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Summary: Review of the Engagement Calendar, not Bella Tuscany
Review: Many of the previous reviews slam or praise "Bella Tuscany" the book. I'm only 1/3 of the way through that and have no comment yet. However, this review is specifically for the engagement calendar.This engagement calendar tempted me since reading Under the Tuscan sun and starting on Bella Tuscany. I wanted to see some of the scenes in my head courtesy of Frances Mayes fleshed out. I was not dissappointed. This engagement calendar (and I'm not someone who normally buys these) is wonderfully prepared. From the choice of golden and ochre border to the golden suffused pictures inside. It will be a pleasure to use through out the year. It will not get discard at the end of the year either but stored safely with my copies of Under the Tuscan Sun, Bella Tuscany (partially read at this review) and In Tuscany (recently purchased). Thank you Frances Mayes for painting this portrait of Italy from an American's eyes.
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Summary: Bella Tuscany
Review: It was interesting to read that some reviewers did not receive Bella Tuscany well, compared to Under the Tuscan Sun. I read the book in a park under the Sydney Harbour Bridge with our wonderful Opera House across the water on a wonderfully warm, sunny and peaceful day. Large yachts and old sailing ships meandered by all afternoon. It was a perfect setting to be in the right frame of mind for a book that is simply tempting you to escape and join in on the adventure. No, we cant all afford to do everything Frances has done, but it sure doesn't hurt dreaming about it. Congratulations Frances.
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Summary: Not what you'd expect....
Review: I read and thoroughly enjoyed "Under the Tuscan Sun". But, this book left me dry. She apparently has been changed by the success of her earlier work. She seemed self-absorbed and elitist. I actually thought those were the attitudes she went to Italy to get away from in the US. Not a solid follow up to a solid first book. I also heard she "dumped" Ed.
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Summary: Bella Tuscany - My Dream
Review: Having been fortunate enough to have visited a great many areas of Italy last year,I found this book as well as Under The Tuscan Sun very emotional reading. For me it was like being there again. Even though I do not have the means at my disposal to live as lavishly as Ms. Mayes does, it is a wonderful,warm and very friendly country to be in. Tuscany in particular for me was by far the warmest and most history filled areas we visited. I am not of Italian heritage but have been around these wonderful people most of my life and the love of my life is of Italian decent. Both sets of his grandparents came from Lucca. I hope that in the near future Ms. Mayes will write more about this wonderful area of Italy. Both these book make me want to return to this wonderful country even more.
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Summary: Don't Buy This Book !!!
Review: This is a pretentious, boring and poorly written book that has very little to do with Tuscany. The author is a wealthy American who vacations in Italy 3 months out of the year with her lover, Ed, and spends the majority of her social time with British and American expatriots. The Italians she knows are primarily tradesmen. They are drawn as caricatures with little or no depth. She declines a dinner invitation with an Italian family because after 7 years her Italian is evidently not good enough to converse. If this book is about anything it's about a subject near and dear to the author's heart: herself. Mayes is riddled with fears and she shares all of them with us. She's afraid of the mafia. When she goes to Sicily she thinks they're everywhere. They run into a funeral and it must be a mafia funeral. Their Sicilian waiter reminds her of a terrorist. It makes you wonder if she didn't check under the bed each night to make sure the mafia hadn't snuck in. She's afraid of robed priests because they remind her of the Ku Klux Klan! (I'm not making this stuff up) She's afraid of birds and bats. She's filled with insecurity. At the end of each trip she feels sad because her friends and relatives are going on with their lives without knowing where she is. No ego problem here! The author is ambivalent about religion in general and Chritianity in particular. She makes numerous insensitive comments regarding Catholicism, the primary religion in Italy. The author is downright rude and thoughtless. She paints an insulting picture of the "assault of houseguests" she faces each year. And with all of this is the same conspicuous consumption described in her previous book. She and Ed contantly eat and drink and buy their way through Italy. This time around they continue their spending by buying a new home in California. Even the recipes stink. Why this book is called "Bella Tuscany" is a mystery. Read the books of Tim Parks for a real description of life in Italy.
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Summary: Bellas Tuscany
Review: I read Bella Tuscany while I was living in a villa for a week in an area very close to where the author was living. It was magical for me to be reading about and experiencing the same quality of life simultaneously. I think Frances Mayes did a superb job of capturing community and daily life in these small hill towns. She was able to put into words my impressions and experiences. Being of Italian descent, able to speak the language, and having lived in other parts of Italy at different times, I thought Ms. Mayes was masterful in her ability to capture the esssence of life in this small community. As I was reading, I was wishing I could talk with her. If you have some familiarity with Tuscany, I think the book will come alive for you.
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Summary: A Beautiful Engagement Calendar
Review: When I ordered the Bella Tuscany Engagement Calendar, I also ordered one for a friend. When they came I was really amazed to see the beautiful pictures of Italy in the book. Brings back a lot of memories to me. I would recommend this book to all my friends..
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Summary: Another wonderful portrait of Italy!
Review: I savored this book, just like the first. Frances Mayes has a great eye for detail, and while you may envy her lifestyle and seemingly endless money, this book is a lovely escape for those of us who can't hop a plane to Italy at the moment. I personally liked their excursions into other parts of Italy. Great summer reading.
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Summary: Sweet-sounding life, indeed!
Review: I enjoyed the continuing story of Frances Mayes' experience in Italy. After reading the author's first book, "Under the Tuscan Sun," I could not wait to read "Bella Tuscany." I was not disappointed. I enjoyed reading about Mayes' and her husband's life after the restoration of their new home in Italy -- their neighbors, their garden with the various plants and flowers, their olive trees, their travels within Italy, their meals, learning a new language, everything! Mayes' narration was engaging and kept my attention till the very end of the book. I especially liked the ending where I envisioned Mayes as she walks the Etruscan hillside, on a late night, reaching out to catch a falling star. What a sweet ending. I have not traveled to the part of Italy that Mayes writes about but I plan to do so in the future. I'd like to experience "Bella Tuscany" for myself. Ms. Mayes, thank you for sharing your experience!
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Summary: Noiossimo
Review: I really enjoyed "Under the Tuscan Sun", so I decided to read "Bella Tuscany". I found "Bella Tuscany" to be a little boring and not at all what I'd expected. I had expected to see Mayes grow more accustomed to living in Italy and there fore be more "Italian". She still seemed like an American living in Italy with the "Oh my I'm in a foreign country" syndrome most tourists encounter. I had expected Mayes to have grown a lot more as a writer also, I found this book to be dry. It was like she was rambling on and on and on. I was to the point where I didn't even want to finish the book just so I could be put out of my misery. The book should have ended at the end of "Anselmo's Idea of Tomatoes", she had the perfect book-ender as the chaper closer, instead she rambled on and on for 30 more pages. It was nice to see what happened to some of the characters and things like that. But, she is writing "In Tuscany", she could have saved some of the rambling for that. I'm not sure if I will even bother with "In Tuscany" because I found this to be so boring.
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