34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I learned, laughed, cried, couldn't put it down, July 25, 2002
This review is from: A Small Place in Italy (Paperback)
In 1967, British travel editor Eric Newby and his wife, Wanda, bought a primitive farmhouse in the hills between Liguria and Tuscany, the region where they met during World War II, Newby a soldier on the run between POW internments, Wanda a relief worker. They are the first foreigners to come live in their neighborhood, which remained unchanged from the time of the War; in fact, the country people, contadini, probably lived pretty much as they had for a couple of centuries or more. In the 25 years that the Newbys stayed, using the farmhouse as a second home but tending the land seriously, they were accepted and came to know the people and area well. A SMALL PLACE IN ITALY is a profile of their neighbors, their work, customs and the surrounding area. He offers up historical notes and chronicles the arrival of the late 20th century and loss of old ways.
This book has everything going for it. Newby is honest, a truthful writer. He never sells out his subject for entertainment or sentimentality. He does not go the route of portraying the noble savage, he does not paint the peasantry as buffoons or children, he does not go over the top to prove that he is one of them. It is obvious that he and Wanda were quickly accepted into the community because they were hard workers who respected the land and were happy to share. There is a fine wit and spirit at hand. Newby has to be the most resilient person on earth (see A SHORT WALK IN THE HINDU KUSH for more evidence).
Other virtues of this book: the pages whip by because Newby is brilliant at ordering his information. He also translates the Italian phrases and words that pop up routinely, so that those of us unschooled in Italian, particularly northern Italian expressions, are not at a loss.
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31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Newby beats mayes hands down, March 24, 2000
This review is from: A Small Place in Italy (Paperback)
Eric newby, and his wife, Wanda acquire a small and ruined farmhouse in the foothills of the Alps. This book is about how they set about restoring that house, and their life in this rural area of Italy. Newby met Wanda when he was a POW on the run during WW2, a story recounted in 'Love and War In The Appenines'. This book reads as a much more 'authentic' experience than the current penomenally successful 'Under The Tuscan Sun', which it pre-dates by a couple of years.
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44 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Getting away from Tuscan groupy mush, July 18, 2001
This review is from: A Small Place in Italy (Paperback)
Having a love for Tuscany and Umbria but not the income to live there, my partner and I read with some initial pleasure two books by people who renovated villas at vast cost and labour to the local tradesmen and wrote down lots of recipes - 'hell I'm such a cute and cultured Californian poetess patronising the locals once a year'.
Then a friend lent us the Newby version. Forget the rest. Get the best. He and Wanda work hard. They know and respect their neighbours. Crisp words give life to vine-growing, mountains, meals and breakneck roads.
This is the one: all else are imitations.
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