Under the Tuscan Sun: At Home in Italy (1996) by Frances Mayes #NonFicNov24

🌞 Under the Tuscan Sun is a memoir by Frances Mayes, an American university professor, who were just through a divorce. She'd been in love with Italy, and accompanied by Ed, her current significant other, she began to hunt for a house in the countryside. Tuscany was their final choice, in particular an abandoned villa called Bramasole, in a hill town of Cortona.

🌞 Bramasole was named from two Italian words: braemar (to yearn for), and sole (sun); which literally means something that yearns for the sun. What a proper name for an Italian house! Like any other memoir of foreigners who move to European country, Under the Tuscan Sun follows, first the many doubts and indecisive moments Frances and Ed must have endured before finally deciding to buy the house. That part was the easiest, really. After that, came the relentless struggles to make the house and land to be habitable, while they are adapting with new culture, new language, and all.

🌞 The renovating of the rural abandoned villa took them years of dealing with Italian people, with their habits and eccentricities. But this memoir isn't entirely struggles, there are triumphant moments too, like when they found an ancient slab of stone while digging for a well (they finally use it for garden table). Or when renovating walls, they unexpectedly found a beautiful fresco. But maybe the most triumphant moment was when Frances realized how Italian she has been becoming at one point, and how Tuscany and Bramasole become, eventually, her true home that she loves.

"When you're falling in love, everything is lit from within."

🌞 Besides describing how much energy Frances and Ed had poured to make Bramasole home (they loved doing it), Frances also entertained us with her travelling journals - the small town they visited, complete with little historical background, local churches with their religious fervor, local cafe, and landscape. Last but not least, Italian food. Dishes Frances has becoming expert of cooking, and wines they taste and collect, what they serve for visiting guests. Frances even include several recipes in between chapters.

🌞 In short, it's a pleasant memoir to read with perfect proportions between struggles and pleasures, historical background and daily life, and between their personal routine with the interesting characters of their neighbors.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

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Nonfiction November 2024 #NonFicNov24

hosted by Liz, Frances, Heather, Rebekah, and Deb