Bella Tuscany: The Sweet Life in Italy

The book itself is beautifully bound with thick hand cut pages. I found it to be pleasurable simply to hold it as I read it. Frances took me on a gentle journey through various small towns, museums and trattorias throughout Italy, along with shadowing her personal journey during that 6 or so years. The book had everything I want from Ms. Mayes Tuscany stories. If you are looking for an escape to an Italian dreamland, you will like this book.

This effort by Frances Mayes should be considered on its own merits. Like Mayes I have an ongoing love-affair with Tuscany and the people who live there. Mayes continues her whimsical account of life in Tuscany inspiring my flights of fancy and thoughts of my next visit to Tuscany. Her descriptions of Italy whether it be its food, places or people are so sensual and compelling that you put down the book only to long for that next visit to Italy. That is what I expected when I read this book, and Mayes delivered the goods. I was thoroughly satisfied with this book.

I am an Italian and I've never lived anywhere else. I don't understand what people find so offensive about this book! Ms. Mayes captures the sights and sounds the textures and tastes of Italy perfectly. She's welcome to bring one of her famous lemon pies to MY villa anytime! Way to go, Frances!

Francis Mayes has done it again. While reading the book I was transported back to Italy. Having lived in Pisa for 2 years, I appreciate everything she endured and experienced. Since reading both books, I feel I know the in's and out's of Bramasole. Next year I would love to visit Cortona again and see the house in its natural setting. A wonderful book to compliment "Under the Tuscan Sun". Wonderful reading, I could'nt put it down.

Frances Mayes has brought Italy to me here in Webster, New York. The first book, "Under the Tuscan Sun," made me hungry for more about Tuscany, the people, the foods & recipes, the history & geography, and especially the descriptive manner in which Ms. Mayes tells a delightful story along with everything else. "Bella Tuscany" has moved me more than any other book I have read. I lose myself in each one of her chapters. Then I find myself, understanding why, as an Italian, I interpret things the way I do, feel the way I feel, and relate to people of all nationalities the way I do. I savor each chapter, reading each word, and sometimes having to close the book because I cannot see the words through my tears. I have never traveled to any European countries and hopefully, one day soon, I will. Cortona and Venice will be on the top of my list. One of the most moving thoughts in the book, was her description of an old widow who was selling her home and of course wanted to sell it for more money than it was worth. Ms. Mayes states that the house probably looked the same way it did in 1750! The emotional value of the home seemed to override the real physical worth of the structure. Ms. Mayes tells us that the old widow reached out to her, took her hand, and pulled her into a different world. She wanted to cry out because the woman's grip was so strong, but she didn't. As a child growing up in Rochester, New York, and having grandparents that lived in an area populated by Italians (mostly Sicilians), I have met women like the old widow. They hold you so tightly...maybe thinking some of that youthfulness will rub off on them. When they spoke of their homes in Sicily, I used to wish they had pictures of the people and towns, but I only knew of those places from their descriptive reviews. I wished I could see and feel the beauty they described, beauty that they missed, coveying that feeling only in tearful eyes. They were always so happy to see you, even if you had just been there the day before. I will happily anticipate Frances Mayes next book on her life in Cortona. I would like to see a Frances Mayes PBS special! Thank you for this opportunity to voice by opinion of this wonderful book.