Instead Mayes and her husband bought the house and fixed it up over a number of years, the better part of which they spend in San Francisco where they both have jobs. No ugly divorce, no Italian lover, no lesbian friend who shows up pregnant. Polish workers, an owl in a storm, a man that leaves flowers every day at a shrine in the wall around her property - that's about as much as the movie and the book have in common. An American woman buys a house in a small Tuscan village that needs a tremendous amount of work.

There was almost nothing left of the book by the time they made the movie. The truth of the matter is that no matter which order you took these two in, you were in for a shock.

Plus, it's what I was expecting with the exception of a few changes they had made that annoyed the heck out of the people who read the book before they watched the movie. True, the movie is no great masterpiece but it has a charm I enjoy. It took me the better part of the first CD of this audiobook to get over that. Sprinkled liberally with delicious recipes for inspired Italian dishes, amusing anecdotes about the risks of being your own contractor, and a savvy traveler's reminiscences, Under the Tuscan Sun is Mayes's enchanting account of her love affair with Tuscany: of scouring the neighborhood for the perfect panettone and the perfect plumber of mornings spent cultivating her garden, and afternoons spent enjoying its fruits in leisurely lunches on the terrace of jaunts through the hill towns in search of renowned wines and the renewal not only of a house, but also of the spirit.įirst off, Under The Tuscan Sun the book is definitely not Under The Tuscan Sun the movie. Frances Mayes - gourmet cook, widely published travel writer, and poet - changed her life by doing just that. Source: audiobook purchased at my local library book saleīuying a villa in the spectacular Italian countryside is a wonderful fantasy - even if 17 rooms and a garden in need of immediate loving care are included in the asking price. Published September 1996 by Chronicle Books

Under the tuscan sun book review