Somewhere South of Tuscany by Diana Armstrong
Somewhere South of Tuscany: Five Years in a Four Cat Town by Diana Armstrong is a fun, engaging read about a couple’s efforts to restore a house in rural central Italy and fit into village life after Armstrong and her husband buy an ancient property — sight once seen.
Armstrong does a wonderful job of painting the picture of Lubriano from the neighbors to the festivals, including La Infiorata when the village’s only street is spectacularly covered in flowers. Her descriptions of the food she prepares are a particular highlight, and Armstrong even treats readers to an impressive collection of recipes (nearly 100 pages) at the end of the book.
Although I would have liked Armstrong to delve a bit deeper into the emotions of adjusting to a new life in Italy, the lack of more introspection didn’t take much away from my overall enjoyment of the book. It did start off a bit slowly for me, but about fifty pages in I was hooked and looking forward to my nightly visits with Armstrong in Lubriano.
In fact, I was a bit sad for the tale to end, and so I’m giving the book:
Four espresso cups out of five!
I recommend this book to those who enjoy reading about daily Italian life, renovating a house in the Italian countryside, and/or cooking traditional Tuscan and Umbrian dishes, and also to anyone who simply likes getting wrapped up in Italian adventures.
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Recipes
