What resulted was a Sunday afternoon cooking a 5 course meal. I would cook Fances’ food and experience it. So as I read her chapters on her favorite summer and winter food, I decided to give it a go. Her description of eating a fresh grape left me awestruck. Who cherishes the simple pleasures in life. Frances is a woman who loves to cook and to eat (at least in Tuscany). And slowly the feeling of Tuscany began to build. I didn’t try to understand or picture or wonder where exactly everything was. It was the first time the phrase “letting the words wash over you” made sense to me. And I think I do because reading Under the Tuscan Sun was such a sensory experience. These are things I won’t get to experience during my trip to Italy, but I already long for them. I could feel myself washing my hands in the cool water after a long morning working in the garden. I could feel the warm breeze coming in through her open window. I could smell the basil she keeps in a pot outside her kitchen door. But reading this made me long for a summer in Tuscany. And it’ll be in the end of November so let’s just call it what it is. My upcoming trip to Italy will be in November. It felt more like Frances was my friend and we were talking about her first 3 years in Tuscany over bottles of wine. This is not a narrative (unlike the movie which is vastly different). But beautiful? Long-winded descriptions of a home renovation in Italy? How could a book bring me in with just that? I love witty dialogue and intense action. How can a book be beautiful? My favorite books usually have heroes and heroines fighting in far off lands. And though at times I felt that way about Under the Tuscan Sun, those moments were fleeting. Most times they start out strong for me, but I lose steam after about 100 pages. And even that sounds like a massive understatement. I’m normally not a non-fiction kind of girl. And if I had read it at a different time – aka a time when I’m not planning a trip to Italy – I probably would have hated it. But if you’re dreaming of Italy (like I am), then you may just love it.
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