“Under The Tuscan Sun” Book review by Kat Pulzone’

(A must-read for anyone who loves Italy.)

This book was published in 1996, was a best seller and then made into a movie. Written by Frances Mayes, a gourmet cook, poet and travel writer, who actually lives in Cortona, Italy (in Tuscany) based the book on her experiences as an American leaving her home, spotting a run down villa in Tuscany and buying it. A little scared but encouraged by the adventure, Frances packs up and moves to her villa while it is being rebuilt. It was Frances who actually brought awareness of Cortona to Americans. She buys an abandoned villa in the spectacular Tuscan countryside and the reader is swept by her sensuous and evocative description of her discovery of the beauty and simplicity in life in Italy. She not only restores the villa but revives her herb and vegetable garden and learns from the locals how to cook. The recipes are published in this book and are excellent. Life in Tuscany is extraordinary and this book is a feast for all the senses. Under The Tuscan Sun makes you want to run to Cortona and buy a piece of property, and through all the glitches trying to get the villa restored, it was the local Italians that kept her spirits up and helped her through.