The Lady in the Palazzo: An Umbrian Love Story

This was an interesting and accurate account of the need to patiently wait for almost everything in Italy. The characters are believable and worthy of getting to know and understand. Lots of cooking and suppressed humor.

Having lived in Orvieto for a few years, I had several occasions to see Marlena de Blasi in person as she wafted with her husband around the town. I was always very put off by her appearance (her hair really IS the color of copper wires. Not the best look on an older woman. And all the makeup, really, it's no wonder she was viewed as an outsider in this book, as she makes no attempt to blend.) A friend of mine said that I would like this book, and I almost refused to read it because of my personal distaste for who I thought she was, however, I am glad that despite my prejudice I read this memoir. It was nice to have her perspective, her character development was charming and I grew to appreciate her particular brand of la gioia di vivere. Her Italian translations are horrible though :) Anyway, Marlena, if you read this, I am a convert. I may knock on your door this June and apologize.

"The Lady in the Palazzo" is a love story: love of life, of good food and wine, but mostly love of people. The main story line of finding ( and eventually moving into) a home in Umbria is a device that allows Ms. De Blasi to expose the wonderful textured lives of the characters in her book. In addition to being a fine chef she is a keen observer of life and takes us on a wonderful journey as her story unfolds....in short , this is a wonderful, sweet book that anyone who loves all things Italian will enjoy immensely... P.S. This was given to me by my Italian chef wife at our home in Italy where we reside 6 months a year.....some of the people in this book remind us of friends.

After being disappointed by 1,000 Days in Tuscany my expectations weren't as high for this new offering from Marlene DeBlasi but I loved it.Her affection for Orivieto and the characters in the surrounding countryside, and her developing appreciation for the centuries-old relationships, not to mention her description of the home she is creating, were described in similar loving and wondering terms as her descriptino of her early days in Venice. I appreciated the personal moments (wondering if she would ever get to live in the palazzo) interspersed with cultural descriptions (the venetian's understanding of conversational subtext) and on top of it all her yearning to get on on with her life (cooking, writing) while living with the unexpected. I really loved the book.

There is a lot to love about this book, which is the third - and I think the best - of her books on life in Italy. It chronicles her search for a home in Orvieto, in Umbria. She and her husband find an ideal place, an apartment in what was once the grand palazzo of the Ubaldini family - a home dating back to medieval times. Unfortunately, the apartment had been sitting vacant for 13 years and was in dire need of restoration. They could not live in their home during the construction. So they waited. And waited. And waited! This story follows the author as she adjusts to life in her adopted community during this long wait, and it culminates with a lavish dinner party held in her new home. As usual, with de Blasi, you can expect a book filled with sensual talk of wine and food; with regional recipes; with cultural and historical tidbits. But the real heart of this book - the soul of this book - is in the people to whom we are introduced. Some of them are given space to tell their life stories in their own words - and their stories are deeply moving. "Let life shape itself" is the underlying theme of this book. I can think of no author to compare to Marlena de Blasi. Part chef, part philosopher, part travel guide, part poet..she is an original. Highly recommended.