Bella Tuscany

By: Frances Mayes

Narrated by: Frances Mayes

Frances Mayes, whose enchanting #1 New York Times bestseller Under the Tuscan Sun made the world fall in love with Tuscany, invites readers back for a delightful new season of friendship, festivity, and food, there and throughout Italy.

Having spent her summers in Tuscany for the past several years, Frances Mayes relished the opportunity to experience the pleasures of primavera, an Italian spring. A sabbatical from teaching in San Francisco allowed her to return to Cortona—and her beloved house, Bramasole—just as the first green appeared on the rocky hillsides.

Bella Tuscany, a companion volume to Under the Tuscan Sun, is her passionate and lyrical account of her continuing love affair with Italy. Now truly at home there, Mayes writes of her deepening connection to the land, her flourishing friendships with local people, the joys of art, food, and wine, and the rewards and occasional heartbreaks of her villa's ongoing restoration. It is also a memoir of a season of change, and of renewed possibility. As spring becomes summer she revives Bramasole's lush gardens, meets the challenges of learning a new language, tours regions from Sicily to the Veneto, and faces transitions in her family life.

Filled with recipes from her Tuscan kitchen and written in the sensuous and evocative prose that has become her hallmark, Bella Tuscany is a celebration of the sweet life in Italy.

©1999 Frances Mayes; (P)1999 Random House, Inc., Bantam Doubleday Dell Audio Publishing, A Division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

Critical Acclaim for Frances Mayes and Under the Tuscan Sun:

"Tuscany may have found its own bard in Frances Mayes."
--New York Times

"This beautifully written memoir about taking chances, living in Italy, loving a house, and always, the pleasures of food, would make a perfect gift for a loved one. But it's so delicious, read it first yourself."
--USA Today

"So enchanting that an armchair traveler will find it hard to resist jumping out of the chair and following in her footsteps."
--Publishers Weekly

"Graceful . . . at once joyful and full of common sense . . . as intimate as a lover's whisper, honest and true."
--San Francisco Chronicle Book Review

"Irresistible . . . a sensuous book for a sensuous countryside."
--Minneapolis Star-Tribune

I really enjoyed the second book. Nice story.

I’ve got used to the voice and I’ve decided that it’s a little bit of a luring rhythmic feeling that brings you someplace where you wish you were

Audiobook version muffled

I have enjoyed learning more about the Tuscany area with the author’s books in this series. While not as good as Under the Tuscan Sun, this story still felt like returning to an old friend.

Unfortunately, the audiobook version of this title is not a clear, crisp recording. It honestly sounds like it was recorded over the phone.

The one area of the story I cringed at was when the author was complaining about how many friends and acquaintances wanted to visit. I hope none of them listened to this book. Entertaining CAN be tedious, but perhaps there was a gentler way to make that point.

Overall, worth reading. And have lots of tomatoes and olive oil on hand.