Under the Tuscan Sun (13)

Title: Under the Tuscan Sun
Author: Frances Mayes
Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir

There are two or three books I very much looking forward to re-reading in the first quarter of every year. This is one of them. So I'm just going to quote myself from last year:

This is another re-read and again I deem that to be quite ok. If there were ever a book that you should read first or better yet instead of seeing the movie it is this one. The movie is fine as a typical chick flick but it really has no relation all to the book other than the name and a very few details. The specifics, the story, the feelings, the mood, the impressions you are left with are night and day different from the book to the movie.

The book is earnest, beautifully written, heartfelt and a tiny bit melodramatic in just the right places. I very much enjoyed reading it and being transported not just to another place but to another life and another kind of living. As I approach the next chapter in my life I hope to carry some memories and inspirations from this book with me. Such as finding the house you can really love and make a home in. Finding joy and contentment in the manual labor associated with your house and home and finding a place in the community you've chosen to settle in. Those things brought so very much joy and deep happiness to the author I can't help but hope to follow, in spirit, in her footsteps.