Featuring 25 authentic Tuscan recipes, this cookbook/memoir is by an Italian home chef who tells the story of her childhood in post-World War II Tuscany and of the beloved family cook who taught her every kitchen secret.
Gemma Jericho is an overworked New York doctor with a handful of a teenaged daughter and a mother who worries that Gemma has no life. So when her mother receives a mysterious letter telling her about an even more mysterious inheritance in Tuscany, Gemma sees her chance: the three of them throw caution and convention to the wind and leave for Italy. Gemma hopes that a change of scenery will bring back the closeness she used to share with her daughter. And perhaps the challenges of living in a foreign country will give her mother something to worry about beyond Gemma's social life. But what they encounter there is far more distracting than Gemma expected: a crumbling old villa and a town divided. Half the residents believe that Ben Raphael, another American, is the rightful inheritor of the villa. As cultures clash, gossip soars, and intrigue unfolds, Gemma is caught up in the most disturbing and delicious trouble she's ever had.
By John Gielgud, Susan Fleetwood, Feodor Chaliapin Jr., Annette Crosbie, Gabrielle Anwar
Molly Pargeter (Susan Fleetwood) has found the perfect Tuscan villa for her frazzled family's holiday. There's sightseeing to do, local color to enjoy, and the enigma of an art-loving absentee landlord to explore. Meanwhile, her outrageously extroverted and libidinous father Haverford Downs (John Gielgud in an Emmy-winning performance) has his sights set on a certain rich widow.
"When Eliana, still called Ellen by her close friends back in America, moved to Italy the future was bright with promise. Tuscany held magic in its sprawling vineyards, great food, and centuries of art. It was a life of the senses, perfect for a blossoming, talented young artist such as Eliana. Her family and friends back home all thought she had made the right choice in following her heart, and the man she fell in love with and married, back to his native country. In America, Eliana's story was that of a fairy tale. But in Italy, in the small, rustic village nestled in the Chianti countryside, Eliana found her husband to be a very different man."
Ten-year-old Floriana is captivated by the beauty of the magnificent Tuscan villa that overlooks the sea just outside her small village. She likes to spy from the crumbling wall into the gardens and imagine that one day she'll escape her meager existence and live there surrounded by its otherworldly splendor. Then one day Dante, the son of the villa's powerful industrialist owner, invites her inside and shows her the enchanting Mermaid Garden. From that moment, Floriana knows that the only destiny for her is there, in that garden, with Dante. But as they grow up and fall in love, their romance causes a crisis, jeopardizing the very thing they hold most dear.
"A magical story of love...and miracles After twenty years, Leo Pizzola has come back to the Tuscan village of Santo Fico, still single and still looking for a way to get rich. The town is as poor as it was when Leo left, yet some things have changed. Of Leo's childhood companions, only little Guido, whom everyone calls "Topo," embraces him. His best friend is long dead. The woman he once adored refuses to talk to him. And, worst of all, the kindly old town priest seems to have lost his faith. Perhaps what Santo Fico needs is a miracle-even if Leo and Topo have to manufacture one themselves. Now, as one botched scheme after another unravels, something completely unexpected happens, and wonders indeed begin to transform this Italian town, including the greatest miracle of all... ."
What a compelling title. I happened to pick this up casually and then noticed it was a book about a young librarian. A young librarian in Italy who has adventures? Could it be? Most definitely so for the "mud angel" Margot Harrington who leaves her drab existence in the Chicago area to volunteer in Florence following devasting flooding in 1966. Along the way she undertakes the clandestine sale of a rare volume of erotica to save a convent while involved in her own clandestine love affair.
"This sun-drenched land has become synonymous with the ideal life. But it didn t happen by chance. Since the Etruscans, the independence-loving Tuscans have treated their breathtaking countryside with sagacious respect and built hamlets and hill towns in which they perfected a culture of simplicity, beauty, neighborliness, good food, and love of daily life. Ferenc M t has lived in Tuscany for twenty years. Through personal experience and anecdotal history he explores the sources of this idyllic existence, which provides continuous economic stability, physical and emotional security, and a fortifying sense of belonging. From their organic gardens to their mouthwatering cuisine, from high-quality, craftsmen-made products and family-run businesses, to the joys centered in human contact and community, Tuscans live a healthy, all-senses-satisfying, emotionally rich life."
When their previous book, Provence, was published, reviewers marveled that the photographs looked like paintings. Equally memorable are the splendid photographs in Tuscany, which exquisitely capture the light, colors, and textures of Italy's most romantic and inspiring region.
