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Finding Myself in Puglia: A Journey of Self-Discovery Under the Warm Southern Italian Sun
An Italian memoir. Laine gave up her job as a nurse, sold her home and gave away most of her belongings. She has three desires bubbling at the heart of her to write a book, paint a picture and climb a mountain before she died. A man with a van took most of her remaining belongings, along with her basset hound Basil, down to the heel of Italy over 1,500 miles away, where she would spend the next four years. If it all seemed like a folly, then she was willing to take the risk. She moved to a house that she had only spent a week in the year before. She knew no one and yet she had surety in her resolve. She wanted to feel fully present in feeling unsafe and comfortable with the not knowing. And so the journey began, a new language, a new life laced with humour and laughter under the warm southern Italian sun. Come and join her...
- GenresItaly
347 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 10, 2018
97 people are currently reading
91 people want to read
About the author
Laine B. Brown
1 bookLaine B Brown was born in Middlesex and worked as a nurse and as a counsellor. She spent four years living in Puglia with her basset hound Basil where she wrote her Italian memoir, Finding Myself in Puglia.
She currently lives in North Norfolk with her dog Basil and her cat Munchkin, who she adopted whilst she was living in Italy.
Finding Myself in Puglia is currently available on Amazon in paperback and ebook from 10th July 2018.
She currently lives in North Norfolk with her dog Basil and her cat Munchkin, who she adopted whilst she was living in Italy.
Finding Myself in Puglia is currently available on Amazon in paperback and ebook from 10th July 2018.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
May 5, 2020
What I didn't like: the personality of the author which is reflected in the prose, the constant whining and complaining, the fear of everything and the constant negative notes because the Italians don't share that culture of fear, the inability to adapt to a different culture and way of doing things and perhaps above all the incredible percentage of the book which is dedicated to Laine B Brown and not to Puglia, to the experience of being an expat, to the excitement of a new adventure, to the poetics of Italy. Instead, we have to learn about her past emotional dramas, her pets and much more. No, Laine B Brown is not that interesting so I get excited by reading about these personal aspects.
Lacks the magic, and I know because I walked that path, of discovering a new country, a new people, a new culture that we love. No poetry, no happiness, just a cloud of bitterness and again, a freighting self-centrism.
Lacks the magic, and I know because I walked that path, of discovering a new country, a new people, a new culture that we love. No poetry, no happiness, just a cloud of bitterness and again, a freighting self-centrism.
March 16, 2021
I was drawn to the book because of my love of Italy but this book was very introspective, mostly about the author and not enough about Italy. There were some attractive pieces of writing, on Taormina, for instance, which she portrayed very accurately and appealingly, and Tuscany. However, the prevailing impression was of a solitary English expat connected to the outside world (of England and expats) via the Internet.
This is not an account of life in Puglia so much as a record of one woman’s realisation that there is no room in her life for anyone but herself and her dog! The rest is window-dressing. On the positive side, the writing improved over time, though there are blunders throughout the book.
This is not an account of life in Puglia so much as a record of one woman’s realisation that there is no room in her life for anyone but herself and her dog! The rest is window-dressing. On the positive side, the writing improved over time, though there are blunders throughout the book.
January 31, 2021
Well I was looking forward to reading about sunny Puglia and about all the cultural aspects of being an expat. Unfortunately I found this book rather boring, not really humorous as promised. It was clear that the author clearly enjoyed the lonely self-centred lifestyle, instead of embracing new personal connections with locals and enjoying the host culture. She went on too long justifying her introvert lifestyle, which does not provide an enjoyable read. I was hoping to read something more upbeat and entertaining.
October 28, 2018
I loved it
Okay, so I have a special interest in this area of Italy, having just purchased a property in San Vito dei Normanni, Puglia, but even with that put aside, I found the writing touching, humorous and soul enriching.
A lovely literary journey !
Okay, so I have a special interest in this area of Italy, having just purchased a property in San Vito dei Normanni, Puglia, but even with that put aside, I found the writing touching, humorous and soul enriching.
A lovely literary journey !
August 26, 2023
like a delicious glass of wine
It felt like I was visiting her in her casa and walking beside her in these adventures.
Delightful renditions of a life on a quest to find purpose and joy!
It felt like I was visiting her in her casa and walking beside her in these adventures.
Delightful renditions of a life on a quest to find purpose and joy!
March 1, 2022
Omg I couldn’t put this one down! Fascinating read that includes a lot of comical mishaps and truthful thoughts and feelings about living in Italy and life’s events.
September 14, 2022
I've had a life long love affair with Italy and all things Italian, and recently finally got to travel to Puglia in June. It did not disappoint in any way, I found it enchantingly beautiful notwithstanding the sad demise of a significant part of the olive tree population, disease everywhere. I loved the beauty, the history, the baroque and ricocco architecture .... and the warmth of the Italians. Already planning to return soon. Like Laine B Brown I've also been learning Italian for many years and try to practise each time I visit Italy, you can pick up so much even in a week. If you try.
I really don't think LBB tried much at all .... to do anything except remain in her own introspective world with just a couple of English speaking friends. I bought this book because I really wanted to learn more about Puglia and vicariously revisit places I'd travelled to in the region. How terribly disappointed I was. The book could easily have been written as a personal diary on a beach in Margate. Perhaps renamed as 'My Dog and Me, Me, Me' It gave me nothing except whingeing chapters of badly written (mostly) retrospective anecdotes of her former life in England, and complaining about her life and forbearance of Italians and Italian culture in her adopted home. She did very little to discover her Puglian surroundings in the 4 years she stayed - her most graphic description was of Sicily!
There were occasional pages of prose consisting of potted history lessons peppered with lots of facts and stats - easily obtained via Wikipedia or suchlike. Other than that I gleaned nothing of report.
However, the very worst crime in this book was the appalling grammar, not even worthy of a 12 year old. Whole words omitted, some misspelled, ends of words missed off, changes of tense within one phrase and punctuation which I've never witnessed ever before. Unbelievable. Did she not even read through her own manuscript? I could make no sense of most of her writing (and she refers to herself rather pretentiously as one of 'us writerly people' (!) Oh please. Repetition of words, the incessant use of 'and' and 'then' (opportunities when - ironically -you could legitimately use a comma to replace those words, making the sentence flow so much easier). We were regaled with the constant repetition of phrases and ideas, which proved no more effective the second or third time around. Blah. Blah. LBB's 'purple prose' style of writing meant she felt compelled to furnish her pronouncements with extra superfluous phrases, totally demolishing the effect. Less, far less is more. Once you've made the sale, don't keep selling!
Page upon page was showered with dozens and dozens of totally redundant commas, littered all over the place, apparently parachuted in and left where they fell, having no right to be there. It was hard work 'translating' the meaning. All sense was obliterated by commas and yet more commas. It was like an obsession. The gradual extinction of the semi-colon has been resurrected in droves in LBB's writing, for no reason whatsoever and serving no purpose except to confuse the reader - and frankly make me anyway squirm with discomfort. Coupled with the apparent fixation of the writer to litter her text with scatalogical words and anecdotes almost made me give up. But I ploughed on only to find it just got worse. At almost every turn of the page you had 'pissing', 'farts' and 'faeces' greeting you. Not nice. Not funny. And not necessary. We get the picture. Even the one or two pleasantly descriptive paragraphs caused me to sigh when yet another 'shit' and yet another 'fart' made their usual appearances and completely ruined the whole experience.
This book told us very very little about Puglia; it simply addressed the height of LBB's introspection and self-absorbed daily life doing very little and then justifying it. Towards the end the author decided to give us all a lecture on self-help (eh??) and the final pages were devoted to a farewell to Italy criticising not only the people but nearly every facet of life there. Meant to be amusing possibly. But it wasn't, just a mere last ditch attempt at the spiteful swiping at your hosts before exiting their land. Going 'back to Blighty', as she calls her homeland, was rather surprising given the author's choosing to devote several mean, derogatory paragraphs during the course of her writing, sweepingly generalised, to the lives and behaviour of her compatriots. I found this even less amusing. Just bewildering.
One last thing: after reading a few chapters all the hundreds of errors and grammatical gaffes were glaringly evident. I wondered how a proofreader/literary agent could have possibly allowed this book to be published in such a form. Then I saw that it was self-published. Ah. But she lists an editor in her acknowledgements??
I remain bewildered.
I really don't think LBB tried much at all .... to do anything except remain in her own introspective world with just a couple of English speaking friends. I bought this book because I really wanted to learn more about Puglia and vicariously revisit places I'd travelled to in the region. How terribly disappointed I was. The book could easily have been written as a personal diary on a beach in Margate. Perhaps renamed as 'My Dog and Me, Me, Me' It gave me nothing except whingeing chapters of badly written (mostly) retrospective anecdotes of her former life in England, and complaining about her life and forbearance of Italians and Italian culture in her adopted home. She did very little to discover her Puglian surroundings in the 4 years she stayed - her most graphic description was of Sicily!
There were occasional pages of prose consisting of potted history lessons peppered with lots of facts and stats - easily obtained via Wikipedia or suchlike. Other than that I gleaned nothing of report.
However, the very worst crime in this book was the appalling grammar, not even worthy of a 12 year old. Whole words omitted, some misspelled, ends of words missed off, changes of tense within one phrase and punctuation which I've never witnessed ever before. Unbelievable. Did she not even read through her own manuscript? I could make no sense of most of her writing (and she refers to herself rather pretentiously as one of 'us writerly people' (!) Oh please. Repetition of words, the incessant use of 'and' and 'then' (opportunities when - ironically -you could legitimately use a comma to replace those words, making the sentence flow so much easier). We were regaled with the constant repetition of phrases and ideas, which proved no more effective the second or third time around. Blah. Blah. LBB's 'purple prose' style of writing meant she felt compelled to furnish her pronouncements with extra superfluous phrases, totally demolishing the effect. Less, far less is more. Once you've made the sale, don't keep selling!
Page upon page was showered with dozens and dozens of totally redundant commas, littered all over the place, apparently parachuted in and left where they fell, having no right to be there. It was hard work 'translating' the meaning. All sense was obliterated by commas and yet more commas. It was like an obsession. The gradual extinction of the semi-colon has been resurrected in droves in LBB's writing, for no reason whatsoever and serving no purpose except to confuse the reader - and frankly make me anyway squirm with discomfort. Coupled with the apparent fixation of the writer to litter her text with scatalogical words and anecdotes almost made me give up. But I ploughed on only to find it just got worse. At almost every turn of the page you had 'pissing', 'farts' and 'faeces' greeting you. Not nice. Not funny. And not necessary. We get the picture. Even the one or two pleasantly descriptive paragraphs caused me to sigh when yet another 'shit' and yet another 'fart' made their usual appearances and completely ruined the whole experience.
This book told us very very little about Puglia; it simply addressed the height of LBB's introspection and self-absorbed daily life doing very little and then justifying it. Towards the end the author decided to give us all a lecture on self-help (eh??) and the final pages were devoted to a farewell to Italy criticising not only the people but nearly every facet of life there. Meant to be amusing possibly. But it wasn't, just a mere last ditch attempt at the spiteful swiping at your hosts before exiting their land. Going 'back to Blighty', as she calls her homeland, was rather surprising given the author's choosing to devote several mean, derogatory paragraphs during the course of her writing, sweepingly generalised, to the lives and behaviour of her compatriots. I found this even less amusing. Just bewildering.
One last thing: after reading a few chapters all the hundreds of errors and grammatical gaffes were glaringly evident. I wondered how a proofreader/literary agent could have possibly allowed this book to be published in such a form. Then I saw that it was self-published. Ah. But she lists an editor in her acknowledgements??
I remain bewildered.
November 9, 2022
What a disappointment. This was a stream-of-consciousness ramble that read more like a diary than a memoir. There was no structure to the story. There wasn't even really a story! There was barely even any dialogue. Even for memoir, there should be dialogue, scenes, characters. But this was all a rambling mess of telling and not showing, with random side stories that didn't matter at all thrown in when it never made sense.
Factor in all the grammatical and punctuation errors and typos (including the one in the first sentence of the first chapter... facepalm) and you've got yourself one self-indulgent "book" that was obviously never edited. I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't make it past a 1st or 2nd draft.
But perhaps my biggest issue with this book is the author's unabashed judgment of Italian culture. On every page, she labels Italians as gossips, food snobs, and people who refuse to learn English with such an entitled attitude that I was embarrassed for her.
I could only get through 52 pages. I jumped ahead to a couple chapters later in the book to see if she had changed at all... maybe learned something during her time in Puglia. But it was the same shallow observations without backing anything up with any learned knowledge or real Italian experience. She wrote a lot of "it seems" and "I feel." With all those Italians by her side, why not have a real conversation with them to truly get to know them and their life, instead of making biased assumptions? What a shame.
One more thing: the humor in this book is awful. I realize that humor is subjective, but this author likes to end just about every paragraph with an off-color punchline and it was starting to really turn my stomach. Italy is a beautiful place, but the way she describes it, you'd think she was stuck somewhere awful. Oh God, more pasta, I'll get fat. Oh God, this digestive is so strong, the alcohol is making me woozy. Oh God, seafood again?
Don't waste your time with this one. You won't get anything out of it.
Factor in all the grammatical and punctuation errors and typos (including the one in the first sentence of the first chapter... facepalm) and you've got yourself one self-indulgent "book" that was obviously never edited. I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't make it past a 1st or 2nd draft.
But perhaps my biggest issue with this book is the author's unabashed judgment of Italian culture. On every page, she labels Italians as gossips, food snobs, and people who refuse to learn English with such an entitled attitude that I was embarrassed for her.
I could only get through 52 pages. I jumped ahead to a couple chapters later in the book to see if she had changed at all... maybe learned something during her time in Puglia. But it was the same shallow observations without backing anything up with any learned knowledge or real Italian experience. She wrote a lot of "it seems" and "I feel." With all those Italians by her side, why not have a real conversation with them to truly get to know them and their life, instead of making biased assumptions? What a shame.
One more thing: the humor in this book is awful. I realize that humor is subjective, but this author likes to end just about every paragraph with an off-color punchline and it was starting to really turn my stomach. Italy is a beautiful place, but the way she describes it, you'd think she was stuck somewhere awful. Oh God, more pasta, I'll get fat. Oh God, this digestive is so strong, the alcohol is making me woozy. Oh God, seafood again?
Don't waste your time with this one. You won't get anything out of it.
October 17, 2020
This memoir finds Laine Brown moving from Britain to Puglia in southern Italy to find herself as the title says after a divorce that left her devastated. She pretty much sold everything, packed clothes and with her basset hound Basil set off. She had travelled to Puglia in the past for a week and loved it. I have done the same and that's what brought me to the book. She rented a small cottage with a garden, fenced yard for Basil, and set about making her way through the next four years. She struggled to learn Italian and local cooking methods, made friends along the way and settled in to start thinking of herself as Italian. She had serious concerns about loneliness but found she enjoyed that circumstance. She quotes Robin Williams: "I used to think that the worst thing in life was to end up alone. It's not. The worst thing in life is to end up with people who make you feel alone."
September 20, 2023
Not a bad tale of relocating to Puglia, that tells Laine Brown's story of her years in the southern Italian area. She had been a nurse, but had also been divorced, so needed a major change in her life to find a new direction, with writing a major focus of her new life.
The tone is variable, some sections were very entertaining and others mixed in the interest to readers, while some are repetitive in content. There are also grammatical errors that disrupt the flow and are irritating, that spoil the tone of the work.
I did enjoy her story though, and her progression to satisfaction with her single life style, and she obviously grew to love her town of Santa Sabina. It's a good book for those interested in Puglia as she covers the daily and everyday details of life there, so I would recommend it as a light introduction to relocating.
Recommended for that reason
The tone is variable, some sections were very entertaining and others mixed in the interest to readers, while some are repetitive in content. There are also grammatical errors that disrupt the flow and are irritating, that spoil the tone of the work.
I did enjoy her story though, and her progression to satisfaction with her single life style, and she obviously grew to love her town of Santa Sabina. It's a good book for those interested in Puglia as she covers the daily and everyday details of life there, so I would recommend it as a light introduction to relocating.
Recommended for that reason
Read
June 18, 2020Lovely trip through Puglia and life
As I have visited Puglia on a walking holiday and absolutely lives both the countryside and the people, this book attracted me by the title. Laine, a nurse finding herself at point in her life where she felt she needed a complete change, moved to Puglia. Her stories of her visits and Basil's trip to Cisternino and various places in Italy were fantastic. She has some good quips throughout to. If you're thinking of changing your life for the better, this could be a good read. Congratulations Laine x
As I have visited Puglia on a walking holiday and absolutely lives both the countryside and the people, this book attracted me by the title. Laine, a nurse finding herself at point in her life where she felt she needed a complete change, moved to Puglia. Her stories of her visits and Basil's trip to Cisternino and various places in Italy were fantastic. She has some good quips throughout to. If you're thinking of changing your life for the better, this could be a good read. Congratulations Laine x
August 24, 2020
I loved this book. Laine had the guts to go & do something I have always wanted to do and in the region I discovered for the first time last year. What made it even better was the fact Laine wrote about the vineyard of the family I stayed with, it was such a surprise and she wrote about it so nicely it made me smile & brought back lovely memories. Maybe one day I’ll be brave enough to do something similar apart from write the book. 😊
March 5, 2024
This book was OK. I love reading books about Italy and the adventures people have moving there. This book was ok from that perspective but it wasn't rich enough in the things I look for. It took me longer to read than I expected because I wasn't drawn to it regularly. I hope the next (random) book like this I read is more entertaining.
September 27, 2020
Good read
Rarely take.the time.to.rate a book..if give it 41\2 if I was.able
Very nicely written..and much more refreshing than other expat books..I tend to keep reading them voraciously, looking for a different expression, experience.
She had.me.laughing out loud at times..
Rarely take.the time.to.rate a book..if give it 41\2 if I was.able
Very nicely written..and much more refreshing than other expat books..I tend to keep reading them voraciously, looking for a different expression, experience.
She had.me.laughing out loud at times..
April 2, 2021
Great story
Just a nice relaxing book. I enjoyed her life and the things she did to lead a peaceful life. Her dog basil and at the end her cat munchkin just made the book more eventful.
Just a nice relaxing book. I enjoyed her life and the things she did to lead a peaceful life. Her dog basil and at the end her cat munchkin just made the book more eventful.
May 2, 2021
I fell in love with Puglia when visiting Italy and was looking forward to reading this book. Unfortunately, I found it challenging to follow along and barely finished the book. I do admire the author following her dream and finding peace within herself.
July 18, 2021
Badly written. Rambling with no plot, story-line, or interest. It’s neither an introspective about hour Italy changed her or a fun travelogue of her 4 years in Puglia. I couldn’t wait for it to end. Oh, AND THE TYPOS! Ugh.
September 15, 2019
Really enjoyed reading this while
on holiday in Puglia. Visited many of the places mentioned. Like others this made me laugh, smile and chuckle and appreciated the way themes were grouped together.
on holiday in Puglia. Visited many of the places mentioned. Like others this made me laugh, smile and chuckle and appreciated the way themes were grouped together.
August 17, 2020
Horrible book. Boring and self centered. I couldn't finish it.
September 27, 2020
Fantastic and funny read
Would recommend this book to anybody’s love of Puglia or who have yet to discover it.
Funny and honest read
Would recommend this book to anybody’s love of Puglia or who have yet to discover it.
Funny and honest read
November 10, 2022
This book was a huge disappointment. I love reading books about Italy but this book was more about the author and her pets and her dislikes and odd sense of humor. I didn't finish it.
December 29, 2024
A great sense of place
I enjoyed this book, and admired Elaine's courage in upping sticks for a new life. Very amusing and entertaining, I can recommend it.
I enjoyed this book, and admired Elaine's courage in upping sticks for a new life. Very amusing and entertaining, I can recommend it.
December 20, 2023
I absolutely loved this book and totally disagree with a couple of the bad reviews on here.
It was a wonderful, heartwarming and philosophical account of a woman in her 50's who bravely leaves her job and everything she is familiar with and relocates to the fascinating southern tip of Italy with her Bassett Hound. Through Laine's descriptions I visited majestic hilltop towns, traditional festivals and Olive groves and met quirky Italian neighbours and ate beautiful Italian food. I found her writing to be both humorous and very philosophical about life, loneliness and carving out a new path.
I also enjoyed, being a dog owning traveller myself, her anecdotes about her Basset Hound Basil and the other animals she encounters in her Puglian village.
Her writing style is very accessible and enjoyable and she has a wonderful sense of humor. She is a very observant writer and the self introspection that another reviewer criticized so much is to me an important theme in the book. It is called "Finding myself in Puglia" after all and that is what, I feel Laine achieves.
Please don't be put off by the bad reviews. For a person at a crossroads in life who desires an adventure, or somone who simply wants a good armchair trip to Italy this is a great read.
It was a wonderful, heartwarming and philosophical account of a woman in her 50's who bravely leaves her job and everything she is familiar with and relocates to the fascinating southern tip of Italy with her Bassett Hound. Through Laine's descriptions I visited majestic hilltop towns, traditional festivals and Olive groves and met quirky Italian neighbours and ate beautiful Italian food. I found her writing to be both humorous and very philosophical about life, loneliness and carving out a new path.
I also enjoyed, being a dog owning traveller myself, her anecdotes about her Basset Hound Basil and the other animals she encounters in her Puglian village.
Her writing style is very accessible and enjoyable and she has a wonderful sense of humor. She is a very observant writer and the self introspection that another reviewer criticized so much is to me an important theme in the book. It is called "Finding myself in Puglia" after all and that is what, I feel Laine achieves.
Please don't be put off by the bad reviews. For a person at a crossroads in life who desires an adventure, or somone who simply wants a good armchair trip to Italy this is a great read.
March 4, 2019
Enjoyed this BUT oh my word, there are so many errors in it. The author credits someone with editing but it needed a good proofreader. Amazingly I actually read it all the way through despite the mistakes and found it very interesting.
August 23, 2020
Following Laine’s dream through to her journey in Puglia was an absolute pleasure.
Written in such a ‘down to earth’ way with no aires and graces, it was so very easy to picture surroundings, feel the heat and soak up the atmosphere of where she lived and places she visited in the 4 years spent in this beautiful region of Italy.
Laine got across how being on your own and enjoying your own company is the bottom line of finding yourself and being content with that is more than acceptable, although having a ‘Basil’ around (her pet dog) makes life easier and more pleasurable.
If you enjoy no-nonsense travel writing and want to envisage life in Puglia from a ‘Blighty’ girl’s point of view be sure to give this book a go.
Written in such a ‘down to earth’ way with no aires and graces, it was so very easy to picture surroundings, feel the heat and soak up the atmosphere of where she lived and places she visited in the 4 years spent in this beautiful region of Italy.
Laine got across how being on your own and enjoying your own company is the bottom line of finding yourself and being content with that is more than acceptable, although having a ‘Basil’ around (her pet dog) makes life easier and more pleasurable.
If you enjoy no-nonsense travel writing and want to envisage life in Puglia from a ‘Blighty’ girl’s point of view be sure to give this book a go.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews