Vanilla Beans & Brodo: Real Life in the Hills of Tuscany (Paperback)

~ Isabella Dusi (Author) "The stone walls encircling Montalcino, first completed in the year 1110, form a defensive band around the village like a stone circle pushed down over..." (more)
Key Phrases: contadini family, sangiovese grosso, cucina povera, San Pietro, Maria Pia, Mayor Mauro (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This isn't just another "we moved to a foreign country for a better quality of life" book. Instead, it is a leisurely exploration of a medieval Tuscan village and its people, from a tortured past to a thriving present. Montalcino, which has perched for centuries atop a hill in Tuscany, is noted today for its exceptional Brunello wine and the annual Sagra, an archers' tournament. Australians Isobel and Lou Dusi arrived there as empty nesters. Over time, as they found acceptance among the Montalcinesi, they became Isabella and Luigi. But their book is less about cultural adaptation than about paying meticulous attention to every facet of Italian life. Culturally sensitive, Dusi avoids the trap of mocking the unfamiliar or seemingly bizarre. She takes small steps to insinuate herself into social life, always mindful of a history that is not her own. She introduces us, without prejudice, to the ancient animosities between the country and village people, enthusiastically supports the local soccer team, and works to save a church in her Pianello quarter. Most of the stories, though, belong to the Montalcinesi Duci's landlords, shopkeepers, village officials, historians, hunters, and amateur archaeologists. This m lange of adventure and social history is recommended for large travel collections or where there is interest in Italian life. Janet Ross, formerly with Sparks Branch Lib., NV
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Review

A leisurely and comprehensive-perhaps too leisurely and comprehensive-catalogue of seasons in a Tuscan town, from Australian Dusi. In 1994, Dusi and her husband Lou upped and moved to Montalcino, in Italy's Tuscany, away from their unexceptional life in Australia. By their fifth year in town, Dusi felt embosomed enough in the town's ways ("Isobel and Lou have become Isabella and Luigi and we have begun to find acceptance") to give a faithful recording of a passing year. She starts with a walking tour of Montalcino, through time-for this is a town that has protective walls approaching a 1,000 years in age, and a history that pokes back a few more centuries-and space, reporting on every trattoria, osteria, and cafe, the composition and character of each of the quarters, right down to the origins of obscure street names. There are pleasures as old as the hills: plump figs stuffed with a walnut, biscuits of ground almond, orange peel, and honey-the whole cucina povera, which hardly seems such, especially when the local and noble Brunello is always close at hand, a wine considered the best Italy has to offer. There are archery contests pitting quarter against quarter, there are feast days and olive harvesting, hunts of wild boar and the "passive violence" of soccer matches, legends of betrayed women and woodcutters seeing the face of the Madonna in a tree trunk. Dusi's telling of these events is not merely intimate; the detail is step-by-step, blow-by-blow. Almost every sentence feels (at least) a word too heavy-"A milky globe, crisply outlined, hangs in a velvet sky flooding ghostly shadows into lanes and bathing the soaring fortress walls in a silvery glow." And Dusi's irritating habit of appending English translations to Italian words is distracting: "When is the notaio, notary, arriving?" Dusi gives Montalcino a real presence, but readers may wish she would stop talking long enough for them to smell the rosemary and garlic. (Kirkus Reviews)

Packing in your old life and going to live in a Tuscan hilltop village is a cliched dream. Isabella Dusi was drawn to the Tuscan lifestyle from Australia, along with Luigi, an Australian of Italian extraction who tempted her with marriage and adventure. This is Dusi's account of becoming integrated into the local community and penetrating beneath the familiar surface of Italian life. This is in some ways a surprising book, not for what the author 'discovers' (there is nothing here that will come as a revelation to anyone with the vaguest knowledge of Italy) - but because it succeeds in spite of itself. On the basis of this, her first book, Isabella Dusi is not destined to become a great travel writer. Indeed, the book is littered with cliches and bland phrases ('my curiosity led along a slowly unwinding path to comprehension', 'a sweet Madonna of benign simplicity smiling into eternal silence'). But she manages to imbue the reader with a strange longing for Italy, and for the possibility of no longer being the wide-eyed visitor impressed by the obvious manifestations of 'Italian life'. It is in part her sheer honesty, never pretending to be anything she is not, that carries one along. She has an openness and a certain racy pace, a lack of pretension in her approach that one could stereotype as typically Australian but which comes as a relief in this sort of 'travel' writing. And so her experiences of the archery competition, the grape harvest, renting a flat, shopping and so on are keenly felt. This is not a book for the expert on Italy, for the highbrow or the literati. But it amounts more to the sum of its parts. Here is an 'I came here out of curiosity - and I stayed to live' account, without pretension. (Kirkus UK) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 456 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK (May 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743404114
• ISBN-13: 978-0743404112
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 4.8 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #186,661 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent portayal of small Italian village, February 23, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Vanilla Beans & Brodo: Real Life in the Hills of Tuscany (Paperback)

I have lived in Italy for the past six years and have read many books on Italian life. This is one of the best as it truly shows how Italians really live, think, and gives such a wonderful description of the historical and political aspects of a hill-top village that I was even tempted to immediately begin reading it again to be sure I did not miss anything.

I recently visited Montalcino and came across this book for the first time. I do think a different title would have put it on the best seller's list as it is much better than "Under the Tuscan Sun" or others I have read. Well written in the descriptions of people and places. We are recommending it to our book club! This is a must read before visiting any hill town in Tuscany - but especially beautiful Montalcino. After reading this book, I cannot wait to return.

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Meeting some of the characters in VB&B, November 9, 2003

By	Katherine F. Millard (Avila Beach, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vanilla Beans & Brodo: Real Life in the Hills of Tuscany (Paperback)

We found this enchanting book in our apt. when we arrived for a 3 1/2 month stay in a small town 10 K's from Montalcino in Sept., 2002. My husband was completely mesmerized and suggested that I also read it. I was immediately caught up in the life in our neighboring town. When visiting one day, we stopped in at the pharmacy (Salvioni's) and met Maurelia, the pharmacist's wife. She was one of the main persons is the story. After a half an hour conversation, she invited us to view the upcoming Festa del Tordo from their balcony (directly overlooking the parade route) and to meet the author, Isabella Dusi. The entire day only clarified our feelings about the warmth and truly embracing, friendly nature of the Italian people. A MUST READ!

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More Italian Dreams, October 21, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Vanilla Beans & Brodo: Real Life in the Hills of Tuscany (Paperback)

I am totally in love with everything Italian and with the Italian joy of life. I am planning to take a one-way trip when I retire and hopefully land permanently in some marvelous location such as Montalcino. This book makes us aware not only of the wonders available to us when we visit Italy but to how much we miss by not being prepared for our visits.
VB&B is a fascinating book about a region and a primer on how to learn to adapt and enjoy another culture than our own. We so seldom slow down and learn in depth about a place before moving on to something else - this book will teach you how to absorb the atmosphere which most people miss.

When you have finished "Vanilla Beans and Brodo", go on to another great book about learning to live in Italy: "Extra Virgin".