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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"This is going to be one of my constant rereads. I love Mayes' poetic cognitive wandering through all of her travel memoirs. Readers never know exactly where she's going in each paragraph, but they gladly follow her beautiful imagery as she drifts from food to art to history to life."
— MrsErica (4 out of 5 stars)
" 100% condescending rich white lady writing 75% of the time. But food, so much food. "
— Kelsey, 2/14/2014" I bought this a long time ago and was looking forward to finally reading it. But for some reason, Frances Mayes' writing is a little too flowery and poetic for me. She is a beautiful writer, but when reading travel/ nonfiction writing, I guess I like it with a little more substance or structure. I never finished this book or Under the Tuscan Sun. I will try it again in a few years though! "
— Robin, 2/5/2014" Nice discussion of food, art and literature along with travel descriptions. So autobiographical stories mixed in. Long. And hardly the world. Europe and mostly around the Mediterranean at that: Spain and Portugal, parts of Italy, England, Scotland, Turkey. "
— Mckinley, 1/26/2014" Armchair traveling with a writer who can conjure a full scene is fun, but I was distracted by how often she wished she could buy this or that property. The note of acquisitionism is unpleasant in an otherwise good read. "
— Ashley, 1/23/2014" Just sort of Eh. Mayes travels around the world, staying a month in each place, and falls into a repetitive descriptive style for each chapter/month. Not bad but I couldn't finish it. (Honestly, I bought it for the cover) "
— Camas, 1/15/2014" If you loved "Under the Tuscan Sun" and all its follow-ups, then you'll love Mayes' latest series of adventures. "
— Jenny, 1/13/2014" 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, 1/11/2014" Not sure if this will get past "currently reading" status. It's dull. It reads more like a list than anything else. "
— Mo, 1/3/2014" I skipped around this book and read the parts I was interested in. "
— Kristine, 12/15/2013" Mayes's enthusiasm for life and travel shine in every sentence. She presents a vivid sense of each place she visits. Written with flair and imagination. "
— George, 12/7/2013" I love the observations Mayes makes while travelling and her discussion of the things I, like her, am interested in - food, history, art, architecture and literature. "
— Myra, 12/6/2013Frances 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.