From your bestselling author whose memoirs Beneath the Sun and Bella Tuscany have captured the voluptuousness of Italian life comes a lavishly illustrated ode to the joys of Tuscany’s people, food, scenery, and art. In Tuscany celebrates the abundant pleasures of life in Italy since it is certainly lived at home, at festivals, feasts, restaurants and marketplaces, in the kitchen and on the piazza, in the vineyards, areas, and olive groves. Combining all-new essays by Frances Mayes and a about In Tuscany section by her spouse, poet Edward Mayes, with more than 200 full-color photos by photographer Bob Krist, each of the book’s five areas highlights a personal facet of Tuscan lifestyle:

La Piazza–the locus of Italian town lifestyle. With photgraphs of the store symptoms, the outdoor markets, medieval roads, people, their household pets and their cars, and snippets of conversations overheard, Mayes reveals the life span of the Piazza in her city of Cortona aswell as out-of-the-way locations such as Volterra, Asciano, Monte San Savino, and Castelmuzio.

La Festa–the special event. Essays and photos of feasts and festivities, such as the Xmas dinner for twenty-seven at a neighbor’s home and a donkey race around the cathedral at Montepulciano Stazione, illustrate the way the Tuscans celebrate the seasons–their open ways of a friendly relationship, their connection to nature, & most of most, their sense of abundance.

Il Campo–the field. Here Edward Mayes evokes the deep sense of the change of months as he picks olives before he and Frances head off towards the olive oil mill and enjoy the first bruscette with new oil.

La Cucina–the kitchen. A romantic view of the all-important function of your kitchen in Tuscan tradition, including photographs of her own kitchen and backyards, selections from great local cooks, the elements of the Tuscan table, dishes with cultural and culinary records on each, and, of course, delectable recipes.

La Bellezza–the beauty. From the quality of the light dropping on sublime landscapes in different months and Tuscan encounters in moments of laughter to a silhouette of cypress trees in the early night time and a crazy bird perched on a neigbor’s mind, In Tuscany features views of beauty that reveal the singular splendor of 1 from the world’s best-loved & most artistic locations.