Wandering Through Life

by Donna Leon

The internationally bestselling author of the Guido Brunetti mysteries tells her own adventurous life story as she enters her eighties

In a series of vignettes full of affection, irony, and good humor, Donna Leon narrates a remarkable life she feels has rather more happened to her than been planned.

Following a childhood in the company of her New Jersey family, with frequent visits to her grandfather’s farm and its beloved animals, and summers spent selling homegrown tomatoes by the roadside, Leon got her first taste of the classical music and opera that would enrich her life. She also developed a yen for adventure. In 1976, she made the spontaneous decision to teach English in Iran, before finding herself swept up in the early days of the 1979 Revolution. After teaching stints in China and Saudi Arabia, she finally landed in Venice. Leon vividly animates her decades-long love affair with Italy, from her first magical dinner when serving as a chaperone to a friend, to the hunt for the perfect cappuccino, to the warfare tactics of grandmothers doing their grocery shopping at the Rialto Market. Some things remain constant throughout the decades: her adoration of opera, especially Handel’s vocal music, her advocacy for the environment, embodied in her passion for bees—which informs the surprising crux of the Brunetti mystery in Earthly Remains. Yet as Leon inspects the cracks in the wall of a friend’s bedroom, caused by vibrations from the seven-story cruise ships making their way down Venice’s canals, she admits regretfully that mass tourism has rendered the city less and less appealing to its longtime chronicler. 

Having recently celebrated her eightieth birthday, Leon poignantly confronts the challenges of aging. Complete with a brief letter dissuading those hoping to meet Guido Brunetti at the Questura, and always suffused with
music, food, and her fierce sense of humor, Wandering through Life offers Donna Leon at her most personal. 

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Biography, Italy, Audiobook, Autobiography, Biography Memoir

208 pages, Hardcover

Published September 19, 2023

About the author

Donna Leon (born September 29, 1942, in Montclair, New Jersey) is an American author of a series of crime novels set in Venice and featuring the fictional hero Commissario Guido Brunetti.

Donna Leon has lived in Venice for over twenty-five years. She has worked as a lecturer in English Literature for the University of Maryland University College - Europe (UMUC-Europe) in Italy, then as a Professor from 1981 to 1999 at the american military base of Vicenza (Italy) and a writer.

Her crime novels are all situated in or near Venice. They are written in English and translated into many foreign languages, although not, by her request, into Italian. Her ninth Brunetti novel, Friends in High Places, won the Crime Writers' Association Silver Dagger in 2000.

Series:
* Commissario Brunetti

Reviews

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wandering Through Life is aptly named. Leon refers numerous times to her lack of a life plan or higher purpose, her lack of ambition and her shiftless nature. She blames her nature on her mother, a carefree happy woman who passed her temperament on to Donna. Although I chuckled that someone that thinks of herself as lacking ambition has managed to write 32 books!
It’s not a typical memoir, more like a series of vignettes. Those who go in expecting a straightforward story of her life will be disappointed. Leon’s times teaching in Iran, China, Saudi Arabia and on an American army base in Italy lend themselves to some interesting points about the various countries and the differences in American societal classes.
Of course, what most readers will be interested in is how she came to write about Italy, specifically Venice. Her description of Italy on her first visit “It was a bit like Alice in Wonderland: I was in a place where I did not understand much except that I knew I liked it.” But she doesn’t really write about her books or how she got started on Brunetti. (I did chuckle that Leon wrote a letter for the Questore to hand out to tourists that come looking for Brunetti.) I, for one, would have liked a chapter on what drew her to try her hand at writing and how she created her iconic character, Guido Brunetti. I was interested in the chapter on her research, for which she uses bees as an example, and its effects on her social life.
I found the book uneven. Some parts were fascinating; others I found myself skimming from boredom. For example, several of the vignettes are about Venice. I was less than impressed by reading about her friend constructing a gondola. The story of Artu, the singing dachshund, was at least humorous. But I was fascinated by the pollution and the destruction that the cruise ships are causing.
My thanks to Netgalley and Grove Atlantic for an advance copy of this book.

[Andrew Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve been an avid reader of Donna Leon’s Venice based Commissario Brunetti mysteries for many years, reading all thirty two episodes and also passing many of them on to my late mum, who eagerly gobbled them up too. So when I spotted that she’d written a memoir, I was really keen to get hold of a copy at the earliest opportunity. But having read it, I’m not quite sure what to make of it. It certainly wasn’t quite what I was expecting.

What I was expecting - perhaps what I was hoping for – was something that would, at least in part, lead me through the journey the author went on whilst writing the Brunetti books: what inspired her, how she gathered information on how policing works in the city, what the catalyst for some of her stories was. In fact, there was only one short section that touched on these books, and this was only in passing.

Does this make it a bad book? No, of course not. Instead, there are many pleasant surprises here as we learn of the author’s early life in America and the wanderlust that subsequently took her all over the world, often at the drop of a hat and with no real means of supporting a lengthy trip abroad. The early sections are anecdotes from her youth, with a particular light shining on her truly inspiring mother, and focus then moves to some memorable episodes from her travels. Later, there are sections focussing on her discovery of Italy, a country she formed a lifelong love affair with, and also her home in Switzerland. Her last piece is a reflection on ageing; Donna has now turned eighty, and yet it’s clear she has adopted a constructive and pragmatic outlook in terms of where she is on her journey through life.

The book really feels like a random collection of memories and adventures but laid out in chronological order. Beyond her early years in America, there is actually very little here about Donna’s personal life, other than references to a number of friendships she built up over the years. The picture it paints is that of a person who has taken chances and been expansive in how she’s chosen to lead her life - a very full life. But it’s a relatively short book, and I just wish there had been more here about her writing. I enjoyed my time with it, but it does feel a bit like a meal that’s missing a course.

My thanks to Grove Atlantic for providing an early reader copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Sharon Orlopp · Rating 3 out of 5]

Donna Leon's memoir, Wandering through Life: A Memoir, was written while in her eighties. She is a well known fiction author of crime novels set in Venice, Italy. I am not familiar with her books but look forward to reading them.

She was born in Montclair, NJ and was teaching in Iran while obtaining her PhD when the Iranian revolution of 1978-79 caused her departure.

Memoir is my favorite genre, particularly of strong, independent women. I listened to this on audiobook; it is narrated by Suzanne Toren. It was an okay read with a pace that was slower than I prefer.

[Shereadbookblog · Rating 5 out of 5]

I do not typically read memoirs. However, I LOVE Donna Leon’s Guido Brunetti police procedurals/mysteries set in Venice. I have read all thirty two of them. Naturally, I just had to read her memoir.

Written in her 80th year, and told through a series of vignettes, Leon recalls her very colorful history in the United States, teaching in Iran, China, and Saudi Arabia, and settling in Italy. A short book, I’m not going to try to detail the various accounts as I couldn’t possibly do them justice. Just know that she writes with humor and warmth about her quirky family (aren’t they all?), friends, and life in her adopted countries.

As in her novels, there are wonderful characterizations and sharp observations of life that are right on target.
Even if you have never read any of her books, you may well enjoy these slices of Leon’s life, specific to her, but also many that can be generalized to others.

On a personal level, I was particularly amused by the letter she has had to write for the Questura in Venice to hand to visitors who stop there wanting to see Brunetti and his colorful associates. I have to admit that the last time I was in Venice I spent an afternoon on my own Brunetti tour, visiting places that were scenes in the various novels and some of his favorite haunts. I didn’t invade the Questura, but stood on a nearby bridge for photos and, of course, stopped for a coffee and tramezzini.

Thanks to #netgalley and #groveatlantic #atlanticmonthlypress for the ARC.

[Marianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5★s
“The process of memory is odd, isn’t it? Do we remember things because we were there and saw them, or because we’ve been told them so often that they’ve been forced to become real?”

Wandering Through Life is a very aptly titled memoir by the award-winning American author of the Commissario Brunetti series, Donna Leon. It is presented in the format of thirty essays on a variety of topics. As she writes in her eightieth year, she has quite a life on which to look back.

Leon notes that even at eighty, orchestra and writing keep her occupied. She mentions Irish and Italian immigrant grandfathers, remembers living on her grandfather’s farm for a year at the age of seven.

She offers a variation on Tolstoy’s observation about families: “What families are each in their own way is weird.” She goes on to mention quirky aunts and uncles: a rumoured lover of Isadora Duncan; a card cheat; a plumber. She remembers her mother Mildred, known to all as Moo, a trusted keeper of secrets whose happiness she passed on to her children, and recalls her mother’s restless energy that contributed to an annual Halloween costume for the family dog, trick or treating.

Leon describes first learning to read, and discovering what became a lifelong fascination with, and love of language: “while still a child I had examples of the miraculous deceitfulness of written words that confuse with their sound and spoken words that seem to have the right to mean whatever they please. Because I am a native English speaker, this untrustworthiness is a source of delight, not frustration. Further, it seems to me that English, and the English, are much given to this sort of verbal nonsense.”

She shares amusing anecdotes about selling tomatoes to fund college, and her mother’s disastrous Christmas turkey. She confesses her love of Tosca, of Handel; and she has a moan about music pollution.

She describes the career path that ultimately brought her to Italy: four years of teaching English to trainee helicopter pilots in Iran in the late seventies, living under martial law, friendly and generous neighbours, and curfew pyjama parties and. Eventually, evacuation.

From there, teaching in China with daughters of loyal Party members as translators. Where she discovers her students’ Anglophone-writer-acquired prejudice against blacks and Jews, and their embarrassment over love sonnets.

Then to teaching in Saudi Arabia, where boredom leads to the creation, with her colleagues, of a board game, $audiopoly. In a country of no alcohol and no pork and where every Saudi student had to be passed regardless of academic ability, their customised game cards were a little subversive.

From teaching English to US Army recruits in Venice, Leon jumps to her first taste of Italy, a year with a college friend in which she fell in love with the people and the country.

In Venice she describes the search for the perfect cappuccino, an encounter with a lover of Wagner, being drawn to Handel’s Messiah through thick fog, a well-dressed, well-shod not-plumber, and the old Venetian matrons whose shopping technique takes a leaf out of a Prussian war writer’s book.

She tells of the ambitious build of a gondola by an American, and the detrimental effects on the city of the continuous engine vibration of exhaust-emitting cruise ships. She comments on post office efficiency, and her own criminal imagination of those she observes around her, and she shares a letter to Brunetti tourists that she was asked to write by the Questura.

Leon describes the joy of train trips and the food sharing that entails, her attachment to a feral cat, how her new garden led to a fascination with bees which meant inclusion into a novel; she fangirls Handel; and, finally, she muses on ageing. An interesting, occasionally thought-provoking, and entertaining read.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Grove Atlantic.

[eyes.2c · Rating 4 out of 5]

Varied life—in Venice and beyond.

How could one not be tempted by a look at Donna Leon’s life, the author of my favorite Venetian detective. A man who’s philosophical journeying must have something of his creator instilled in home.
‘Wandering Through Life’ is more a meander, with Leon’s journeys and reflections on things making for interesting a Window into her background.
However, back to Commissario Brunetti and my fascination, and can I say disbelief, that tourists have been plaguing the Questera of Venice looking for the fictional detective at the Polizia di Stato. Leon was called on to help. Which she did with her signature aplomb.
Leon’s life, her travels, and her disgruntlement with tourists all make for ready reading.
Short and descriptive chapters of life according to Leon, this memoir is a must for all fans.

A Grove Atlantic ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

[KOMET · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best-selling author of the Commissario Brunetti mystery novels, Donna Leon has written a fascinating memoir, Wandering through Life, which is aptly described as "a series of vignettes full of affection, irony, and good humor" about her life which she maintains "has rather more happened to her than has been planned."

Leon begins the memoir by sharing with the reader her family origins, which are rooted in Germany and Latin America. She was a child of the 1940s and 1950s in New Jersey, and speaks at some length about the times she and her older brother spent on her maternal grandfather's farm in New Jersey, which he had developed into a diverse business enterprise, hiring seasonal employees (i.e., Irish immigrant men to whom he offered employment) to help him till the soil, raise the chickens and pigs who would later be slaughtered for meat, and sell other produce to the public that was generated yearly. I especially enjoyed Leon's description of her mother, as well as her telling of the influence her parents had on the lives of herself and her brother. They were not demanding parents who expected their children to aspire for specific careers in, say, medicine or law. But rather to be self-reliant and forge a livelihood that matched their own inclinations and desires.

So, it was that Leon, after living through her 20s and early 30s as a student much absorbed in academia and travel, took on teaching stints in pre-revolutionary Iran, China (during the late 1970s), Saudi Arabia, and Italy - where from the early 1980s, she taught English literature for a time to U.S. military personnel on an Army base, and later settled in Venice.

Leon speaks on many subjects that have piqued her interest through the years. Chief among her passions is opera, which I remember her speaking about at some length at a reading she gave about a decade ago in a local bookstore. I found her to be very engaging and the manner in which she spoke about the writing process made me feel, perhaps, that some day, I, too, could write a novel or two.

In the memoir's final chapter (entitled "Miss Brill" so named after a character in a Katherine Mansfield short story), Leon relates to the reader the revelation she experienced one day while working in her garden and found a task that once came easily to her, now difficult to do on account of age. It made me think of some of the physical challenges this year that, I, as a late stage Baby Boomer, experienced when I developed age-related lumbar issues and an arthritic hip. The following remarks made by Leon resonated very deeply with me: "... when we can't do something we once did with ease, we can't look away from it and pretend it didn't happen. ... As we approach the other end of life, ... , society washes its hands of us. Suddenly, there are no laws that will protect us from our own reckless choices. The same societies that do not hesitate to interfere in the private lives of people near the beginning of their lives refuse to accept responsibility when the same people are nearing the other end."

Wandering through Life is a delightful and engaging memoir that can be easily read in a few hours or over a couple of days. I recommend it to anyone who is a Donna Leon fan.

[Lilisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Donna Leon’s Commissario Guido Brunetti series, so when I saw she published a memoir, I had to find out more about the creator of this awesome character. I had the benefit of watching an interview she she did about her memoir, so got a sense of her personality and I didn’t expect this book it to be a “tell all.” She has a great sense of humor - self deprecating, dry, and tongue in cheek - which is quite evident in her book. What was interesting was her approach to life and the jobs that took her to various countries. I imagine her keen insight into people, what motivates them, and her empathy for them - as she so aptly demonstrates in Brunetti series - has been greatly honed by her lived experiences. I enjoyed her wit and observations about people and how she’s lived her life, or at least what she shared in the book. While she shared somewhat about her personal life, I got the sense she held back a lot, which was just fine. I actually liked thot she didn’t overshare - she retained her personal privacy and mystique. While she is aware that time is marching on - she’ll be 81 years old in a couple of weeks - she’s hoping she has more on Guido Brunetti to come. I most certainly hope so too! Thanks Ms. Leon for the opportunity to peek a bit into the mind and life of Guido Brunetti’s creator! Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

[Nina Pernina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t have a lot to say about this book. It’s short and we readers got only a glimpse of Donna Leon’s life. In this book she is writing about random things and events from her life, but what surprised me the most was the fact, that even in her short wanderings I got the idea of what kind of a person Donna Leon was. Her little remarks that were inserted between the lines showed how well educated she was, full of life, fearless, confident and her open minded spirit it is also shown through her fictional work of commissario Brunetti.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher Grove Atlantic for the ARC copy in return for my honest review.

[Anne Slater · Rating 1 out of 5]

The first quarter was interesting and informative, the rest just rambles and didn't enlighten me one iota.
When did she learn Italian? How did she get such deep information about the Venetian police force?
What about her unmentioned private life, friends, travel adventures..... I can't even remember the 3-4 pages I just turned because they had nothing to do with Donna Leon, writing, life in general.

I was really disappointed.

[Wendelle]

this is not a long-winded memoir, but rather a series of pieces of memories and reflections that stand out in nostalgia in the long and storied life of Donna Leon, author of the Commissario Brunetti series that solidified Venice as a noir site in the mystery-genre map. Pieces include tales about her childhood in her German-American grandfather's traditional farm, her youth as an aimless and wandering literature scholar pursuing the next fortuitous position in teaching appointments in Iran, China, Saudi Arabia and finally Venice where she spent decades of residence. She was, as she put it, untroubled by pension plans or stable jobs and cast about for the next joyful adventure until she found in Italy a place of lingering enchantment. Donna is also brief and blunt in her opinions, a product partly perhaps of an observant profession and a solitary personality, so there are also uncurbed reflections on things such as the ground-thumping and wall-cracking and pool-polluting effects of the presence of cruise ships on Venice, and the toll of the footfall of 30 million annual tourists that led her to decide to depart from the city.

[Ray Palen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author Donna Leon is specifically known as the best-selling author of one of the most beloved and enduring crime series in the world --- the Commissario Guido Brunetti novels set in the wonderous city of Venice, Italy. WANDERING THROUGH LIFE is her first memoir about her own life and, in typical Leon fashion, is put together in a very original way.

It follows chronological order but is unpacked for readers in the former of mini vignettes rather than your typical traditional bio work. The most wonderful thing about it is that her faithful legion of readers will finally be able to get a glimpse behind Leon’s persona to see what makes her tick and the journey that took her to the world of best-selling crime fiction.

Now, at age eighty-one, Leon felt the need to look backwards and it is a pleasant trip down memory lane. One theme that clearly jumps off of the page is Leon’s love of reading and literature, as this memoir is filled with plenty of literary references. She begins the discussion about the family she was raised with by comparing them to a quote from Anna Karenina about happy families being the same and unhappy ones being unhappy in their own way.

She refers to the relatives on the outskirts of her immediate family as being similar to the obscure characters that have been known to inhabit the work of Charles Dickens like the infamous Uriah Heep. Leon’s childhood was a happy one and she particularly remembers learning the joy of reading at an early age with childhood classics like The Three Billy Goats Gruff and Little Red Riding Hood being personal favorites.

Her love of Italy and all things Italian can be traced to the Opera Tosca, which she caught in New York whenever she could. She also remembers the time spent north of NYC on a family farm like the one her mother was raised at. Leon enjoyed the bucolic life but also recalls her mother taking her to the library and reading to her from books by great authors such as Austen, Dickens, Thackeray, Ross MacDonald, Ruth Rendell, and Fielding. It is easy to see where she got her influences for her own work.

As a young woman, Donna Leon taught English Language abroad in places like the Middle East and China. She delighted in experiencing foreign cultures and this gave her the desire to always travel and explore the world around her. It was when she accompanied her friend on a trip to Naples, Italy, that she felt truly at home and did not want to leave. This led to further exploration of the country and falling in love with the very same Venice where she eventually relocated to and based her beloved long-standing series within.

While in Venice, Leon became enamored with the gondola as a form of transportation --- one which Guido Brunetti often finds himself on when traveling from the Questura to various crime scenes. It was when she was living in Venice that Leon wrote an introduction that is still posted at the local Questura for travelers who might venture there to get a look at the place their beloved fictional detective Guido Brunetti worked at. I would give anything to be able to experience that welcome letter!

Leon now finds herself living primarily in Switzerland but still spends time in Italy. WANDERING THROUGH LIFE is an eye-opening read that truly fills in the blanks on author Donna Leon while still maintaining enough of a distance to still give readers plenty of secrets still to be uncovered about her. Most of all, it makes me eagerly await her next Brunetti novel which is always a perennial favorite task of mine.


Reviewed by Ray Palen for Book Reporter

[Javier · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5 ⭐️

He sido un lector ávido de la serie del Comisario Brunetti desde mi adolescencia. Saber que todos los años voy a tener la oportunidad de reencontrarme con personajes que son como si fuesen familia es toda una alegría y, después de 32 entregas (la número 33 se publicará en unas semanas), estaba deseando conocer un poco más a la mujer que se esconde detrás de esos personajes que tan buenos ratos me han hecho pasar a lo largo de los años.

“Una historia propia” no son unas memorias al uso, sino más bien un conjunto de recuerdos (sobre su infancia y la influencia materna), anécdotas y reflexiones acerca de sus viajes, sus pasiones (la ópera) o temas que le preocupan (cómo el turismo está acabando con la ciudad de Venecia).

Quizás las expectativas que me formé antes de leerlo me jugaron una pequeña mala pasada, ya que iba esperando descubrir más acerca de su escritura, que le llevó a iniciarse en la novela negra, la creación de sus personajes, su proceso creativo…en definitiva, todo aquello que cualquier lector que admira a un autor quiere saber de éste. No hay ningún capítulo donde se aborden directamente sus libros o la figura de Brunetti más allá de uno en el que relata cómo fue el proceso de documentación para la trama de una de sus novelas.

No obstante, algunas de las experiencias que relata me resultaron muy interesantes, especialmente aquellos capítulos en los que habla acerca de sus viajes y su trabajo como profesora de inglés en lugares tan dispares como Irán o China.

La última parte del libro se centra en su descubrimiento de Italia y de Venecia, y su historia de “amor” con la ciudad a lo largo de décadas.

Leon elige seguir siendo un misterio para sus lectores y apenas hay información acerca de su vida personal más allá de algunas de las amistades que ha ido forjando con los años.

A pesar de que quizás esperaba más de esta obra, me ha permitido descubrir algunos episodios curiosos de la vida de una autora que lleva años acompañándome y que lo seguirá haciendo, porque volver a Venecia y a Brunetti es siempre un placer.

Como detalle original, incluye la carta que escribió al Questore de la ciudad de Venecia para entregar a los turistas que llegan a la comisaría buscando a Brunetti, Vianello, la signorina Elettra y cía.

[Armin Klica · Rating 3 out of 5]

„In der Kindheit sehen wir die eigene Sippe noch als Maßstab an, was ganz natürlich ist, schließlich wachsen wir darin auf, übernehmen ihre Redeweise, ihre gesellschaftlichen und finanzpolitischen Ansichten, ihre Art, mit Stress umzugehen, mit Alkohol oder dem Gesetz.“

Donna Leon hat ein Leben in vielen Geschichten gelebt und niedergeschrieben. Sie erzählt, wie sie in Amerika aufgewachsen ist, ihre Jugend verbracht hat und sie schreibt über ihre Herkunft und Familie.

Leon berichtet auch von ihren Aufenthalten im Iran, in Saudi-Arabien, Italien und der Schweiz, wo sie heute lebt. Egal, wo sie sich aufhält, es wartet stets ein Abenteuer darauf, von ihr erzählt und erlebt zu werden.
Sie ist vor allem bekannt für ihre Krimi-Reihe mit Commissario Brunetti, der in Venedig Fälle löst.

Da ich bisher noch nichts von Donna Leon gelesen habe, haben mir Annette und Shelly bei der BuchBasel geraten, dieses Buch zu lesen. Ich habe es gern gelesen, denn Donna hat viel gelernt, überstanden und niedergeschrieben. Auch wenn mich dieses Buch nicht dazu gebracht hat, ihre Krimis lesen zu wollen, fand ich es faszinierend, ihre Lebensreise zu verfolgen. Selbst wenn sie für sich mittlerweile festgestellt hat, dass sie ‚anziane‘ ist, bleibt sie ein Leben in Geschichten.

„Wenn wir aber etwas, was wir immer getan haben, auf einmal nicht mehr mit Leichtigkeit schaffen, können wir nicht einfach wegsehen und so tun, als wäre nichts geschehen.“

[Biblio Files (takingadayoff) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes it's hard to decide whether a book is a memoir or an autobiography. This time it's easy, it's right in the subtitle -- A Memoir. Aside from that obvious clue, there's the fact that Leon stays close to the amusing vignette lane, never venturing into difficult or revealing territory. She had a happy childhood and a series of adventures abroad in adulthood, but despite stays in Iran at the outset of the Revolution, an American military base in Italy at the end of the Cold War, and stints in China and Saudi Arabia teaching English, her life, as told in this book, has been a series of lucky breaks. There is little about her relationships with other people other than her mother and brother. She tells us about her love of opera and her fascination with bees. For fans of Donna Leon who want some pleasant after-dinner stories told by a favorite author, this will fill the bill. Those hoping to find insight into the person or a glimpse into the working life of a writer, may be disappointed. Thanks to NetGalley and Atlantic Monthly Press for a digital review copy.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

Wandering through Life is a thoughtful and well written memoir by Donna Leon. Released 19th Sept 2023 by Grove Atlantic, it's 208 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats.

Donna Leon has enjoyed remarkable longevity as an author, and a wonderfully broad number of different careers over the 8 decades of her well-lived life. This is a meandering and unhurried series of vignettes detailing some of her experiences. Biography fans who look forward to facts and dates will have to dig a bit deeper; this volume is presented as a series of recollections, gathered loosely thematically: America (early life), wandering the globe, Italy, and later experiences living in Switzerland and elsewhere.

The pacing is very slow, meandering, and full of reminiscence. She writes with wit and humor about her long life and career as an author.

Four stars. Enjoyable, especially for readers who are already fans. It would make a good choice for gifting or public library acquisition.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes

[Hanna Gil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Comissario Brunetti is one of my favorite mystery characters, and for years I enthusiastically followed him on the streets of Venice. So when I learned that Donna Leon wrote a memoir, I got excited to learn more about the woman who created not only Brunetti but also Paula, Signorina Elettra, Vianello, and Patta. I knew she was an American living in Venice, and she had been living my dream. Venice is one city that enchanted me the first time I went there. Even with crowds of tourists, I could easily imagine myself wandering the streets, drinking coffee, checking the hidden places, getting lost in narrow streets only to finally get to the Grand Canal and look at its beauty again. And then… the history. What can be told of a city that brought us Casanova?

Donna Leon starts her memoir fondly recalling one year when her family moved to a small house on the farm, then proceeds to the next phase of her life: the university years, first studying, then teaching. She was a curious, adventurous young woman who loved exploring new places and countries, not as a tourist but as a temporary resident. She spent almost four years living and teaching in Iran and then moved to China to teach English. And then, Donna happily agreed when her Italian-American friend Anita suggested she join her to go to Italy because she would study there. It's important to know that Donna Leon's roots are Irish, Latin American, and German. Her blood shows no trace of Italian heritage; her love for Italy is evident.

This is a memoir for people who don't want to read long, chronological stories about someone's life, no matter how interesting the person can be. "Wandering through Life" consists of essays, and such a format reads almost like a friendly conversation with the author. I especially enjoyed the story about the challenges of going to the Italian post office and another describing the older women at Italian stores "waiting" in a queue. They offered me a glimpse into everyday Italy and did it better than lengthy descriptions.

And then, after the charming and often touching pieces, Donna Leon addresses the subject of getting old at the end of her beautiful memoir. The last pages are filled with wisdom, as only "wandering through life" with one's eyes – and heart – open can bring.

[Nora · Rating 4 out of 5]

An intriguing look into the life of one of my favourite mystery writers.

[Ros Gaz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was hoping for a bit more life detail from the writer of the excellent Guido Brunetti crime series - this was short episodes from what has probably been an unusual and interesting life.

[Tiina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essays on snippets of her life, truly wanderings as the title says. I enjoyed the audiobook, but wanted more Italy! More 3,5 stars but rounded up for the sheer coolness of the cover.

[Judie · Rating 5 out of 5]

In WANDERING THROUGH LIFE, Donna Leon tells the personal and extremely interesting story of her life in a delightful manner. Each chapter focuses on a different aspect as she grows and moves around the globe.
She describes her family’s background and her early childhood in New Jersey. Her German grandfather made it a condition of employment on his farm that the itinerant men he hired gave him 25% of their salaries, which he sent back to their families.
In another chapter she describes the clever way her brother saved a lot of money when the apartment building he managed switched from oil burners to gas heat.
She notes that children don’t recognize the weirdness in their own families. They are too busy observing and learning.
When she discovered discovering that words could mean different things as opposed to objects which like a bicycle moves forward and a ball runs downhill she became enthralled with words.
She later taught English in Iran and was there when the Shah was overthrown. She and her friends created a game they called $audioply to play when they were caught after hours and could not be outside. They referred to it as “a bored game.” When she left Iran, the government confiscated all her papers, including the final draft of her doctoral dissertation on the changing moral order in the world of Jane Austen‘s novels. She decided to not continue her studies.
In 1979, she became a professor of English literature in China. The students had many misconceptions, particularly about Blacks and Jews. Considering they had never met anyone from those groups, she realized it was the most likely result of what did they’d read from Anglophone writers.
She gave a lecture about the stock market. The students were stunned with the idea of private property and companies, buying stock, and profiting without working.
Eventually she arrived in Italy where she fell in love with the people and the country and made it her home.
Leon discusses Italian war through the perspective of little, old Italian women. Their mission is to cut in to the front of the line at stores and markets. She explains their strategy, the reaction of other people who were in line ahead of them, and how they respond to not being able to complete their mission. At the end, she offers a reason for their actions: Consider for a moment, how little honor and renown left these women as they move toward the end of their lives; consider a shrunken are there, battlefields, or once, in the youth in their prime, they could do come badge in search of respect and power. Strength gone, perhaps, widowed or living alone, they’re forced to use other means to obtain victory.
She explains the difference on a train between authors and traditional passengers. The passengers see the landscape and the tunnel ahead of them. The author imagines what disaster can happen in the tunnel.
When an author wants to write about a topic, they do a lot of research first. Her chapter about bees is a fantastic example.
It was a pleasure to read the very untypical story of how one of my favorite authors, Donna Leon, came to be the person she is.

[Yoshida Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely book on a life well lived

I have enjoyed reading every book that Donna Leon has written and published and this Memoir is wonderful, just like having Donna Leon seated next to you, sharing a glorious conversation.

[Linda S. Sabatka-Crappe · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable read, this book was a series of vignettes drawn from her observations & experiences but I don’t know much more about the author herself. I’d have especially liked to read more about her decades living in Venice (she moved to Switzerland to escape the tourist hordes), & of course about her writing. She’s 81 & I wish her a very long life & the writing of many more Commissario Brunetti books, probably my favorite character in literature.

[Pietro · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Wandering Through Life” is an aptly named and interesting memoir. The reader should keep in mind that it is composed of a series of vignettes (as indicated by the publisher’s description) because it does jump from topic to topic, although moving in a roughly chronological fashion. It does not cover everything that has happened in the author’s life and I think that some readers are going to be disappointed by this. I found the vignettes (chapters) a bit uneven; some were fascinating but others less so. I loved many of her descriptions about teaching in Iran, China, and Saudi Arabia, and the insight that she gained as an American, as a woman, and as an educator in these places. I also loved many of her anecdotes about life in Italy, although some seemed unfinished. However, I wish that there was more discussion about the “Guido Brunetti” series of books that she is best known for (there is really just one chapter). I was left with the sense that she didn’t want to say much more, and while I understand that some authors do not want to over-explain their characters I was left without much of an idea as to how she became a writer and why she wrote this series. She has a lot to say about being a teacher of English literature and a bit to say about her curiosity and imagination, especially connected to envisioning criminal activity, but nothing about why she started to write and wrote what she did. I was left wanting more and I think that many longtime Brunetti fans will be as well, but I did enjoy what she did share. Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book before publication.

[Papier.fliegerin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Darum geht es:
Donna Leon hat viel erlebt, in Amerika, dem Iran, Saudi-Arabien, Italien natürlich oder in der Schweiz. Kaum aber passiert ihr ein Abenteuer, wird auch schon eine spannende Geschichte daraus. Sie erzählt uns von ihrer Jugend auf der Farm und von Sperrstunden-Pyjamapartys im Iran, Geldnot und einem Fiat 600. Davon, wie sie als »Anstandsdame« nach Italien kam, von der Jagd nach dem perfekten Cappuccino und kleinen Wundern in den Bergen.
Ich habe mich in Venedig verliebt, und seitdem liebe ich auch die Brunetti-Romane von Donna Leon. Wenn ich Fernweh habe, wandere ich mit Brunetti durch die Straßen von Venedig.
Doch wer steckt hinter den Brunetti-Romanen?
In „Ein Leben in Geschichten“ erzählt Donna Leon in kurzen Geschichten/ Anekdoten aus ihrem Leben: Ihre Kindheit in Amerika, ihr Verhältnis zu ihrer Mutter, ihrer Lehrtätigkeit im Iran und in China, ihr Leben in Venedig und in der Schweiz.
Donna Leon hatte bisher ein spannendes Leben, doch bleibt dieses Leben in ihren Erzählungen nur an der Oberfläche. Wir haben keine Chance die Autorin kennenzulernen, aber für mich ist dies völlig in Ordnung. Jeder bestimmt selbst über sein Privatleben und was davon nach außen dringt.
Mir haben die kleinen Anekdoten gut gefallen, beleuchten sie doch etwas diese interessante Autorin!

4 von 5 Sterne

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Donna Leon, author of the popular mystery series featuring detective Guido Brunetti, tells her own life story here, which is as wonderous and exciting as any Brunetti book she has written. As a child of seven, she lived on her grandfather’s farm where she thought it wonderful when chickens ran around with their heads cut off during slaughter time (although it sounds grotesque to her now) and tells of the shock she felt when she watched pigs being slaughtered (since they gave them names, scratched behind their ears, laughed at their wallowing). Then, there is her first day of school, not realizing that going along with her older brother to school was to be her first day of school. She cried and screamed as her mother drove off in the car. There is a whole cast of characters in her family……her mother who chain smoked, loved a drink; her mother’s three aunts who lived together in a twelve-room house; Uncle Joe the plumber. From teaching English in Iran, China, to creating the board game, $audiopoly, you’ll find out about the cast of characters in Leon’s personal life and what she is up to, now that she is in her eighties.

[Roger Woods · Rating 3 out of 5]

Elegantly written but fairly lightweight this book describes various miscellaneous times in Donna Leon's life. Each chapter stands alone like a series of essays or articles.

[Bookreporter.com Biography & Memoir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Donna Leon is the bestselling author of the Commissario Guido Brunetti novels, one of the world’s most beloved and enduring crime series, set in the wondrous city of Venice, Italy.

Now Leon has penned a memoir, WANDERING THROUGH LIFE, that is put together in a very original way. It is told chronologically but is unpacked in the form of mini-vignettes. Fans of her work finally will get a glimpse behind her persona to see what makes her tick and the journey that drew her to crime fiction. Now in her 80s, Leon felt the need to look backwards, and it is a pleasant trip down memory lane.

One theme that clearly jumps off the page is her love of reading and literature, as the book is filled with plenty of literary references. She begins the discussion about her family with a quote from ANNA KARENINA: “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Leon refers to the relatives on the outskirts of her immediate family as being similar to the obscure characters who have been known to inhabit the work of Charles Dickens, such as the infamous Uriah Heep. Her childhood was a happy one, and she remembers learning the joy of reading at an early age. Her personal favorites included THE THREE BILLY GOATS GRUFF and LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD.

Leon’s love of Italy and all things Italian can be traced to the opera "Tosca," which she caught in New York whenever she could. She also remembers the time spent north of New York City on a family farm much like the one where her mother was raised. Leon enjoyed the bucolic life but also recalls going to the library with her mother, who enjoyed reading books by such authors as Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, William Makepeace Thackeray, Ross Macdonald and Ruth Rendell. It’s easy to see where she got her influences for her own work.

As a young woman, Leon taught English abroad in places like the Middle East and China. She delighted in experiencing foreign cultures, which gave her the desire to travel regularly and explore the world around her. It was when she accompanied her friend on a trip to Naples, Italy, that she felt truly at home and did not want to leave. This led to further exploration of the country and falling in love with the very same Venice where she eventually relocated and set her iconic series.

While in Venice, Leon became enamored of the gondola as a form of transportation. It’s no coincidence that Guido Brunetti often finds himself on a gondola when traveling from the Questura to various crime scenes. Leon wrote an amusing letter that is still posted at the local Questura to travelers hoping to meet her fictional detective. I would give anything to be able to experience this!

WANDERING THROUGH LIFE is an eye-opening read that truly fills in the blanks of Leon's life while maintaining enough of a distance so that readers still will have plenty to learn about her. Most of all, it makes me eagerly await her next Brunetti novel, which cannot come fast enough.

Reviewed by Ray Palen

[Jeanette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh did I want to give this a 4 or 5 star rating. Sorry, it's just not. It's a full 3.5 star or 4 in parts for prose form and mood nuance for sure. But soul of Leon? Do NOT expect exposure.

Donna Leon tells us about Donna Leon. Is it a autobiography? Is it a memoir? Hmmmmmm! Rather more a piecemeal set of essays from different periods/ adventures she has lived.

This didn't really disappoint but it surprised me. How can she complete so many tales/ pages/ exploits and still not much reveal physical/ mental core of HERSELF?? Other than her love of opera and classical music as the exception to that sharing of herself. THAT she portrays to a 5 star level.

Well I have come to a personal conclusion. Her Brunetti series is my favorite of all time and this is my summation. I could but won't go long. She IS Paola Brunetti, despite not having a drop of Italian blood or DNA. Just as brilliant, just as selfish, just as SNOBBY, just as pretentious, and absolutely as self-arrogantly sure of her own judgmental superiority. Mostly she is also correct. About all those attributes. But her total sense of adventure, her willingness to trust in the good luck of the fates or karma, her TOTAL self sufficiency and separateness of preferred solitary enjoyments; these didn't as closely parse with her Paola character.

Loved the chapters on opera, the cafes preferred, the cruise ships in Venice especially. Wish she wouldn't have included some others; her preach/teach on bees or her Saudi Arabia version of Monopoly or how her friend spent years building his gondola come to mind. But even those were well and wittily written.

She is her best at detesting and complaining or rejecting- and those pieces filled with those quests / methods were all 4 stars. And the one where she recognizes her own aging WAS 5 stars. Moving that hose and then moving to Switzerland. The same thing just happened to me this last year and I know 80 will be no picnic.

But STILL- we know some attributes but of Donna love life or personal family connection? Just a few stories of friends remembered. For having no ambition and just going from continent to continent and doing the least teaching she could? Well, regardless- BRAVA Donna Leon. I do hope Brunetti series goes on for 5 or 6 more novels. There is SO much more meat to chew.

Have to add. She is exactly the kind of woman I have avoided for most of my life. Arrogant, snobbish, and endlessly condescending. But does she get Venice and the Brunettis and can she write.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Donna Leon, Wandering through Life A Memoir, Grove Atlantic, Atlantic Monthly Press, September 2023.

Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with this uncorrected proof for review.

I thoroughly enjoy the sharp, witty, intellectual approach Donna Leon takes to her detective novels. This book is less sharp, and indeed, ‘wandering’ is an important description of the memoir. Although chronological, these almost stand-alone essays lack the strength exhibited by Leon in her fiction. I have to admit, give me Guido Brunetti and his exploits any day! However, although I was somewhat disappointed when I began reading the memoir, as I became accustomed to the style my feelings mellowed, and I began to enjoy reading the background to the writer of well-loved detective stories. Leon’s explanation that Brunetti cannot be found in Italy because of the tourists who look for him attests to the immediacy of the novels. To enjoy the memoir, forget their clarity, and take pleasure in beginning to wander.

The chapters on Leon’s early life were interesting enough but not compelling. Where I began to really take note and think about the life she has led was in the later chapters where she teaches English in Iran, China and Saudi Arabia. There is some wonderful material here, witty commentary at times, and underlying her descriptions recognition that others’ experiences would be vastly different. It is Leon’s story, so she does not dwell too heavily on these, but does give some attention the lives of Iranian, Chinese and Saudi citizens to show she is on the periphery of other worlds, those that she does not enter.

Wandering through Life A Memoir is at its best when Leon is writing about Italy. Here Brunetti’s experiences and the wit Leon uses when writing about these is more apparent. For these chapters alone this book is worth reading.