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The Tuscan Trilogy #1
The Hills of Tuscany
The author chronicles his and his wife's first five years in Tuscany, in a memoir by turns buoyant, reflective, and humorous
256 pages, Paperback
First published November 2, 1998
54 people are currently reading
3243 people want to read
About the author
Ferenc Máté
66 books100 followersFerenc Máté has made a career of out documenting his own quests—whether it’s restoring a Tuscan ruin, building a vineyard from scratch, or sailing the seven seas.
Born in Transylvania, he escaped at age eleven when the Hungarian revolution was crushed by Soviet tanks. He grew up in Vancouver and has lived in California, Paris, Rome, the Bahamas and New York. He has worked on a railroad extra-gang and as a boat-builder, photographer, deckhand and book editor. He is the author of 16 books translated into 12 languages. His international best seller A Vineyard in Tuscany, was a New York Times Notable Book and short listed for Spain’s Camino del Cid literary award. His Dugger/Nello historical novel series have made him “the leading nautical writer of our time.” With his wife and son, he works the Máté vineyards surrounding the 13th century friary they restored in Montalcino, Italy. They have won global recognition for making one of the world’s best Brunellos.
Please visit:
http://www.ferencmate.com/
http://www.facebook.com/ferencmate
https://twitter.com/FerencMate
http://www.matewine.com/
Born in Transylvania, he escaped at age eleven when the Hungarian revolution was crushed by Soviet tanks. He grew up in Vancouver and has lived in California, Paris, Rome, the Bahamas and New York. He has worked on a railroad extra-gang and as a boat-builder, photographer, deckhand and book editor. He is the author of 16 books translated into 12 languages. His international best seller A Vineyard in Tuscany, was a New York Times Notable Book and short listed for Spain’s Camino del Cid literary award. His Dugger/Nello historical novel series have made him “the leading nautical writer of our time.” With his wife and son, he works the Máté vineyards surrounding the 13th century friary they restored in Montalcino, Italy. They have won global recognition for making one of the world’s best Brunellos.
Please visit:
http://www.ferencmate.com/
http://www.facebook.com/ferencmate
https://twitter.com/FerencMate
http://www.matewine.com/
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 134 reviews
June 3, 2018
This memoir was a bit slow in that there wasn’t much in the way of plot and dialog, yet the descriptions were wonderful. I mean it is Tuscany after all! I enjoyed reading this shortly before our recent visit there. I always enjoy reading books about places that I’m about to visit. To be honest, I would only recommend this book if you’re planning on visiting Tuscany. Again, it is quite tedious otherwise. Tuscany will forever have a special place in my heart.
Here's one of the pictures we took in the Tuscan countryside.
Here's one of the pictures we took in the Tuscan countryside.
April 21, 2009
Ok I know I say I LOVE THIS BOOK for just about every other book I read but I really do LOVE this book. I have been in love with Tuscany/Umbria and Provence for a while now and I love reading travel essays/memoirs. Most of them have been ok and I've enjoyed reading them but nothing like The Hills of Tuscany. Mate really really captures the essence of the region without wearing you out. Hard to explain. His writing is evocative and eloquent but still simple.
April 1, 2009
I was really prepared to hate this - the soft-focus mid-menopause cover contributed to a sense of dread about it. But as I'm writing about tuscany, I've had to plow through all sorts of sentimental drivel about the perfect eden that is the contado of tuscany, inhabited by peasants who are the salt of the earth and live in utter harmony with the hedgehogs.
I kept thinking as I read this book of an amazing cookbook I own called La Rocca, which is a record by a WA italian woman of her life and recipes of her town, a tiny rocky place in the deep south of italy. Everything is much, much harder to grow and shepherd down there - those Tuscans have soil good enough to eat.
So Mate and his gorgeous painter wife RISK EVERYTHING by trying to live in italy - diving in after a 4 week vacation on a whim, without the language and a limited budget (this only possible some time ago). Please. If only most people had such hard choices to make.
Humbug aside - engagingly written without too much treacle. Particularly the grounded imagery of working farm landscapes and the cycle of toil that marks the year, and wonderful relish about food, without being too Batali about it. I did get sick of Candace always saying how hungry she was, and the post-prandial gloating.
Scratch the review. I want to kill this Hungarian and take his pretty farmlet.
I kept thinking as I read this book of an amazing cookbook I own called La Rocca, which is a record by a WA italian woman of her life and recipes of her town, a tiny rocky place in the deep south of italy. Everything is much, much harder to grow and shepherd down there - those Tuscans have soil good enough to eat.
So Mate and his gorgeous painter wife RISK EVERYTHING by trying to live in italy - diving in after a 4 week vacation on a whim, without the language and a limited budget (this only possible some time ago). Please. If only most people had such hard choices to make.
Humbug aside - engagingly written without too much treacle. Particularly the grounded imagery of working farm landscapes and the cycle of toil that marks the year, and wonderful relish about food, without being too Batali about it. I did get sick of Candace always saying how hungry she was, and the post-prandial gloating.
Scratch the review. I want to kill this Hungarian and take his pretty farmlet.
June 13, 2018
First time reviewer. I am totally fascinated with Tuscany. Not having been there yet, I am filling this absence with books and movies of this bucolic region. Ferenc Máté allowed me to feel as if I have already visited it with his wonderful descriptions. “Skylarks hovered and trilled their solitary tune. The wind ripples the wheat like long waves of the sea”; “ A despot heat fettered the valley” are all examples of his style. I have never seen the adjective word “despot” used with heat before but it really captures and gives depth to the intensity of the heat that permeated and penetrated the valley. So thank you, Ferenc for allowing me to travel there in my mind.
February 11, 2010
After slogging through the fist 50 pages, which are slow, this was a pleasure. The slower pace of life, friendships, beautiful Italy, all made this a delight to read.
December 30, 2024
Can't wait for book number 2.
December 16, 2017
I loved when I traveled to Italy. Explored the cultural treasures of Tuscany. Enjoyed big glass of wine accompanied by the most amazing food you ever tasted. After an amazing trip you wondered what life would be like to live in Tuscany.
The author and his wife Candace get to explore what life is like living as a local in Tuscany. First renting a place to find the farm home they have always wanted. To finding food out in nature and purchasing the best of towns around them.
You encounter the people of Tuscany along the way. Living life they want to and have been taught. All the interesting agents bringing the author around for the property of his dreams. To his incredible neighbors that indoctrinate both the author and his wife in all the local customs, foods, and other great things about the lifestyle.
My partner read the book before me and told me it was a must read. After he spent a couple of summers escorting students to the region, he now wants an apartment for summer.
I craved certain simple foods as I read each chapter. It will attack your senses like the simple pleasures of eating a tomatoes or drinking a good glass of wine.
A must read for those who love travel and the desire to live in another world other then what they know. Pour a good couple of glasses of Montepuciano wine and enjoy the journey with the author thru the seasons.
The author and his wife Candace get to explore what life is like living as a local in Tuscany. First renting a place to find the farm home they have always wanted. To finding food out in nature and purchasing the best of towns around them.
You encounter the people of Tuscany along the way. Living life they want to and have been taught. All the interesting agents bringing the author around for the property of his dreams. To his incredible neighbors that indoctrinate both the author and his wife in all the local customs, foods, and other great things about the lifestyle.
My partner read the book before me and told me it was a must read. After he spent a couple of summers escorting students to the region, he now wants an apartment for summer.
I craved certain simple foods as I read each chapter. It will attack your senses like the simple pleasures of eating a tomatoes or drinking a good glass of wine.
A must read for those who love travel and the desire to live in another world other then what they know. Pour a good couple of glasses of Montepuciano wine and enjoy the journey with the author thru the seasons.
June 13, 2018
I enjoyed this book so much. So much of it was just perfect - the likable couple finding a home in a rural area, the lovely countryside, the kind neighbors - all of that together makes for a mental escape into Tuscany! The descriptions were great, too. I remember how the author took the reader with him on a walk in the countryside and how I felt I was really there in the lovely woods by a stream. All in all one of my favorite books on 'finding a house in Italy.'
May 14, 2018
The author (a writer) and his wife (a painter) wanted to live in Tuscany (in 1987) despite that they speak very little Italian. They arrived and started to hunt for a house. Part I of the memoir is just house hunting. The only thing worth noting is a small village having no old people because SS killed everyone in town due to the resistance blowing up armored cars killing their officer. Nobody there was born before the war. They finally found a dream house and settled in.
The book then talked about the slow life there. There is the description of seafood salad; a bull running away; going to the church and finding a captivating priest; hunting for mushrooms; going grape harvesting; corking wine; killing a pig; the first snow. They learned to live life the Tuscan way: piano, piano, con calma. (Slowly, slowly, with calm).
If you turn on slow music, you may enjoy the vibe a bit better: The town shop being open but the owner is not around: they are a social lot. They wander off to another shop to chit-chat. In Tuscany, buying hardware is not easy: you are always confronted with questions of “for what”. Then comes the advice and not in simple phrases but detailed anecdotes: my brother-in-law tried it, the fool, and in the end had to replaster the house. A concert in a church with only candle lights: that’s how the church is lit for hundreds of years before. 15 minutes after the scheduled start, people start to show up. Half an hour later (that is precisely on time in Tuscany) the concert began.
The book then talked about the slow life there. There is the description of seafood salad; a bull running away; going to the church and finding a captivating priest; hunting for mushrooms; going grape harvesting; corking wine; killing a pig; the first snow. They learned to live life the Tuscan way: piano, piano, con calma. (Slowly, slowly, with calm).
If you turn on slow music, you may enjoy the vibe a bit better: The town shop being open but the owner is not around: they are a social lot. They wander off to another shop to chit-chat. In Tuscany, buying hardware is not easy: you are always confronted with questions of “for what”. Then comes the advice and not in simple phrases but detailed anecdotes: my brother-in-law tried it, the fool, and in the end had to replaster the house. A concert in a church with only candle lights: that’s how the church is lit for hundreds of years before. 15 minutes after the scheduled start, people start to show up. Half an hour later (that is precisely on time in Tuscany) the concert began.
October 22, 2020
Gelesen: 104 Seiten
Kein gutes Zeichen fuer ein Buch, wenn man es in der Hand haelt und sich nicht sicher ist ob man es schon mal gelesen hat oder nicht. Mittlerweile bin ich mir zu 85% das ich die englischsprachige Ausgabe vor Jahren mal gelesen habe. An viel erinnern kann ich mich nicht, nur das ich es damals auch eher langweilig fand.
Story: Eine Art Aussteigerehepaar, dass rund um den Globus lebt, entschliesst sich ein Haus in der Toskana zu kaufen um sich dort fest niederzulassen. Und was dann folgt sind endlose Landschafts- und Essensbeschreibungen. Anfangs fand ich es noch ganz interessant aber dann wurde es doch schnell langatmig und bei Seite 104 wurde jetzt immer noch nicht das passende Haus gefunden. Und wenn man das Gefuehl hat man kaempft sich nur noch durch die Seiten, dann laesst man es lieber.
Kein gutes Zeichen fuer ein Buch, wenn man es in der Hand haelt und sich nicht sicher ist ob man es schon mal gelesen hat oder nicht. Mittlerweile bin ich mir zu 85% das ich die englischsprachige Ausgabe vor Jahren mal gelesen habe. An viel erinnern kann ich mich nicht, nur das ich es damals auch eher langweilig fand.
Story: Eine Art Aussteigerehepaar, dass rund um den Globus lebt, entschliesst sich ein Haus in der Toskana zu kaufen um sich dort fest niederzulassen. Und was dann folgt sind endlose Landschafts- und Essensbeschreibungen. Anfangs fand ich es noch ganz interessant aber dann wurde es doch schnell langatmig und bei Seite 104 wurde jetzt immer noch nicht das passende Haus gefunden. Und wenn man das Gefuehl hat man kaempft sich nur noch durch die Seiten, dann laesst man es lieber.
January 18, 2024
Good travel book. Only 3 stars because of language, disjointedness, etc, but I will try more books by this author anyway. I just love true stories of a simpler, richer way of life, including the countryside of Tuscany. Some beautiful descriptions.
June 23, 2023
While this book was obviously written by someone with whom I share a great appreciation for the beauty of natural places, simplicity and old things, there were many occasions throughout this little fluff piece which felt entirely alienating to me, sometimes violently so. Not a good read for animal lovers. Perhaps a better one for bougie, wine drinking, food loving, capitalist sophistocates.
April 21, 2025
Hated it. Bought in a charity shop and will swiftly return it to the outside world. Hugely fake. It’s the story of a couple who abandon a freewheeling life to live in Tuscany. Full of charming but silent Italian peasants and other “quirky” characters. Not a genuine note in the four chapters I read before bailing out. It’s clearly trying to jump on the creaky bandwagon on A Year in Provence. Suspect it’s popular with romantic North Americans who fantasise about living in Europe but it struck me as 100% fake.
July 2, 2016
Interesting that there is so much repetition of words, to the point of annoyance... 'autumn' is in so many of the first paragraphs, autumn light, autumn this, autumn that. I know it's autumn.
A friend picked this up and read the first few pages and said there was a lot of 'shiny language'. In this book is a lovely day to day story of living within a closed community in Italy. I loved it for that. I liked the characterizations of the locals and the descriptions of daily wanderings over hills and thru vales. I'm just surprised the editor didn't clean it up a bit.
A friend picked this up and read the first few pages and said there was a lot of 'shiny language'. In this book is a lovely day to day story of living within a closed community in Italy. I loved it for that. I liked the characterizations of the locals and the descriptions of daily wanderings over hills and thru vales. I'm just surprised the editor didn't clean it up a bit.
November 16, 2013
OK, I guess I'm with the minority on this one...
I would re-read this book before I EVER read another book by Francis Mayes! Pardon me for not preferring that every descriptive paragraph end on a negative note.
I read this book while laying flat on my back hoping I could recover in time for a family trip to, yes, Tuscany. Mate encouraged me to get myself back in form and ready for the trip. He painted a wonderful, inviting picture for me, which did come true for us in our travels.
I would re-read this book before I EVER read another book by Francis Mayes! Pardon me for not preferring that every descriptive paragraph end on a negative note.
I read this book while laying flat on my back hoping I could recover in time for a family trip to, yes, Tuscany. Mate encouraged me to get myself back in form and ready for the trip. He painted a wonderful, inviting picture for me, which did come true for us in our travels.
January 21, 2020
I thought it was very good! Maybe it was because we have spent time in their neck of the woods, so I could wrap my head around the uniqueness of that region. But, it gave me the feelings I had from our stay in Tuscany. He brought Tuscany to life and it made me long for those special moments; Tuscan life. One of the most beautiful places on Earth. I liked his humor and self deprecating adjustments. Definitely a family I would love to share some food and conversations with!
February 7, 2014
Ty hvězdičky jsou jen tak, aby byly. Nedokážu to hodnotit, tuším, že úplně dobře by to nedopadlo. Francouzské a italské venkovské (příp. vinařské) příběhy jsou můj oblíbený kýč, takže mně se to líbilo :)
July 13, 2019
Made me hungry and wanting to live in Tuscany.
June 28, 2018
Enjoyed it. Montepulciano rocks. Maté
Italian phrased:
ciambelline - donuts
assolutamente: absolutely
a più tardi: a little later
mi sento come un bambino:i feel like a kid
che bello! how beautiful
domani si fa festa: tomorrow is a holiday
giusto: just right
vendemmia: grape harvest
bigonzi: grape basket on back
ciambella: broad ring of bread
mille fogile: custard with thin pastry
FOOD
pollo in umido: chicken srewed in piquant tomatoe sauce
oso buco
crostata with preserves
PLACES
Pienza: Piazzo Piccolmini, volcano outside of town
Montepulciano: sits below Montalcino
An hour from: Florence-Sienna-Perugia-Assisi-Arezzo-Orvieto-seaside Talamone
Piazza Grande
Teatro Provero Montechiello (6 mi) walled town of 100 people, leaning watchtower, folk theatreplays performed in the piazza by locals
Concert at Castel Luccio: an estate in Val D'Orcia (late summer)
Sant Anna im Camprena (English Patient): monastery from 14th century
two week festival called Il Cantiere (lots
of music)
Montalcino: 12th century fortress guarding the town-steep staired vicoli
local BrunelloSpremuta: orange juice squeezed fresh
San Biagio: not too impressive but acoustics for concerts fabulous
Saint Francis of Assisi...from Peruggio (back 8 centuries (see movie)
Benedictine Library wall (movie) 1400 overlooking valley
Mezzadria: land owner 13th century to 1940's primary land owner provides land and house and pays for half of all that is needed to work the land, half of the cost of the seeds and beasts.
Contadino pays the other half plus sweat amd toil...when harvested vendemmia (grape picking)comes or animal is killed each get half (mezzo)
"Inaldo was a thin, mid fifties, intense, croaky-voiced, chain-smoking, philosophizing, insightful humanist and the town's last angry Marxist. He would welcome us to his shop with open arms, and he would rave about the world going to hell, about the stupidity that was more and more in unlimited supply, illustrated almost daily at the intersection near his shop by the screetching of brakes then the thud of cars slamming into each other. And we would mull over the ills of Italy and the ills of the world, and conclude at the end that everyone was crazy so what's the use, let's go have some lunch and a little wine."
Italian phrased:
ciambelline - donuts
assolutamente: absolutely
a più tardi: a little later
mi sento come un bambino:i feel like a kid
che bello! how beautiful
domani si fa festa: tomorrow is a holiday
giusto: just right
vendemmia: grape harvest
bigonzi: grape basket on back
ciambella: broad ring of bread
mille fogile: custard with thin pastry
FOOD
pollo in umido: chicken srewed in piquant tomatoe sauce
oso buco
crostata with preserves
PLACES
Pienza: Piazzo Piccolmini, volcano outside of town
Montepulciano: sits below Montalcino
An hour from: Florence-Sienna-Perugia-Assisi-Arezzo-Orvieto-seaside Talamone
Piazza Grande
Teatro Provero Montechiello (6 mi) walled town of 100 people, leaning watchtower, folk theatreplays performed in the piazza by locals
Concert at Castel Luccio: an estate in Val D'Orcia (late summer)
Sant Anna im Camprena (English Patient): monastery from 14th century
two week festival called Il Cantiere (lots
of music)
Montalcino: 12th century fortress guarding the town-steep staired vicoli
local BrunelloSpremuta: orange juice squeezed fresh
San Biagio: not too impressive but acoustics for concerts fabulous
Saint Francis of Assisi...from Peruggio (back 8 centuries (see movie)
Benedictine Library wall (movie) 1400 overlooking valley
Mezzadria: land owner 13th century to 1940's primary land owner provides land and house and pays for half of all that is needed to work the land, half of the cost of the seeds and beasts.
Contadino pays the other half plus sweat amd toil...when harvested vendemmia (grape picking)comes or animal is killed each get half (mezzo)
"Inaldo was a thin, mid fifties, intense, croaky-voiced, chain-smoking, philosophizing, insightful humanist and the town's last angry Marxist. He would welcome us to his shop with open arms, and he would rave about the world going to hell, about the stupidity that was more and more in unlimited supply, illustrated almost daily at the intersection near his shop by the screetching of brakes then the thud of cars slamming into each other. And we would mull over the ills of Italy and the ills of the world, and conclude at the end that everyone was crazy so what's the use, let's go have some lunch and a little wine."
September 23, 2021
"After a nomadic, picaresque life across 30 countries, Candace Mate, painter, and Ferenc, writer, abandoned New York for the medieval towns and bucolic landscape of Tuscany. Here at last was a place to set down roots. Knowing almost no Italian, and with only four weeks to find their dream house, they began the adventures of a lifetime.
"Ripe with the rich sensuality of Tuscany, Ferenc Mate's lush, engaging memoir sweeps us along on their exhilarating, often humbling, mostly hilarious journey ... house hunting among ruins with a porcini-mad real estate agent ... searching for succulent white truffles in the dense forest ... escaping the summer sun in their stone-walled farmhouse. barefoot on cool terracotta floors ... sharing mouthwatering feasts, olive harvesting, grape picking, and wine making with a neighboring farm family who became their best friends. And, not least, rediscovering each other and a new life in the enchanted valleys and hills of Tuscany."
~~back cover
A charming memoir of life in Tuscany. It was so charming you began to wonder what problems and unhappy situations Ferenc just wasn't talking about. But no matter, there was enough to keep the reader preoccupied with daily life in an Italian farming community. It all sounds so lovely -- perhaps I should move there? But no: stone walled farm houses and an abundance of pasta just wouldn't do it for me.
"Ripe with the rich sensuality of Tuscany, Ferenc Mate's lush, engaging memoir sweeps us along on their exhilarating, often humbling, mostly hilarious journey ... house hunting among ruins with a porcini-mad real estate agent ... searching for succulent white truffles in the dense forest ... escaping the summer sun in their stone-walled farmhouse. barefoot on cool terracotta floors ... sharing mouthwatering feasts, olive harvesting, grape picking, and wine making with a neighboring farm family who became their best friends. And, not least, rediscovering each other and a new life in the enchanted valleys and hills of Tuscany."
~~back cover
A charming memoir of life in Tuscany. It was so charming you began to wonder what problems and unhappy situations Ferenc just wasn't talking about. But no matter, there was enough to keep the reader preoccupied with daily life in an Italian farming community. It all sounds so lovely -- perhaps I should move there? But no: stone walled farm houses and an abundance of pasta just wouldn't do it for me.
January 7, 2026
I have been to Tuscany twice. Loved it! I'm not sure if I will ever get there again (hadn't planned to) but this book sure did make me want to go back again.
I wonder, though, if this book describes a Tuscany from the past, now wiped out by modern conveniences, machinery, and recently-grown children leaving the rural lifestyle. This book treats us to one full year of the farm lifestyle, of three or 4 generations of family members working the vines and olive groves, a few chickens and cows, a bit of hay farming. After a 12 hour day of hard labour they have time to sit down to a 5 course meal (both for lunch and dinner!). I wonder how much may have changed since this book was written almost 30 years ago.
If you are a "foodie" there are multiple descriptions of the meals, and much eye-rolling with orgasmic pleasure at the flavors.
If you love reading about Tuscany then you will enjoy this book. I did.
I wonder, though, if this book describes a Tuscany from the past, now wiped out by modern conveniences, machinery, and recently-grown children leaving the rural lifestyle. This book treats us to one full year of the farm lifestyle, of three or 4 generations of family members working the vines and olive groves, a few chickens and cows, a bit of hay farming. After a 12 hour day of hard labour they have time to sit down to a 5 course meal (both for lunch and dinner!). I wonder how much may have changed since this book was written almost 30 years ago.
If you are a "foodie" there are multiple descriptions of the meals, and much eye-rolling with orgasmic pleasure at the flavors.
If you love reading about Tuscany then you will enjoy this book. I did.
June 7, 2021
One of those books - the subject is of no consequence. The writing induces the magic (I've said this before) and the world goes away. Mind you, Tuscany is pretty hard to beat if you are romantically inclined. I get the feeling that Ferenc is getting across. Like him I don't live in the country I was born in. How difficult it seems to be to find enthusiasm "at home". Still, at home is now Tuscany for the author. With some basic funding Italy is a wonderful place to be. We should always remember, however, real luxury begins where the sun shines - with or without a thirty-metre yacht. No wonder he went off to the Pacific. Tuscany in winter - oh dear. Ference is an extremely good writer. As mentioned, "one of those books". Buy the book and enjoy it at your hearth. Transcendance guaranteed.
July 17, 2025
I found this book at a yearly book sale, and what a treasure it was! Ferenc Mate’s descriptions, insights and memoir of Tuscany made me feel as if I was there in person, experiencing the beauty of Tuscany along with them. In other reviews I have read about this book, it’s been said that it’s slow moving. That is the intent- to live a life in Tuscany. This book made me slow down in the hurried world I live in, and caused me to crave the slowness of a world existent in The Hills of Tuscany. I would like to now find the second and third books in this trilogy of memoirs. (And continue dreaming of one going to Tuscany myself).
August 23, 2023
Enjoyable - primarily for the delicious descriptions, vignettes of Tuscan life that the modern world seemed to have bypassed. It was a quiet study and a nice read about throwing caution to the wind and finding home where you dream as well as least expect. Also depicts a great balanced mature relationship with a mutual interest in living life different without a huge amount of details on the individual relationship as much as the shared joy of co creating life together. Appreciated the lovely example of a good relationship and friendships.
February 1, 2023
I wanted to read something shorter after my last three 600+ page books, and this was the perfect anecdote. Slow, charming, evocative, it has made me long to live the Italian dream and eat tomatoes and bread and cheese and drink a bottle of wine every day. It even made me want to eat 'funghi' which is wild because I hate mushrooms. In fact, my only criticism of this book is the suggestion that every meal he eats in Tuscany is earth-shatteringly good - surely not? But maybe so!!
May 26, 2023
Having been to this part of Tuscany this year, I found this book to be so evocative of our time there. It was beautifully written, allowing you to enter that Tuscan world from the chair you might be sitting on in a chilly Scotland! All my senses were on high alert with his descriptions. I loved the way the locals lived 40-odd years ago with the couple getting right into the Tuscan way too.
It was moving, funny and beautiful.
I wonder where they are now?
It was moving, funny and beautiful.
I wonder where they are now?
December 16, 2024
This is a memoir by a Hungarian author, Ferenc Máté, also featuring his wife Candace, about their adventures searching for a house and living a simple life in the Hills of Tuscany. There are luscious descriptions of the landscape throughout the seasons, and it chronicles their enjoyment of the rich food and wine culture of the region. The memoir isn't plot driven, so it was a slow burn but I enjoyed it overall.
May 12, 2018
In the top 10 of my favorite books! A beautifully written non-fiction story about a couple who go to live in Italy. Throughout the book, and through all their misadventures fixing up the house they buy, the love the have for each other shines through. Funny, touching, beautiful...and the descriptions of the Italian countryside and the food are wonderful.
January 22, 2024
This is the reason we read! To escape our lives completely … let us move to the Tuscan vineyards filled with funghi/lavendar/grapevines castles ruins moonlight and wild passionate Italian campesinos who would never let you down… unless you are officially looking to get papers signed…
Delight humour delicious foodie romps, and wine!
Delight humour delicious foodie romps, and wine!
July 1, 2025
Książka to opis życia Toskańczyków i toskańskich krajobrazów. Moja niska ocena wynika głównie z osobistego braku zainteresowania tym regionem świata. Poza opisem sielankowego życia na prowincji nie zawarto między wersami powieści żadnego przekazu poza tym, że można być szczęśliwym bez dążenia do sukcesu w wielkim mieście.
Moja opinia jest podyktowana osobistymi preferencjami
Moja opinia jest podyktowana osobistymi preferencjami
Displaying 1 - 30 of 134 reviews