trips around Cortona (!). All and all a too romantic description of Italy. I rather prefer 'Italian neigbors' Tim Parks' down-to-earth story on his life in Italy.

[asomers_8 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I am still enchanted by Frances Mayes' wonderful descriptions of Tuscany. I enjoyed this book more than the second, but not as much as the first. I finished the book feeling hungry , ready to pack my bags, and thinking that I should sit down and write in my journal.

[thebooky_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Typical Frances Mayes, enjoyable. She makes me feel guilty for sitting in my little office with the fluorescent lighting and the mounds of untouched paperwork watching the clock! After reading one of her books I want to drink a good bottle of wine and eat like there's no tomorrow!

[nemoman · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Mayes" prior books always seemed too flowery in their prose, and as a consequence a bit fluffy and lightweight. Either I am getting used to her writing, or she has grown as a writer, because I enjoyed this book which chronicles the good life in Tuscany by following the seasons at her restored villa outside Cortona. She includes numerous recipes. The only portion of the book that flags is her pursuit through different towns to find paintings by her favorite Italian artist. She describes the numerous paintings in detail: however, her failure to include photographs or reproductions of the paintings ultimately leaves the reader clueless.