A Valley in Italy

by Lisa St. Aubin de Terán

Of all the romantic obsessions in novelist Lisa St Aubin de Teran's life, the search for a castle occupied her the longest--until she saw the magnificent Villa Orsola deep in the Umbrian hills. Only after eagerly signing the ownership papers did she and her husband, painter Robbie Duff-Scott, discover they were the owners of a vast ruin lacking windowpanes, parts of the roof, and other essentials. A Valley in Italy recounts its restoration in the grand style of impossible house and the charms of bohemian family life. It also offers a rare portrait of the life of a. Italian village, where "all things are made to be as enjoyable as possible." " Lisa St Aubin de Teran's intuitive sense of place, her affection for the people around her, and her appreciation for native Italian grace make this a memorable book that can stand beside the best accounts of Italian life.

Genres: Travel, Italy, Nonfiction, Memoir, Biography, Roman, Autobiography

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Lisa St. Aubin de Terán was born Lisa Rynveld in South London. She attended the James Allen's Girls' School. She married a Venezuelan landowner, Jaime Terán in 1971, at the age of 17, and became a farmer of sugar cane, avocados, pears, and sheep from 1972-1978.

Her second husband was the Scottish poet and novelist George MacBeth. After the marriage failed, she married painter Robbie Duff Scott and moved to Umbria, Italy.

In 1982, St. Aubin de Terán published her first novel, Keepers of the House. This novel was the recipient of the Somerset Maugham Award. Her second novel, The Slow Train to Milan, won the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize. She received the Eric Gregory for Poetry in 1983. Her work includes novels, memoirs, poetry, and short-story collections.

St. Aubin de Terán has three children, including a daughter by her first husband, Iseult Teran, who is also a novelist.

She currently lives in Amsterdam with her partner Mees Van Deth, where she runs a film company and has set up the Terán Foundation in Mozambique.

Reviews

[Incyb · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm one of the Beauties in the book - and even I found it tedious.

[Paul Secor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This had been sitting on one of my shelves for years and I finally got around to reading it. An ok telling of a privileged expatriate family living in Italy, but pretentiously told. Who refers to her daughter as "the child Iseult" and her young nannies as "the Beauties"?

[Linda · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is probably the most pretentious, irritating book I have ever encountered. The author's "style" is coy and over the top, and her portrayal of Italians is condescending and patronizing. It was hard to believe anything but the bare bones of this story.

[Miranda Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a charming companion to have while trying to get work done on a collapsing castle. I loved her voice and her dry humor. I've lent my copy to so many, I finally lost possession of it. A wonderful, sunny story about a crazy desire to rehabilitate an estate in Italy.

[Kate Grimalkin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a huge fan of Italian culture. I found this book in our bookshelf, where it was most likely left after our recent family trip to Italy. The entirety of my reading experience was spent rolling my eyes at the author, her style, and her family. I found it incredibly irritating how the author constantly referred to her daughter as "the child Isuelt" and the live-in nannies as "the Beauties". I am a stickler for wording, and that drove me nuts. The town itself and its inhabitants were endearing-they reminded me of my father's home town in Tuscany. Overall, a good beach/plane ride book, nothing to cherish forever.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eccentric, artistic and with more money than sense. Lisa St. Aubin and her family are true bohemians. I wouldn't want to live with these people but it was lovely to visit with them as they traipsed all over Italy searching for their dream home, and to watch as they made it a reality, and became part of the local scene in a remote Umbrian village.

[Mysteryfan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was recommended by snailbones. It's set in Umbria, part of the old papal states. It's a completely different take on the remodeling stories. The scenes of village life seemed very authentic. The author had a different approach to remodeling too - she stayed through the whole thing so readers got more details about the actual hardships. I enjoyed it

[pea. · Rating 3 out of 5]

i found the author and her family to be irritating and endearing at the same time. not a huge fan of her writing style but it is still an enjoyable read that leaves you scratching your head.

[Wendy Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

My biggest issue with this book is how oblivious the mother is to how she and her husband are neglecting their children. She seems to have absolutely no idea what's going on with her children, because she's caught up in her own little fantasy world of what she wants her house to look like. (Underground Arabic pools? Really, that's your focus when your children have been sleeping on concrete floors in a ruin with no doors, windows, or roof?)

She outright tells us that her son lived most of his life traveling on trains and doesn't know how to sleep in beds. The daughter is described as quirky in her sudden bursts of cleaning the decrepit building they're living in, scrubbing anything she can reach and throwing out anything that gets in her way - anyone paying attention would recognize this as absolute desperation to regain control over her surroundings.

And the worst of it, PG 183 "The child Iseult, aged sixteen..."
Sixteen years old - and getting married.

The author, more than once, bemoans the fact that she herself was practically a child when she first got married - so why is she supporting a SIXTEEN year old doing the SAME thing?

This has got to be one of the most pretentious books I've ever read. Parents throwing themselves into debt for a dream home, neglecting their children, having a third child, all the while pretending they're living the lives of some fairy tale heroes.




EDIT: Gave a second star, because the writing WAS good. Everything else was a nightmare, though.

[Belinda Vlasbaard · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,75 sterren - Nederlandse paperback

Naar dependance Roberts kruidentuin

[Inez De Rijcker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Een super leuk zomerboekje om bij weg te dromen onder een warme zon.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Of all the romantic obsessions in novelist Lisa St. Aubin de Teran's life, the search for a castle occupied her the longest -- until she saw the magnificent Villa Orsola deep in the Umbrian hills. Only after eagerly signing the ownership papers did she and her husband,l painter Robbie Duff-Scott, discover that they were the owners of a vast ruin lacking windowpanes, parts of the roof, and other essentials. A Valley in Italy recounts the restoration in the grand style of an impossible house and the charms of bohemian family life. It also offers a rare portrait of the life of an Italian village where 'all things are made to be as enjoyable as possible.' Lisa St. Aubin de Teran's intuitive sense of place, her affection for the people around her, and her appreciation of native Italian grace make this a memorable book that can stand beside the best accounts of Italian life."
~~back cover

This was an offputting book for me. Lisa St. Aubin de Teran is certainly bohemian, and this book is a very accurate account of a scatterbrained bohemian life. Snowy freezing winter in a castle with no windows. A daughter she calls "the child" who has obviously been raised by a scatterbrained bohemian. All these disorganized facets of their lives rather overshadowed the descriptions of the Umbrian countryside, the town of Orsola, or the Orsolan people. Seen through bohemian eyes, these things became just a backdrop for the havoc and peregrinations of this gypsy-like family. I thought that was a shame.

[Simon Bate · Rating 3 out of 5]

In another memoir, Memory Maps, Lisa St Aubin de Teran says that on her "father's side I am a mixture of Portuguese, Dutch, Carib Indian, African, Brazilian, Venezuelan, Scottish, West Indian and German, while on my mother's side, I am a mixture of Jersey, English, Irish and French."
This mix has always fascinated me and made me feel somewhat cheated with my own boring bloodline.It has at least got to give you something to write about.
This book sees her following in the well furrowed genre of 'I / we bought a house abroad', only this time it's a ruined palazzo in Umbria where eccentric and colourful locals do what they're meant to do and dot the pages.I do quite enjoy these sort of books but what I would really like to know is how she/they pay for it.Throughout the book she is complaining about their financial plight yet seems to be employing the whole village to do the place up as well as two 'Beauties' who apparently are nannies, but do nothing but attend discos and attract the local males,on top of which her husband is a painter so we know there's no money coming from that side!
OK I'm quibbling...I quite liked it....it's a quick read.

[Naturegirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, so everyone knows my penchant for reading books about people who fix up houses. I am obsessed, and well, when it's a house in Italy, hold me back, people! This book is about a British family living in Venice who move to Umbria and buy a huge wreck of a villa. They emply townspeople to fix it up and slowly work their way into the fabric of the village of Orsola. It's amazing to me what people will put up with to live in a place they love and I'm so inspired by stories like this one. I also wonder how these people have an infinite pot of money to shovel into homes like this, but whatever, I'll keep it romantic and not think about the scorpions that live in Italy either :)

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Throughly enjoyed this story. The author describes a life that is interesting, entertaining and just a bit frustrating. Her family is living in Venice. They decide to buy a summer home to escape the crowds. So they buy an old palazzo in Umbria. And what a renovation project it is! I loved reading about the people in the village. They were such characters!I especially fell in love with the man who took the family under his wing and made sure that they were safe and that they fitted into the community.

[Pjbookhoarder · Rating 3 out of 5]

non-fiction, I give this 3.5 stars. worth the read and quite entertaining in parts. Loved the description of the local life and location, the crumbling ruin being brought back to life. Actually googled the Palazzo which the family transformed into an operating B&B.
A good read for arm chair travelers or those who have been to Italy or dream of going to Italy.

[Maureen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fascinating look at how some families operate. I enjoyed reading about the nonchalant way they embarked upon this home but I found the views of the local Italians rather patronizing. A good airplane book though.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sort of, mostly believable . . . slightly cringey at times. . . does she really let her teenage daughter get away with all that? But there were definitely humorous aspects to the story and a glimpse into rural Italian life. Good for an easy holiday read, I think.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about Italy. My favorite subject. Even more so....it is about buying a villa and restoring it. Something I dream of doing. It was slow going and not exceptionally good.....but I still enjoyed it because of the subject matter.

[Bridey · Rating 4 out of 5]

THE most ubsurd book of it's kind. I laughed hard from both amusement and complete shock at how this family functions. Fun, fun, exasperating fun.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy, light fare, but enjoyable descriptions of country living in Umbria, humorous portraits of village life and sensitive cultural observations.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the descriptions of Italy and the locals but her family is very strange.

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun and well written. The description of the first night in the villa, with scents from the mountains coming in the open windows was especially memorable.

[Jennifer Vrielinck · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really didn't like it. The style, the boasting, the over-the-top tales, the superiority it radiated. I couldn't believe the story, the situations...

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much better than the 1st book I read by this writer.
Situated in the country side of Italy.
Although I live in a totally different area of Italy, very recognizable and sometimes pleasant to read.

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Memoir of restoring a very old, decrepit villa in Umbria. Nice descriptions of the village and surrounding countryside. But what an ordeal they went through. I don't think I could have done it.

[Terrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was mostly interesting because we are planning a trip to a nearby valley in Italy. Interesting author, I may pick up one of her novels.

[Lynda · Rating 3 out of 5]

220 p The life and culture of an Italian village. The family buys an old villa and fixing it up draws in the town folks.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Published in 1994, this memoir by Lisa St Aubin de Teran recounts the first year of living in a shell of a villa in an Umbrian village. She, her Scottish husband and her two children (Iseult, in her teens, and Allie, aged 6) purchase a beautiful but far-from-liveable manor house (no running water, no electricity, no heat, no fireplaces, no windows, few doors, and a gap between two halves of the house) and start the process of rennovating with local craftsmen. They slowly become drawn into the thrum of village life, and the book culminates with two massive celebrates held at their house - the annual new year's eve party (which, they eventually discover has been held at the villa for years) and the marriage of her eldest child.

The book is beautifully written, providing fine details of some things and none at all on others, but keeps a fine pace and is a light and relaxing read. What is more tantilising are the clues she leaves about her past life, which led me down several rabbit holes with Mr Google. She was (like her daugher) a child bride, married at 16 to an older man who was from an aristrocratic Venezuellian family. The two of them may or may not have pulled off a string of bank robberies in Europe, but what is certain is that they moved back to Venezuela at some point, to the family sure plantation. While never fully accepted by her in-laws, she takes over management of the planation and makes it profitable. After fleeing family violence with her young daughter, she lived in Scotland for a time before moving to Italy.

This is now the third book I have read about an ango woman purchasing and rennovating an Italian property, and it's interesting to compare not only the experiences but also the characters of the three women. In addition to this book, there is Under the Tuscan Sun (Frances Mayes) and On Persephone's Island Mary Taylor Simeti). All beautiful and interesting books in their unique ways.

[Glen Engel-Cox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jill and I have been reading books on Italy in preparation for our honeymoon there. Jill read this one while I was reading Tim Park’s. Both books share many things—in fact, St. Aubin’s and Park’s views of Italians are amazingly similar, even though they are discussing Italians in different regions. Maybe this is my American ethnicity coming out, thinking, perhaps wrongly, that people in an area the size of Texas should be different just because they are foreign. Partly this is an expression of the Italian culture itself, where those in Umbria feel that it is the best place and that anyone who would live in another part of Italy, much less a foreign country, are somewhat wrong in the head.