Seasons in Basilicata: A Year in a Southern Italian Hill Village – A Travel Memoir Following Carlo Levi's Path Through Aliano's Pagan Heritage

by David Yeadon

Award-winning travel writer and illustrator, David Yeadon embarks with his wife, Anne on an exploration of the "lost word" of Basilicata, in the arch of Italy's boot. What is intended as a brief sojourn turns into an intriguing residency in the ancient hill village of Aliano, where Carlo Levi, author of the world-renowned memoir Christ Stopped at Eboli, was imprisoned by Mussolini for anti-Fascist activities. As the Yeadons become immersed in Aliano's rich tapestry of people, traditions, and festivals, reveling in the rituals and rhythms of the grape and olive harvests, the culinary delights, and other peculiarities of place, they discover that much of the pagan strangeness that Carlo Levi and other notable authors revealed still lurks beneath the beguiling surface of Basilicata.

Genres: Travel, Italy, Nonfiction, Memoir

480 pages, Paperback

First published July 6, 2004

Reviews

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lovely trip with David and Anne Yeadon to the Province of Basilicata, the ankle of Italy’s boot. In 1938 Carlo Levi had been exiled to Basilicata’s remote hill town of Aliano for anti-fascist activities. He later wrote a book on the region, “Christ Stopped at Eboli”, which inspired this visit from the Yeadons.

David Yeadon’s book has 4 chapters, one for each season of their one year residence, chronicling their everyday life which is the everyday life of the village. There are visits to other nearby hill towns and the people with whom they made good friendships. David is an artist and the sketches show the logistics of getting to these towns and the character of the people. He quotes from Levi and references Norman Douglas’s classic, “Old Calabria” on the province to Basilicata’s south.

There is a lot on food and the making of food. There are cooking and harvesting stories. There are vignettes on the slaughter of pigs, how grapes are harvested and wine is made and the pride of making olive oil from handpicked olives. There are festivals and funerals, a rodeo and a carnival. He shares bits of culture from hanging intimate laundry to the role of magic and superstition. There are visitors from Great Britain and descendants of a local family now living in the US and a description of the 13+ steps for cashing a traveler’s check.

The people of these towns know their towns and their way of life might not survive another generation but remain proud of their work, their products be they tile, wine, or prosciutto and the ability to make a life in this harsh, dry, inaccessible place. Their lives demonstrate the high value they place on family and relationships.

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Grandfather is from Basilicata which I recently visited...but not the Basilicata Yeadon describes. I had always pictured the place where Tomaso Marchese was born (Bella near Potenza) as a goat track and a few stone buildings, but Bella was a lovely hill town in the midst of verdant farmland, well as verdant as this province provides. The real Basilicata is a landscape craggy outcroppings and unforgiving weather with a population only a Carlo Levi in words or a Rosi in film could adequately describe.

The book has filled me with longing to go back and see Agliano and Matera and a hundred other places which transcend any description of what being "Italian" sets forth. Yeadon was so fortunate in his profession to spend four seasons there (although he cheated by leaving for Yorkshire in the inferno of the summer), and the reader's senses are bombarded by his vivid descriptions of food and music and landscapes. It's a beauty of a travel book, truly unique.

[Jerry Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

We read this book out loud to each other in anticipation of our travels to Basilicata. This was a tongue-twisting and multilingual adventure into a little known, and perhaps a rejected part of Italy. The year that the author spent in Basilicata--we can only be jealous, but we were able to share his journey vicariously. Thanks to the author and to Carlo Levi who inspired the author's journey. A wonderful read!

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I left this on my Currently Reading shelf for over a year, which gives you a clue that this was not the most gripping book I've ever read. I finally picked it up again and finished it, mainly for sentimental reasons - years ago I spent a fair amount of time quite near this region, and David Yeadon did capture lots of things about its particular flavor (and flavors - as in all of Italy, the food is one of the highlights, and he describes this mouthwateringly.) I felt he was a fairly long-winded but ultimately appreciated his perspective on this less affluent, off the tourist track part of beautiful Italy.

[George Casapulla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this deep look into a Basilicatan hill town Aliano and recommended it to some friends, something I rarely do. I could the first 350 or so pages to be the most informative and entertaining. After that, the author lapses into more philosophical and analytical realms, often chock full of tortured overly-wordy descriptions. For example, his narrative of the villagers leaving the local church, “ pouring out across the piazza in what, from my terrace, looks like the linear pattern of neutrons and quarks that appear out of no where when atoms collide in those enormous accelerator machines.” I’m no author, but that seems to me a tad too overdone. Otherwise, an enormously engrossing read.

[Charity · Rating 3 out of 5]

Conflicted on this book. It has really great, intriguing moments, but could have easily been 100 pages less. That would have made it more fascinating and less of a drag. The author draws too much on others’ experiences & observations of the region he is living in, and thus it seems like more of an essay, and less of a narrative. However, there are delicious descriptions of Italian feasts & interesting anecdotes. Having been to this area of Italy, I found joy in the very accurate descriptions of the region.

[Mia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the third in a series of books I have accumulated after traveling to Italy numerous times. I never got to Basilicata and after reading this book, perhaps I would not have been comfortable traveling the roads in an Italian rental car. We had some problems with rental cars in Sicily but did not climb high into the mountains. The author and his wife love Italian food as much I as do and the descriptions of lunches and dinners are wonderful. The description of the dark side of life, of the doors to the spirit world that concentrate on evil and witchcraft are also compelling, but best of all are the portraits of the wonderful people who make their home in this part of southern Italy. Even though the book recounts an adventure of more than twenty years ago, it is an interesting book.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this "year-in-the-life" sketch book of experiences stemming from Yeadon's time in a part of Italy that is slow to change and off the beaten path. It's hard not to be envious of his adventure and talent.

[Sylvina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating and highly evocative in its writing about a part of southern Italy I don’t know at all, but as others have said perhaps a little long winded.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Evocative immersion in local foods, people, scenery, and peculiarities. Good book could have been made great with a bit of editing. Lovely sketches by the author included.

[Carol Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite book of all times!

[Marianne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book offers a detailed account of day-to-day life in the remote Basilicatan village of Aliano. Written similarly to a travel log, the long-winded descriptions (mainly of food) and the lack of intrigue made it hard to finish. However, it did allow me to travel and offered a nice escape from city life. Overall, I would recommend if you are interested in what life would be like living in Basilicata.

[Derek Henderson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cack-handed illustrations perfectly complement a tedious text.

[Kathy Marsden · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book during a two week period in Otranto, Puglia, where I was attending language school. It was of particular interest to me because its setting(s) were so close to where I was staying. The author writes from his heart, with great warmth and love for the land, history, culture and inhabitants. His adventures are described with humour and colourful detail. An additional treat are his excellently rendered sketches. His self-reflective and sometimes self-effacing style is enjoyable to read, and I felt as though I were walking in his shoes throughout the entire book. His references to other books about the same region add another layer of interest. I felt quite lost when I reached the end - I don't think I ever would have tired of his anecdotes, adventures and intimate portraits of his new-found friends.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect Italian memoir: reflective, funny, informative, evocative. After reading this book, I feel almost as though I have spent a year in Aliano in Basilicata, Italy. Next I want to read Carlo Levi's Christ Stopped at Eboli, the book that inspired this book.

[Elaine · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book dragged a little but I enjoyed the atmosphere of the small towns in Italy where the author lived.

[Siobhan]

Really good - a different kind of travel book, about staying in one place, an out-of-the-way place for a year. I will read more of this author.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started reading this book before we went to Italy. It's interesting and well written, but I'm not compelled to keep picking it up. I may finish it at some point.

[Toni · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was extremely valuable to me before taking my trip to the region-July,2010.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not what I was thinking, and I didn't really get into this book at all.

[Martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

slow tourist in Italy