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A review by kimberussell
Under the Tuscan Sun: 20th-Anniversary Edition by Frances Mayes
2.0
I really wanted to like this book. I wanted this to be a delightful summer book that I could read on my little apartment balcony every summer. It wasn't to be.
Perhaps the book isn't holding up well over time.
I'm practically 40 years old, entering ye olde middle age, and I can't relate with her on any level, especially when she muses about the cook and gardener employed by her family as a child. And with so many friends and loved ones struggling to make ends meet, it's weird to read about a state college professor with all of that savings available to buy a house overseas, pay to have it restored, pay to have the lands maintained while they're gone and pay to fly there and back a few times a year. Wow, 1990s...I didn't know we had it so good.
And with the rise of HGTV and DIY blogs, I'm used to reading about people doing home improvements on their own. But Frances & Ed had many laborers helping them out and a lot of the heavy work seemed to be done while they were back in San Francisco.
My edition had a last chapter that detailed what happened in Cortona since this book was published and it does seem that Frances eventually assimilated with her neighbors much better than she did at first.
Perhaps the book isn't holding up well over time.
I'm practically 40 years old, entering ye olde middle age, and I can't relate with her on any level, especially when she muses about the cook and gardener employed by her family as a child. And with so many friends and loved ones struggling to make ends meet, it's weird to read about a state college professor with all of that savings available to buy a house overseas, pay to have it restored, pay to have the lands maintained while they're gone and pay to fly there and back a few times a year. Wow, 1990s...I didn't know we had it so good.
And with the rise of HGTV and DIY blogs, I'm used to reading about people doing home improvements on their own. But Frances & Ed had many laborers helping them out and a lot of the heavy work seemed to be done while they were back in San Francisco.
My edition had a last chapter that detailed what happened in Cortona since this book was published and it does seem that Frances eventually assimilated with her neighbors much better than she did at first.