Customer Reviews

A Thousand Days in Tuscany: A Bittersweet Adventure

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Having lived and worked in Italy during the 60s and early 70s, I found Marlena De Blasi's recounting of her time spent in a very small town in Tuscany more in sync with what actually happens in such a place. It was easy for me to bring forth a picture in my mind and actually feel as if I was there. Mrs. Blasi's characterizations of persons encountered was complete.

I would highly recommend "A Thousand Days in Venice" as an accurate interpretation of what happens in Italy on a daily basis.

Do yourself a favor and read de Blasi's "A Thousand Days in Venice" before embarking on the sequel "A Thousand Days in Tuscany". It is not required reading, but you would be missing out on a delightful and unusual love story which sets up this book so perfectly.

Do not mistake this book for a cook book. It is so much more. De Blasi's writing is a feast of sumptuous descriptions of not only food, but life in Tuscany and the joy of knowing she is living her life exactly as she wants to. After reading the book, I was taken aback to find how strongly I wanted to meet this person and be a part of her circle of friends. She is as warm and senuous as the olive oil drizzled on the crusty, roasted, tuscan breads. This book could have been filled with photographs, but they weren't necessary. De Blasi's descriptions will fill your mind's eye with amazing visuals of life in rural Tuscany. I hope when you finish the book(s) you will feel, like I do, that your heart and soul have been amptly nourished .... and your taste-buds truly inspired!

A small gem!

Every once in a while a book comes along that really moves me with its quiet beauty; "A Thousand Days in Tuscany" fits easily into this category.

Wonderfully written and easy to read with its soft descriptive prose; the words transport you from your comfortable sofa to a magnificent area of Italy that is renowned for its people and its unique landscape.

The book follows two new arrivals to the Tuscan region of Italy and tells of their interactions with the local residents; people who soon become part of their daily routine. Each chapter is a small vignette describing a situation (usually with a local personage), a trip and, above all, food; in fact all chapters get around to the discussion of, or preparation of food. Most chapters end with a recipe for the main dish that was describe in the chapter involved.

All in all, a warm, quiet and beautifully descriptive short book about an area of the world that all of us would probably love to visit at least once in our lifetime. Highly recommended.

By the time I was halfway through A Thousand Days in Tuscany by Marlena de Blasi, I wanted to get up at six each morning and bake the day's bread with rosemary and olive oil. I wanted to walk up a hill and go to breakfast at a local bar and chat with the duke, a local man who took Marlena and her husband under his wing and showed them what life in the Tuscan village where they settled for a thousand days was really like.

Reading this book was a wonderful experience for me as I followed this couple through their days of integrating into the life, lives and especially the foods, wines and cooking of this area of Italy. Harvesting grapes for wine, picking olives and chestnuts are all part of a way of life that hasn't changed for centuries in this part of the world, and de Blasi does an excellent job of taking us in our armchairs into that world. The natural romance of the area just adds to the romantic relationship that de Blasi and her husband have, and as the reader I experienced every lovely minute of their time in Tuscany.

The only thing I would have liked in addition to de Blasi's lyrical writing was a collection of photos from her time there, but maybe the imagination does a better job.

Marlena de Blasi follows up her Thousand Days in Venice: An Unexpected Romance, with her newest book, A Thousand Days in Tuscany.

This begins with the arrival of American food writer Marlena, and her Venetian husband Fernando, in the small Tuscan village of San Casciano de Bagni, where they rent an ancient farmhouse, with no telephone, central heat, or television. Fernando has given up his job in a Venetian bank; and they will be living on their small savings and Marlena's earnings for her writing.

Her children are grown and settled; now they are on their own grand adventure. On the day they move in, the villagers gather around, and help them clean and unpack; then there is an impromptu potluck party in the piazza around the town bar, with fired zucchini blossoms as the main feature. They become especially close to Floriana and old Barlozzo, who regales them with tales of the past; of instructions on how to bake, build an outdoor oven, gather and forage; and who imparts much of his wisdom.

We follow them when they harvest grapes for wine as well as figs, olives and chestnuts. They forage for spring greens and truffles and harvest eggs from under chickens. This is a beautifully constructed symphony of words, philosophy, sounds, scents, tastes, wonderful characters, beautiful rustic scenery, history, and of course love...love for Fernando, Floriana and Barlozzo, the villagers, the food, for Tuscany, for Italy, for life.

Interview with the author and reading group guide are located at the back of the book.

Armchair Interviews warns: You will immediately want to have wine with each meal, and drizzle bruschetta (brew-sket'-ah) with olive oil and a pinch of salt, and simmer some beans along with herbs and maybe some pancetta.

There's no doubt that she's ardent, intense; sometimes fiery. Marlena De Blasi is a passionate woman. Make that passionate with a capital P. A chef, she has a passion for food. Married to Fernando, a Venetian with "blueberry eyes, " she has a passion for Italy. Her exuberance is so contagious that readers will relish every page of "A Thousand Days In Tuscany" (as well as the recipe that ends each chapter).

Ms. De Blasi waxes so enthusiastically about her subjects that it almost seems she writes in bold print to extol the virtues of wild herbs, fresh cheese, and the Tuscan twilight. She is a firm believer in love, and an advocate of life, as well as the living of it.

As many will remember with "A Thousand Days In Venice," Ms. De Blasi first visited Italy perhaps a dozen years ago. On her first day there as she was sitting in a café with her traveling companions, she noticed an attractive man who seemed to be looking at her. Next, in true Danielle Steel style, a waiter told her that she had a phone call. It was, of course, the mysterious man urging her to meet him. She declined but returned to the café a few days later to find him there. They saw one another until she returned to St. Louis.

He soon followed. Fernando, we learned, was a banker who had never married. He would later say that he knew she was the one the moment he saw her. Although she did not share this initial surety she gave in to his pleas. Much to the astonishment and concern of her grown children and friends she returned with him to Venice where they married. She had imagined an apartment overlooking the Grand Canal. Instead she found a square concrete house on the Lido. Little did that matter - there was Fernando.

And, there is still Fernando who came home one day to announce that he has quit his job at the bank, and they're moving to Tuscany. A redone stable lacking central heating, a phone, and other amenities in the small village of San Casciano dei Bagni becomes their new home. It does boast a closet size kitchen with a refrigerator akin to what one might find by a hotel mini bar. She writes of their contract with the stable owner: "There had been a well-defined agreement with Signora Lucci that the house would be clean and that it would be empty. Neither is the case." The signora's furniture is "all in the form of irrefutable junk."

Nonetheless, the ever resourceful De Blasi is soon trimming the windows in her Venetian drapes complete with tasseled tiebacks, and delighting in her first taste of fried zucchini blossoms. The bar or restaurant in the village becomes almost their second home. It is there that they meet the villagers and take their morning espresso.

They're adopted by an elderly gentleman, Barlozzo, who tells fascinating stories and indoctrinates them into the ways of the region. He teaches them how to pick olives- one by one, harvest grapes, and hunt for wild mushrooms. Florina or Flori becomes another special friend. She of the shy smile and warm heart. Times, we learn, have changed very little in San Casciano dei Bagni.

It is here by the site of the ancient Roman baths, where Horace and Ottaviano Augustus vacationed, that Ms. De Blasi learns "the great secret that living in the moment and being content with one's portion makes for the best of all lives."

If the reader is fortunate, that is only one small lesson learned during this idyllic sojourn in the Tuscan hills.

- Gail Cooke

If you can, read Marlena De Blasi's earlier book "A Thousand Days in Venice" before reading this one. I was glad I knew about De Blasi's life in the U.S. and Venice, and how she met and married her "Stranger" as she calls her Venetian husband Fernando. Fernando has a tendency to melancholy and melodrama. He feels trapped by his past of unhappiness and his stifling job in a bank. Marlena is horrified when he comes home and announces that he has quit his secure, life-long job. She's a city girl, in love with Venice, and he has decided to move to a rural Tuscan village. But Marlena is also adaptable and adventurous, and makes the most of the beautiful Tuscan countryside, amazing food experiences (she is a former chef and food writer), and people who embrace her and make her feel welcome. I expected a book like "Under the Tuscan Sun", where the writer has buckets of money and views the locals as humorous bumpkins and overpriced servants, but De Blasi becomes close to the natives of her new home and learns about the privations of their past and the sorrows of their present (the subtitle of the book is "A Bittersweet Adventure"). She falls in love with the "Duke", who was born in the building her new apartment is in and who remembers the hunger of the war years. He takes the younger couple under his wing and teaches them the lessons that go with the food De Blasi loves: during the hungry periods, chestnuts were all the Tuscans had to eat. They ground the shells for coffee, and made a paste of the nutmeats and water, and baked it into cakes. There was no olive oil, honey, or cream to make it sumptuous. Soldiers returning to their home were not feted by their families with the roasting of the fatted calf, but with starvation. They ate the grass. Marlena reveals that money is tight for her and Fernando, $75.00 per week must cover everything. There is worry in the winter as the woodpile is depleted too quickly, and the bread is set to rise under the bedcovers, the only warm place in the house! They harvest grapes and olives with their new friends, learn to prepare wild boar, and learn to love the land. If you love food and travel, read this book!

I like the way MDB writes, and this sequel has the benefit of not making her husband, Fernando, seem as obnoxious as he did in the Venice book. This book is more about food (my God, is she obsessed with food!), the villagers, and the various other characters they meet around Tuscany. In this book MDB seems to have settled into her marriage and learned how to handle Fernando and his moodiness (yay).
I tried the recipe for white beans cooked with herbs, wine and olive oil and the flavor was sublime, although the cooking time was much too long. (Cook's note: Don't pre-cook them in plain water -- just mix the pre-soaked, drained, uncooked beans with all of the other ingredients EXCEPT the salt; simmer 20 min., add the salt, then test them after another 20 min. of cooking. You can also get away with much less oil -- fewer calories!). Anyway, I'll definitely make them again, as well as the Castagnaccio (chestnut-flour bread).

This is definitely an interesting book about a couple living in Tuscany. Moving from their beloved Venice they are embraced by the locals of Tuscany and welcomed into the community. They are befriended by an elder there and shown the local customs and the old ways of the times. They make new friends, learn more about each other and delve headlong into their new life.
This is the story of a couple, a insight into Italian food with recipes given, and a great look into life in Tuscany. We even have some of the book written in Italian with what is being said shown, great way to pick up a few phrases. I did not read the previous work of this author, "A Thousand Days in Venice," however I found this work to be a different read, to me not the norm, but yet quite compelling and interesting.I believe to sum it up, this is a story of life, love and learning about themselves, others and the world they live in.
Shirley Johnson

I could relate to the author because I am soon turning 50. I loved her descriptions and all the people she talked about there in venice. I enjoyed the list at the back of the book of places and things to do if ever in Venice.
Made me think about things in my own life