Rating: 
Summary: Languishing in Liguria
Review: The idea of 2 English women living in northern Italy sounds like a romp but, it quickly became tiresome. For me, each minute detail of their life among the Italians became old. As the book progressed, the author seemed to be reaching for topics...did we really need a chapter on building concrete steps? Very disappointing.
Rating: 
Summary: don't waste your money
Review: This book was so boring! I could not keep track of all the characters Hawes introduced. Her writing style is one confusing ramble and the way she kept jumping from the past to the future drove me nuts. The book had a lot of potential, but it was a giant disappointment
Rating:
Summary: Devastating
Review: This book-on-tape was so good until the final chapter, where it became so horrible that I could not even finish it. I can't believe the publisher allowed such a cheap-shot ending. Why would the author finish such a lovely read with a fast tragic ending. A terrible disappointment.
Rating: 
Summary: Oh, Annie, I'm waiting for a sequel!
Review: This is a book that I savored, like fine chocolate, and instead
of my typical immersion and finish, I read this one little
by little, because I didn't want it to end.
If you are at all interested in Italians, living with Italians,
or just Italy in general, this book will captivate you.
After spending 3 weeks in Italy with my husband, it was hard
to resist reading anecdote after anecdote aloud to my husband,
or just giggling again and again while reading it.Great fun read..!
Does she get married to Ciccio???
Rating:
Summary: moving to italy
Review: This is a delightful and very funny book. Read it and then her follow-up book Ripe for the Picking. Enjoyed it much more than Under the Tuscan Sun. You feel you get to know the local people and the culture and you like them but it isn't sugary. I'm looking forward to the next book.
Rating:
Summary: Hawes tells it like it is
Review: This is a fantastic book. Anyone who has ever lived in Italy will love Hawes honest rendering of Italian life and all of its complexities. Having lived in Rome for several years myself, I was overjoyed to finally find a book that portrays Italian life as it really is.
Rating: 
Summary: Different from the rest
Review: This is NOT your typical story about foreigners buying a house and restoring it. Unlike Frances Mayes, who seems to only visit during the summer, these two plucky girls actually live in the rustico all year round, living like a peasant and learning their ways. It almost seems like an anthropological survey. Hawe's writing is witty and sharp, and spares nothing in the minutiae of their daily life. This is a refreshing change from the typical fare from the genre where everything is bathed in some orange glow, everything is perfect, ripe and bursting with life. Hawes will have none of this shilly-shally, and throws in broken marriages, drugs, Aids and even death, amongst the endless feasting, olive oil, sunshine and beaches. Hawes also writes with surprisingly little emotion, letting little of her own feelings into the book, (unlike the rollercoaster account of Carol Drinkwater in the Olive Farm)
However, some little things, like her excessive use of Capital Letters, and sarcasm gets under your skin. On the whole, a real-life, satisfying and wholesome read, just like the peasants in the book.
Rating:
Summary: Silly title for a great book
Review: This is the most interesting story I have seen in a long time. The experiences of these two young women adjusting to life in the hills of Italy are written in a very entertaining way which keeps your interest. I am going to look to see if the author has any other books. But I would certainly recommend this book for the information about the area and how the folks think and the absolute "readability" of it. Very pleased with this purchase.
Rating:
Summary: Extra Virgin: A Young Woman Discovers the Italian Riviera, W
Review: Two sisters travel to Liguria, where they learn to understand & love this corner of the country & the people who live there.
Rating:
Summary: So Much Better than Under the Tuscan Sun
Review: What an enjoyable book -- warm and not too condescending as can be Peter Mayle and others who write this genre. Initially off to a slow start, I felt, once I was a chapter or two into it I was hooked, and toward the end I didn't want it to end. Now I'm off to the UK version of amazon (amazon.co.uk) to buy the followup by Annie Hawes called Ripe for the Picking, which apparently hasn't been published in the U.S. just yet. FOLLOWUP: I've now read the sequel, Ripe for the Picking, and I'm happy to report the writing and good humor just gets better and better. Of all the books in this genre of "travel memoir" that I've read, I believe I've enjoyed Extra Virgin and Ripe for the Picking the most. Great humor, an affectionate look at the locals, and a healthy dose of wish fulfillment for us all. Under the Tuscan Sun has nothing on this. Enjoy!
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