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A Year in the World: Journeys of A Passionate Traveller Audiobook
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(3.00) - 2,594 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
The author who unforgettably captured the experience of starting a new life in Tuscany in bestselling travel memoirs expands her horizons to immerse herself—and her readers—in the sights, aromas, and treasures of twelve new special places. A Year in the World is vintage Frances Mayes—a celebration of the allure of travel, of serendipitous pleasures found in unlikely locales, of memory woven into the present, and of a joyous sense of quest. An ideal travel companion, Frances Mayes brings to the page the curiosity of an intrepid explorer, remarkable insights into the wonder of the everyday, and a compelling narrative style that entertains as it informs. With her beloved Tuscany as a home base, Mayes travels to Spain, Portugal, France, the British Isles, and to the Mediterranean world of Turkey, Greece, the South of Italy, and North Africa. In Andalucía, she relishes the intersection of cultures. She cooks in Portugal, gathers ideas in the gardens of England and Scotland, takes a literary pilgrimage to Burgundy, discovers an ideal place to live in Mantova, and explores the essential Moroccan city of Fez. She rents houses among ordinary residents, shops at neighborhood markets, wanders the back streets, and everywhere contemplates the concept of home. While in Greece, she follows the classic Homeric voyage across the Aegean, lives in a bougainvillea-draped stone house in Crete, and then drives deep into the Mani. In Turkey with friends, she sails the ancient coast, hiking to archaeological sites and snorkeling over sunken Byzantine towns. Weaving together personal perceptions and informed commentary on art, architecture, history, landscape, and social and culinary traditions of each area, Mayes brings the immediacy of life in her temporary homes to the reader. An illuminating and passionate book that will be savored by all who loved Under the Tuscan Sun, A Year in the World is travel writing at its peak.
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"Europe is still beckoning me to pay her a visit. I have this deep-seated yearning to walk the streets of Sevilla, take a gondola ride on the canals of Venezia, look down on the city of Athens from the Acropolis, read a book under an olive tree in an orchard in Toscana, and of course see if I can find Peter Mayle's farm in Provence. Frances just makes my toes itch to abandon all, throw a backpack over my shoulder, grab my beloved's hand and set off on the grand European tour. I wish I had her spunk and adventurousness."
— Hendie (4 out of 5 stars)
Awards
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Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2006
A Year in the World Listener Reviews
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" Great travel book! She really writes it so that you feel as if you are right there with her experiencing everything she is. At times I got a bit bored but I think it was just her style of writing sometimes. Overall great book for any traveler! "
— Alison, 2/20/2014 -
" I skipped around this book and read the parts I was interested in. "
— Kristine, 2/13/2014 -
" I really like some parts of Mayes, but others I am less interested in. For example, she often gives historical information that I don't care about as much as, say, what she had for lunch. "
— Morgan, 2/4/2014 -
" Pretty disappointing after reading "Eat, Pray, Love" actually. Interesting description of the places the couple went, but I had a very hard time relating to them. It is by a professor and her professor husband, and though I live in that world, I felt like it was written in a way to emphasize how wealthy the couple was. The descriptions were a bit dry, and the book dragged a bit. However, my inherent interest in the subject made me finish it. This couple did a very structured journey, which was both touristy and not touristy (structured and pre-planned, but searching for local secrets and "authentic" experiences). I just felt myself longing to feel something besides a little put off by the ostentatiousness of their vacation. "
— Beetletheknee, 1/15/2014 -
" I wanted to like this book and there were parts that I really did. However, her arrogance really came out too much for me in this book. Still, it is a journey I would like to take. "
— Jana, 1/14/2014 -
" I really liked this starting out, but I was less impressed when I finished. At her best, Mayes has a lovely gift for the sensual evocation of places, but at her worst, she's snobbish, insincere, and pretentious. By the end of the book, I was tired of her disdain for tourists (what does she think she is, anyway?) and her overly precious dialogues with her husband. "
— Margaret, 1/1/2014 -
" If I could give this writer more than five stars, she would always get ten. Beautifully written and felt very deeply. "
— Heather, 12/29/2013 -
" Frances Mayes travels the way I would love to. "
— Smeshee, 12/20/2013 -
" I am officially putting one aside. The writing is beautiful but I think the bottom line is I prefer to read travel literature either in prep for a visit or as follow-up. I just don't feel the connection to the places - moving on! "
— Kim, 12/19/2013 -
" Like poetry via the written Word. I spent all last summer traveling in my head as I savored this book! "
— Gieselle, 11/12/2013 -
" This book was disappointing. Frances Mayes came across quite negatively, at least to me. She seemed to preach about the best way to travel (her own) and criticize "provincials" (anyone with a different approach). On the other hand, I appreciated her culinary tips. "
— Jennifer, 6/24/2013 -
" Had been working on this slowly but gave up, which is a cardinal sin in my world. The gardens get a little tedious, but a good description of the places she visits, to at least create interest in doing further research. I do get tired of *her* though. "
— Kari, 5/13/2013 -
" I liked parts of this book but overall it was too rambling. I skipped chunks of it, paragraphs or pages of each chapter. "
— S., 3/8/2013 -
" boring, elitist, dense. yet gorgeously written, jealousy-inducing. couldn't finish it. "
— Clare, 12/3/2012 -
" Fun read. I love Frances Mayes! "
— Becky, 11/21/2012 -
" Interesting. I like that it gives me a perspective to all these different places I want to go, however it is rather disjointed because of that. The writing is excellent, but there is not a consistent story through out, as with Under a Tuscan Sun which I adored. "
— Linda, 6/25/2012 -
" I really thought I would like this book. But frankly, it was annoying. I love to travel, but this travel as existentialism comes across as pretentious. Plus, it is a bit hard to follow where she is going, why she is going there and why we should care. "
— Camille, 3/5/2012 -
" Unable to finish - I just couldn't get into the repetitive relaxed nature of this book. "
— Jeni, 1/19/2012 -
" This book is amazing! Made me feel as if I've just traveled around the world. "
— Betsy, 6/23/2011 -
" I just couldn't read this book. I was bored by the tone of a wealthy person going everywhere and doing anything that she wants without regard to the cost. I couldn't relate at all. "
— Kathy, 5/23/2011 -
" I barely made it through the first chapter, only because it was Spain. It's was bunch of randam notes, or details about her life that were irrelevant. Horrible. "
— New_worlds, 5/22/2011 -
" It is a very descriptive book and at times it can be difficult to read because there are so many details. However, if you are ones of those people that likes to experience things vicariously, Mayes does a wonderful job in this book. "
— Brooke, 4/30/2011 -
" Liked this book, didn't love it. Having been many of the same places probably helped. Also I also love renting places to stay so you mix more into the culture and shy away from group tours. Hey, maybe I could write a book and then buy a house in Italy! "
— Kay, 3/23/2011 -
" It wasn't a terrible book, I just couldn't get into it. I read about 200 pages and finally decided to give up. "
— Rachel, 1/29/2011 -
" LOVED this book! I can't wait to raed more of Frances Mayes. "
— Noel, 1/18/2011 -
" Made me want to visit Greece even more! "
— Kelly, 1/9/2011 -
" Boring! How could anyone make traveling to Europe seem like such a snooze? I couldn't finish it. "
— Beth, 10/29/2010
About Frances Mayes
Frances Mayes is the author of several fiction and nonfiction books, including the classic Under the Tuscan Sun, which was on the New York Times bestseller for more than two and a half years and was the basis for a major motion picture starring Diane Lane. Her writing has been translated into more than fifty languages.
About Cassandra Campbell
Cassandra Campbell has won multiple Audie Awards, Earphones Awards, and the prestigious Odyssey Award for narration. She was been named a “Best Voice” by AudioFile magazine and in 2018 was inducted in Audible’s inaugural Narrator Hall of Fame.