Kavey, yes, from what I remember she was divorced with two grown children, and went to Tuscany with her boyfriend.<BR>They bought the house together and in the second book they get married at the same house.<BR>I still think she shouldn't have sold out and kept to her original book plot, Hollywood thinks the world has to be single, hot looking, young to be interesting. I bet they get a young actress to play her too, she was in her 50's wasn't she in the book?

I heard so much about the book but was a bit disappointed when I finally read it. It was at times a bit patronising and I think it made her look like Lady muck dealing with imcompetent staff. <BR><BR>Vanilla Beans and Brodo was a bit slow at first but seemed a more genuine and natural account of someone who moved their life to Italy. I think it showed a more human aspect to people and characters she met on her journey. <BR><BR>I am off to florence in a few weeks and hope to get out and see some of these lovely places....any other books someone could suggest? I havent found many about Tuscany/Italy here in Dublin.

I tend to agree that she is a bit patronizing, sort of like most books of people relocating and finding the locals &quot;quaint&quot;. <BR>But I did like her writing style and I thought it was a good book overall.<BR>I really like Annie Hawes &quot;Extra Virgin&quot; too.

<BR>Am I alone in thinking that no one has done it quite as well as Peter Mayle?<BR>While he had to deal with the restoration of a home in another country, different customs etc, I never noticed the aura of superiority, mostly I just remember how he seemed to be fumbling along and I thought it was hilarious.<BR>But Under The Tuscan Sun stands out in my mind because of the photographs.

Scarlett, I thought he was patronizing also. <BR>I think the superiority attitude comes from the perspective of the person writing about their own experiences and attitudes. This automatically puts the writer at the advantage of all the writing being from his perspective. <BR>I could write about my own neighbors in the same way, ie: how I feel about their lives.<BR>I don't think it can be helped, and, all of these books are enjoyable reading to me, anyway.

I thought that Mayle's wife came across as arrogant and flip, but she was NOT like that at all in the book.

<BR>Perhaps I am remembering from the PBS series with John Thaw and the way he was rather than the written story<BR>

I enjoyed Mayle but not as much as I expected - again, there was that touch of patronising.<BR><BR>IMHO the worst of this genre for the patronising thing was Driving Over Lemons.<BR><BR>I really enjoyed Extra Virgin, though that too had it's touches of patronising jokes about the locals BUT I just read the sequel, ripe for the picking, and I think that it's superb - not patronising at all, really well written and had me actually desperate to carry on reading. I think she wrote it with a much deeper sympathy and understanding for her local friends this time, where there was humour it felt to me more laughing with than laughing at, and this time, her own story was so riveting in its own right.<BR><BR>Also liked Rue Tatin which I read a few months back.

Kavey, I tend to agree with you that alot of these books are written in a superior tone.<BR>I remember reading one about a woman in Sicily that got downright disgusting, she kept repeating that she didn't know why she was even there because of her high education, yuck.<BR>I just ordered Ripe for the Picking and will take it to Italy with me, thanks for the tip.

Welcome. Hope you enjoy it.<BR><BR>I don't think Annie Hawes actually does or did feel superior to the locals at all but when writing her first book perhaps she found that the most amusing passages she could write were ones where she could create humour based on her experiences of people, mostly this was great but I found that occasionally it didn't sit right with me. <BR><BR>Rue Tatin too had much less of a feeling of superiority to it.

I felt the same way at times, alot of smirking at &quot;hankies&quot;.

Well, I guess I'm the only one who adored Under the Tuscan Sun. (Maybe it's that I haven't been there? But I long to go.)

I loved her writing style...
&quot;When it rains or when the light changes, the facade of the house turns gold, sienna, ochre; a previous scarlet paint job seeps through in rosy spots like a box of crayons left to melt in the sun. Bramasole: something that years for the sun.&quot;

Perhaps it's because she's southern born. Whatever it was, I found myself lingering over many of her &quot;turns of a phrase&quot;. I found Bella Tuscany just as delightful.

By the way, the male lead in the film is Raoul Bova.

Website here: http://www.raoul-bova.com/

Whew! Now that's a good looking guy!

I heard they had sold Bramasole and relocated elsewhere because so many tourists were bothering them. Anyone know where they went? Also, wasn't Ed's name something else as her boyfriend? How did he become Mayes?

First of all, liberties are always taken when they make film of a book. Go along and enjoy the scenerie if done well. I have never seen a film better than the book except for the English, &quot;Room at the Top&quot;
I saw the preview yesterday when we saw, &quot;Le Divorce&quot; Tuscany is why I'll se the film. It seemrd like a romantic pastiche.

johnchas, Ed changed his name to Mayes when they got married. Now there's a liberated guy.

The Mother of them all is: Perfume of Provence&quot;&quot; by Lady Fondesue, many years ago, and she had the first dibs!!!!!

Just curious as to where Ripe for the Picking is available? I searched on Amazon and nothing came up. Loved Extra Virgin and would like to read this one also. Any info is appreciated!

I haven't read the book, but saw an advance screening of the movie yesterday.

The story was a little too cute for my taste, but it was worth it
for the beautiful photography. Scene after scene looked like a wonderful
painting.

Keith